Immune recovery in HIV with Mycobacterium W.

ABSTRACT

The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is associated with decreased immunity. There is depletion of CD4 cells. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of mycobacterium w on CD4 cell count in HIV + ve patients. A total of fifty patients were randomly assigned to one of the three treatment groups (A) Mycobacterium w alone (n=17) (B) mycobacterium w plus two antiretroviral agents (n=16) (C) Mycobacterium w plus HAART (highly active antiretroviral therapy; (n=17). Mycobacterium w was administered intradermally at the dose of 0.1 ml in both deltoid region (first dose). The subsequent four doses of mycobacterium w were 0.1 intradermal in the deltoid region of one arm at monthly intervals. CD4 cell count in all the HIV + ve patients was measured at baseline and after five months period. CD4 counts was increased by 108.96%, compared to baseline, in the patients receiving both mycobacterium w and HAART, suggesting a synergistic action. However, significant increase (80.22% compared to baseline)was also seen in patients receiving mycobacterium w along, suggesting that myobacterium w was an effective immune response enhancer. Mycobacterium w was well tolerated by all patients.