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Circulating Levels Of Interferon-Gamma And Interleukin-10 In Hiv-Infected Patients Undergoing Herbal Therapy
(2009-07-12) Abbam, Anderson Maxwell
This study evaluated the expression of IL-10 and IFN-γ in HIV-infected patients undergoing treatment with different herbal drugs. Four (4) HIV-infected patients were enrolled as study subjects and were placed on herbal therapies for an evaluation period of 6 months. Levels of IFN-γ and IL-10, CD4+ T-cell numbers, and plasma viral load levels were measured in the patients before initiation of the therapy and then monthly throughout the study period. Two (2) patients responded successfully to their treatments suggesting the potential potency of the herbal drug they had taken. However, the 2 remaining patients showed evidence of virological and immunological treatment failure. We also found that, both IFN-γ and IL-10 existed in all patients without any marked dominance of one cytokine over the other. These data suggest that HIV infection stimulates the production of both type 1 and type 2 cytokines but does not induce a polarized type 1 or 2 state. Also while IFN-γ and IL-10 may be involved in the pathogenesis of HIV, their profiles in this study are not clear to be used as an index of HIV treatment.