Immune recovery in HIV with Mycobacterium W

The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is associated with decreased immunity. There is depletion of CD4 cells. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of mycobacterium w on CD4 cell count in HIV + ve patients. A total of fifty patients were randomly assigned to one of the three treatment groups: (A) Mycobacterium w alone (n=17) (B) mycobacterium w plus two antiretroviral agents (n=16) (C) Mycobacterium w plus HAART (highly active antiretroviral therapy; (n=17). Mycobacterium w was administered intradermally at the dose of 0.1 ml in both deltoid region (first dose). The subsequent four doses of mycobacterium w were 0.1 intradermal in the deltoid region of one arm at monthly intervals. CD4 cell count in all the HIV + ve patients was measured at baseline and after five months period. CD4 counts was increased by 108.96%, compared to baseline, in the patients receiving both mycobacterium w and HAART, suggesting a synergistic action. However, significant increase (80.22% compared to baseline)was also seen in patients receiving mycobacterium w along, suggesting that myobacterium w was an effective immune response enhancer. Mycobacterium w was well tolerated by all patients.