Stimulation of the primary anti-HIV antibody response by

Abstract: Type I IFNs are needed for the produc-tion of antiviral antibodies in mice; whether they also stimulate primary antibody responses in vivo during human viral infections is unknown. This was assessed in patients acutely infected with HIV-1 and treated with IFN-2b. Patients with acute HIV-1 infection were randomized to receive anti-retroviral therapy alone (Group A, n60) or com-bined for 14 weeks with pegylated-IFN-2b (Group B, n30). Emergence of anti-HIV antibod-ies was monitored during 32 weeks by Western blot (WB) analyses of serum samples. IFN-2b treat-ment stimulated the production of anti-HIV anti-bodies. On Week 32, 19 weeks after the last IFN-2b administration, there were 8.5 (6.5–10.0