title: Therapeutic immunization for HIV.
abstract: Vaccines have entered into human clinical trials against infectious diseases and as therapies against cancer. The HIV virus establishes a latent infection at a very early stage and the T cell memory of the infected patient is rapidly destroyed. However, results of immunotherapy after DNA and protein immunization show that vaccine-induced immune responses might be present for a long period of time. Patients subjected to therapeutic immunization appear to do well, and to have a small immunological advantage, which, however, will have to be improved. The vaccine therapy should start early, while adequate reservoirs of appropriate T helper cells are available and still inducible. The DNA vaccines induce a relatively long-lived immunological memory, and gene-based immunization is effective in inducing cytotoxic CD8(+) T cells and CD4+ helper cells. Protein vaccines, on the other hand, primarily give T cell help. It thus appears that DNA and protein approaches to HIV immunization complement each other. A surprisingly broad reactivity to peptides from different subtypes of HIV was identified in individuals infected with several subtypes of HIV.
authors.affiliation: Swedish Institute for Infectious Disease Control, 171 82, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Lindvi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gudmundsdotter
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sjödin
authors.forename: Ann-Charlotte
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Boström
authors.forename: Bo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hejdeman
authors.forename: Rebecca
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Theve-Palm
authors.forename: Annette
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Alaeus
authors.forename: Knut
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Lidman
authors.forename: Britta
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Wahren
mesh_terms: D016915:AIDS Vaccines / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic; D023241:Antiretroviral Therapy, Highly Active; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D018414:CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D016207:Cytokines / Q000276:immunology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D015483:HIV Antibodies / Q000096:biosynthesis; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000276:immunology / Q000628:therapy* / Q000821:virology; D006801:Humans; D007156:Immunologic Memory; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D019444:Vaccines, DNA / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D019562:Viral Load
chemical_list: D016915:AIDS Vaccines; D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic; D016207:Cytokines; D015483:HIV Antibodies; D019444:Vaccines, DNA