Traditional Chinese Medicine TN-01 Reconstitutes T Cells in SIV–infected Rhesus Monkeys

Background: Long-term antiretroviral therapy (ART) cannot recover the T cell counts in a substantial proportion of AIDS patients and viral loads rapidly rebound after ART suspension. Therefore, exploring novel alternative and adjuvant ART has become a priority in HIV treatment. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) have beneficial effects in regulating T cells and our previous clinical trial data have shown that TCM TN-01 maintains good health of patients with AIDS with an unclear mechanism. Herein, we preliminary investigated whether TN-01 influences immune reconstruction to enhance the antiviral immune response in simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV)-infected rhesus monkeys. Methods: The SIV-infected animals were firstly administered with TN-01 alone (5 ml/kg; twice a day, i.g.). More than 2 months later, these 2 SIV-infected rhesus monkeys were intraperitoneally injected with PMPA (30 mg/kg; once a day) and FTC (20 mg/kg; once a day) for about 3 months. Moreover, SIV-infected rhesus monkeys were also administered with TN-01 each 2 weeks from week 23 to week 35 during ART. Flow cytometer were used to assess the phenotype of T cell and plasma was isolated from whole blood for viral load detection. Results: The flow cytometry analysis revealed that treatment with TN-01 alone or combined with ART significantly upregulated T cells counts and the proportions of T cell subsets. TN-01 treatment also delayed viral rebound after ART suspension. Conclusions: Our data indicate that TN-01 could enhance the efficacy of ART and promote immune reconstruction, suggesting TN-01 treatment as a potent strategy in immune functional cure of HIV infection.