Study: AIDS drug
cocktails normalize T-cell counts for some

According to a study released Wednesday, AIDS drug cocktails may replenish damaged immune systems of HIV-positive patients, reports Reuters.

Immune cells called CD4 T-cells returned to normal levels in a group of patients handpicked because they responded well to a combination of at least three AIDS drugs, the research stated.

The study involved 1,835 HIV-infected people drawn from a larger study involving more than 14,000 patients from across Europe, Israel, and Argentina.

"I think it's very encouraging that if people can respond to treatment well enough and can suppress the virus for long enough, we have sufficient evidence to say their CD4 counts can return to normal," Amanda Mocroft of London's Royal Free and University College Medical School said in a telephone interview with Reuters. "Our previous understanding was that there was a plateau in CD4 counts so that CD4 counts would stop increasing after a sufficiently long time taking combination therapy."

Unfortunately, these findings present a best-case scenario, since not all HIV-positive patients respond well to these drugs, and in many developing nations AIDS medications are largely unavailable. (The Advocate)