For many patients, combination therapy also fails to provide adequate immune restoration. Moreover, since the life-threatening consequences of HIV disease result from the loss of immunity the virus induces and not from the virus itself, efforts to augment immune function are an important frontier in the management of HIV infection. IL-2 is a cytokine that is licensed in the United States for the treatment of metastatic renal cell carcinoma. Characteristics and biological activity of IL-2. Cytokines are soluble molecules that powerfully influence the functioning of the human immune system.
T cells produce a large group of cytokines known as interleukins.
Interleukins serve a number of functions, but most are involved in directing cells to divide and differentiate. It is therefore unsurprising that HIV disease is marked by a deficiency of IL-2. Rationale for IL-2 in the treatment of HIV infection. CD4 T cells are essential to healthy functioning of the immune system. Infection with HIV results in a progressive loss of these cells, which in turn results in opportunistic infections and malignancies.