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Clinical and Vaccine Immunology, August 2009, p. 1127-1131, Vol. 16, No. 8
1071-412X/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/CVI.00013-09
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Beneficial Effects of a Combination of Korean Red Ginseng and Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy in Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1-Infected Patients{triangledown}

Heungsup Sung,1,2 You-Sun Jung,1 and Young-Keol Cho1*

Departments of Microbiology,1 Laboratory Medicine, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Asan Medical Center, Seoul 138-736, Korea2

Received 11 January 2009/ Returned for modification 27 February 2009/ Accepted 8 June 2009

To determine whether Korean red ginseng (KRG) has beneficial effects on human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1)-infected patients administered highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), we analyzed the CD4 T-cell count, viral load, and resistance mutations to HAART in 46 individuals. Thirteen patients harbored resistance mutations at baseline. The study population was divided into two groups: specifically, a group treated with a combination of HAART plus KRG (23 patients) and a group treated with HAART alone (23 patients). The annual increase in CD4 T-cell count in the combination group was significantly higher than that in the group treated with HAART alone (P < 0.05). Overall, 21 patients harbored resistance mutations after 3 years of therapy. Following exclusion of 13 patients displaying baseline resistance mutations, 7.1% of patients (1/14) in the combination group and 42.1% (8/19) in the HAART group were identified with resistance mutations. One patient with baseline resistance mutations in the combination group did not display resistance mutations 3 years after HAART therapy. High-level resistance mutations were significantly lower in the combination group than in the group treated with HAART alone. Five patients showed no improvement in viral copy number (26.3% [5/19]) in the combination group and 9 (45.0% [9/20]) showed no improvement in the HAART-only group. Our data support the clinical utility of KRG intake during HAART therapy.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Microbiology, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Asanbyeongwon-gil 86, Songpa-gu, Seoul 138-736, Republic of Korea. Phone and fax: 82-2-3010-4283. E-mail: ykcho2{at}amc.seoul.kr

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 17 June 2009.

Clinical and Vaccine Immunology, August 2009, p. 1127-1131, Vol. 16, No. 8
1071-412X/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/CVI.00013-09
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.





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