The Safety and Effectiveness of Injections of Human Recombinant Interferon-gamma in Patients With AIDS Who Have Taken Zidovudine

Summary

To find out which of four doses of (recombinant) human interferon gamma (IFN-G) is most effective in stimulating the white blood cells (monocytes) to fight infection and to see if treatment with IFN-G can strengthen the ability of AIDS patients to control infections. This study will also determine how long after a single injection of IFN-G white blood cells remain stimulated. AIDS is a disease that progressively destroys that aspect of the body's defense called the immune system. It is particularly harmful to a class of cells called helper T-lymphocytes. The specific opportunistic infections and malignancies associated with AIDS have been treated with therapies that are often poorly tolerated by the patients and are associated with dose-limiting toxicities. The principal focus of AIDS therapy research at present is to control the underlying retroviral infection and to restore immune function with recombinant lymphokines, adoptive immunotherapy, and/or lymphocyte transplants. These treatments include zidovudine (AZT), which has been shown to control the HIV infection, and IFN-G, a lymphokine which activates tumor-destroying and germ-killing functions. Studies are needed to find the dose by which IFN-G works best.

Timeline

Start

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Primary completion

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Completion

1993-04

Publications

• Background Murray HW, Scavuzzo D, Jacobs JL, Kaplan MH, Libby DM, Schindler J, Roberts RB. In vitro and in vivo activation of human mononuclear phagocytes by interferon-gamma. Studies with normal and AIDS monocytes. J Immunol. 1987 Apr 15;138(8):2457-62.

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