HIGH-DOSE INTERFERON-ALPHA-2A EXERTS POTENT ACTIVITY AGAINST HUMAN-IMMUNODEFICIENCY-VIRUS TYPE-1 NOT ASSOCIATED WITH ANTITUMOR-ACTIVITY IN SUBJECTS WITH KAPOSIS-SARCOMA

Anti-human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) activity was assessed in HIV-1-infected homosexual and bisexual men receiving 18-36 MIU/day of recombinant interferon (IFN)-alpha 2a for Kaposi's sarcoma (KS), T he median baseline HIV-1 RNA level was 4.99 log(10) copies/mL. Sevente en subjects (68%) showed an RNA decline greater than or equal to.5 log (10)/mL, with a maximum at week 4 (median decline = 1.91, range = 3.64 -1.15; P=.0007), after which RNA levels stabilized, Eight subjects (32 %) with lower median initial CD4(+) T cell counts (60 vs. 350 x 10(6)/ L; P=.01) did not show RNA responses, Neither RNA nor KS responses wer e negatively affected by IFN-alpha 2a dose modifications, Anti-HIV res ponses of KS responders (n = 15) and nonresponders (n = 10) did not di ffer. High-dose IFN-cr can exert potent anti-HIV activity that is not associated with anti-KS activity.