Hyperimmune plasma was collected from healthy, HIV-1 infected individuals with high titers of neutralizing antibodies and administered to 50 AIDS patients. All patients were monitored for viral antibodies, antigen and viral nucleic acid by PCR. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and sera were collected from these individuals and from a group of placebo treated individuals. Viral load is being quantitated by DNA and RNA PCR on the lymphocytes and RNA PCR on serum. Preliminary results suggest that although there may be protection based on the levels of serum p24 antigen, viral DNA levels were not decreased.
