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Immune-based therapy for HIV
1HIV Research Clinic, Warren Grant Magnuson Clinical Center, National Institutes of Health, Washington, D.C., USA.
Even if there were antiretrovirals developed that could completely eliminate HIV from the body, it is thought that immune-based therapy would still be necessary. Pervasive damage occurs in the immune system even in early stages of the disease, and this damage would not be corrected by antiretrovirals. Several different types of immune-based therapies are presented in this article; some have been successful, and some have not been successful. All have been important, however, in increasing the knowledge base of HIV pathogenesis and in narrowing the options that might rebuild the immune system and, thereby, reverse this pathology.
Even if there were antiretrovirals developed that could completely eliminate HIV from the body, it is thought that immune-based therapy would still be necessary. Pervasive damage occurs in the immune system even in early stages of the disease, and this damage would not be corrected by antiretrovirals. Several different types of immune-based therapies are presented in this article; some have been successful, and some have not been successful. All have been important, however, in increasing the knowledge base of HIV pathogenesis and in narrowing the options that might rebuild the immune system and, thereby, reverse this pathology.