Polyactin A increases CD4(+) T-cell counts in HIV-infected individuals with insufficient immunologic response to highly active antiretroviral therapy.

We conducted a study to determine whether an immunomodulator, polyactin A, is able to enhance the immunologic response in patients with insufficient immunologic response to highly active antiretroviral therapy. From 783 patients, 48 were eligible and were randomly assigned to an experimental group receiving polyactin A for 3 months or a control group. CD4(+) T-cell counts in the experimental group increased from 201 ± 31 to 228 ± 38 cells/µl after treatment (p < 0.001). CD4(+) T-cell counts in the control group and CD8(+) T-cell counts and CD4(+)/CD8(+) ratios in both groups did not differ significantly between baseline and month 3. The experimental group had a higher CD4(+) T-cell count than the control group at month 3 (228 ± 38 versus 205 ± 35, p < 0.05). Our work demonstrated that polyactin A can increase CD4(+) T-cell counts in patients with insufficient immunologic response to highly active antiretroviral therapy, but further studies are required to determine its clinical benefits.