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CORRELATION OF CLINICAL AND VIRUS‐SPECIFIC IMMUNE RESPONSES FOLLOWING LEVAMISOLE THERAPY OF RECURRENT HERPES PROGENITALIS *
Author(s) -
O'Reilly Richard J.,
Chibbaro A.,
Wilmot R.,
Lopez C.
Publication year - 1977
Publication title -
annals of the new york academy of sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.712
H-Index - 248
eISSN - 1749-6632
pISSN - 0077-8923
DOI - 10.1111/j.1749-6632.1977.tb21947.x
Subject(s) - cancer , medicine , gerontology , library science , computer science
Patients with herpes progenitalis recurring every 14--28 days were treated with levamisole 150 mg orally twice weekly in an open trial to evaluate the relationship between immunomodulation and clinical response. Eight of 12 patients studied for 4--9 months reported a decrease in the frequency of recurrences. Enhanced virus-specific lymphoproliferative responses were observed in six of eight patients reporting clinical improvement. Herpes-antigen-induced production of leucocyte migration inhibitory factor (LMIF) was similarly enhanced in these individuals. In the four patients reporting no improvement, virus-specific lymphoproliferative and LMIF-generating responses were either depressed or unchanged. No significant alterations in neutralizing antibody titers were observed in any of the patients. Alterations in virus-specific lymphocyte transformation and lymphokine generation observed in vitro thus correlate with changes in clinical course in a manner consistent with the proposed immunomodulatory function of levamisole.