A placebo-controlled trial of ranitidine in patients with early human immunodeficiency virus infection.
Published
Journal Article
Previous uncontrolled reports have suggested that H2-antagonists may possess immunomodulatory activity in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients. Such trials reported improvements in HIV-related symptoms, increased absolute CD4 cell numbers, and improvements in other measures of host immunity. The present trial was a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind trial of ranitidine 300 mg (orally twice daily) in subjects with early HIV infection (absolute CD4 cells, 400-700/mm3). Eighty-one subjects entered the trial and 73 completed 16 weeks on study medications. There were no significant differences in the time-weighted average change from baseline between the 2 treatment groups in absolute CD4 cell number, plasma HIV RNA level, or most other surrogate markers of HIV infection. Serum beta2-microglobulin levels were significantly lower in placebo than ranitidine recipients. Ranitidine should not be recommended for the treatment of HIV-infected patients unless it is used for established indications.
Full Text
Duke Authors
Cited Authors
- Bartlett, JA; Berry, PS; Bockman, KW; Stein, A; Johnson, J; Graham, S; Quinn, J; DeMasi, R; Alexander, WJ
Published Date
- January 1998
Published In
Volume / Issue
- 177 / 1
Start / End Page
- 231 - 234
PubMed ID
- 9419196
Pubmed Central ID
- 9419196
International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)
- 0022-1899
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
- 10.1086/517361
Language
- eng
Conference Location
- United States