Data of pre-clinical and early clinical trials of acriflavine and hydroxy-methyl-ellipticine reviewed, enriched by the experience of their use for 18months to 6 years in combinations with other HIV1 virostatics

Two virostatics which we discovered in 1990, acriflavine (ACF) and hydroxy- methyl-ellipticine (HEL) and shown active on HIV1 resistant to AZT have bee n introduced into combinations of four virostatics selected among ten avail able: themselves, plus zidovudine, zalcitabine, didanosine, lamivudine, sta vudine, saquinavir, ritonavir, indinavir, the combinations were applied in 3-week sequences, differing from each other by drug rotation. Those which c ontained ACF may have more often a CD34 decrease than those containing neit her ACF nor HEL, and they present more often a CD4 increase. No significant difference as far as side effects or beneficial effects could be detected after 18 months to 6 years, between sequences containing ACF or HEL or both , and sequences not containing any one of them. (C) 1998 Elsevier, Paris.