There was every reason to believe that it would. Over time, HIV chips away at the overall size of the CD4 and CD8 T-cell pool, and interferes with these cells' ability to function. That's a big if. Without effective antiretroviral therapy, immune cells are in a constant battle against the virus. It may even worsen matters by triggering a burst of viral replication in HIV-infected cells that were previously producing little or no virus.
More virus means even more trouble for the body's besieged defenses.
Over the past four years, several trials have documented the drug's ability to increase T-cell levels. This increase would put people out of the OI danger zone. This dose is still high enough to cause severe side effects, including high fevers, flulike symptoms, hypotension, and fluid retention. Advil, Motrin, and other anti-inflammatory drugs may alleviate some of these side effects, which all tend to subside once injections stop. His patients give themselves shots of 2 million IL-2 units per day, with no interruptions.