title: Study of immunological and virological parameters during thalidomide treatment of SIV-infected cynomolgus monkeys.
abstract: The potential therapeutic utility of thalidomide (Thd), an effective inhibitor of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha in vitro, was investigated in cynomolgus monkeys (Macaca fascicularis) at 10 months after infection with simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV). Thd-treated macaques (n = 8) received an oral dose (10 mg) daily for 7 days, followed by a wash-out period of 5 weeks. A 2nd cycle of treatment was performed on the same animals at higher doses (20 mg Thd/day) for 14 days. The control monkeys (n = 7) received a placebo for the same period of time. In the present study, we show that Thd, in addition to inhibiting TNF-alpha production after in vitro mitogen stimulation of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), was able to restore the proliferative responses to SIV peptides in monkeys that were infected with SIV. Interestingly, we found that such effects are associated with an increased expression of CD28 cell surface receptors on CD4+ T-cells paralleled by a decrease on CD8+ T-cells. At the same time, significant reduction in either cell-associated viral load or plasma viral RNA was not observed among the SIV-infected monkeys during the two treatment cycles, when compared with the placebo group.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Virology, Instituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Di Fabio
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Trabattoni
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Geraci
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ruzzante
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Panzini
authors.forename: M L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Fusi
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Chiarotti
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Corrias
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Belli
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Verani
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dalgleish
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Clerici
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Titti
mesh_terms: D000284:Administration, Oral; D000818:Animals; D019380:Anti-HIV Agents / Q000276:immunology / Q000494:pharmacology*; D018106:CD28 Antigens / Q000032:analysis; D018791:CD4 Lymphocyte Count; D018414:CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes; D008252:Macaca fascicularis; D008297:Male; D008934:Mitogens; D016097:Simian Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000276:immunology; D015302:Simian Immunodeficiency Virus / Q000187:drug effects*; D013792:Thalidomide / Q000276:immunology / Q000494:pharmacology*; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D019380:Anti-HIV Agents; D018106:CD28 Antigens; D008934:Mitogens; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D013792:Thalidomide