I have been on Atripila for 1 year. When I began my treatment with Atripila my T-Cell count was at 150 and VL around 5000 in June of 2007. I have been undetectable since August of 2007. My T-cells recovered to around 260 but on my last labs, June 08, the T-Cells were at 200 and 23% while still undectable under 50 with VL. Any ideas on how to boast my T-Cells?

Thank you for your attention.

Recovery of T cells is an independent phenomenon for viral suppression. HIV drugs are good at suppressing virus replications/levels but it is up to the body to recover T-cells once the destruction rate has been slowed due to ART. Though usually T-cells (CD4 or helper cells) increase in that setting up to 10-25% of the time the recovery is slow or almost non-existent. Genetics, thymus function, T-cell activation levels, and many other factors appear to contribute to slow T-cell recovery. IL-2 is under study as a T-cell growth factor. No other treatment has been proven safe or effective for boosting CD4 cells when recovery is slow after starting ART. KH