Long-term supplementation with multivitamins plus selenium for HIV-infected patients in the early stages of disease who had not received antiretroviral therapy may safely reduce the risk of immune decline and illness, U.S. researchers said Tuesday.

Micronutrient deficiencies, known to influence immune function, are prevalent even before the development of symptoms of HIV disease and are associated with accelerated HIV disease progression, researchers at the Florida International University reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Micronutrient supplementation has improved markers of HIV disease progression, such as CD4 cell count and HIV viral load, and mortality in clinical trials. However, these studies were conducted either in the late stages of HIV disease or in pregnant women.

In the new study, Marianna Baum of the Florida International University and colleagues examined whether specific supplemental micronutrients enhance the immune system and slow HIV disease progression during the early stages of the disease in antiretroviral therapy-naive adults.

The researchers randomized 878 HIV patients in Botswana to supplementation with daily multivitamins, including vitamins B, C and E, selenium alone, multivitamins with selenium, or placebo for 24 months. The vitamins and the trace element selenium are nutrients essential for maintaining a responsive immune system. Selenium may also have an important role in preventing HIV replication.

They found that 32 of the 217 who took the placebo suffered progression of the disease, compared to 17 of the 220 who received the combined supplement of multivitamins plus selenium.

"We thought that the multivitamins alone were going to be effective, and that selenium alone as well as the combination and we were surprised to find that only the combination was effective," Baum said.

"A simple multivitamin supplementation with selenium provided early in HIV disease can actually slow the HIV disease progression and it is safe. It is low cost and it should be provided very early in HIV infection," said Baum.

The researchers said next they want to see if the supplements help patients already receiving antiretroviral therapy.

 Source: Xinhuanet