Or, Tat-specific CTLs may be more proficient at controlling HIV infection than CTL responses specific to other regulatory proteins. Through changes in Tat, HIV overcomes the immune system's robust, early response to HIV and abiding infection is established. Knowing which peptides are expressed early in HIV infection could have important consequences for the development of an HIV vaccine. Glaxo Wellcome, the manufacturer of the drugs studied, and Fonds National Suisse, sponsored the research. Four left because of adverse effects and three left for personal reasons.
Memory cells are a type of T lymphocytes that have been exposed to specific antigens.
When they encounter the same antigen, they can reproduce dramatically. Naive cells are T lymphocytes that have not yet been exposed and primed to respond to a specific antigen. Recovery of HIV-specific CD4 responses was observed in 40 percent of patients. In other words, just what the doctor ordered. Plana and associates compared the effects of combinations of two and three drugs in patients in early chronic HIV infection.