Sublingual immunotherapy linked to clinical benefits in HIV
(HealthDay)—For grass pollen-allergic HIV-positive patients treated with highly-active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT) is associated with significant clinical benefits, according to a study published online July 30 in Allergy.
Enrico Iemoli, Ph.D., from the Sacco Hospital in Milan, and colleagues examined the safety and clinical effectiveness of SLIT in a group of grass pollen-allergic HIV-positive patients treated with HAART. The authors compared 13 patients receiving SLIT tablets and symptomatic therapy with nine receiving symptomatic therapy alone. Analysis of total combined score (TCS), sum of symptom-medication score, and a quality of life (QoL) questionnaire were used to evaluate clinical benefits.
The researchers found that SLIT-treated patients had significant improvement compared to controls in clinical efficiency data (TCS: P = 0.0001; QoL: P = 0.03). No significant alteration was seen in TCD4 cell counts or viral load in either group.
"Our preliminary data, in a small group of HIV-positive patients, show that not only [is] the SLIT therapy clinically effective but it is safe and does not change any immune-virological parameter," the authors write.
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