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Insulin potentiation therapy and the auto-reinfection hypothesis of HIV-related disease

SGA, M.D., Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Family Medicine, University of Health Sciences/The Chicago Medical School, North Chicago, IL 60064    [1987]

[ Summary by Chris Duffield.  The original article may be available directly from Dr. SGA. ]

[ We believe this article was distributed as part of a poster presentation at an AIDS conference. ]

Besides infecting T4 lymphocytes, HIV infects other cell types and tissues, including the brain.  It is thought that HIV infection recurs after drug treatment stops because of auto-reinfection, the reemergence of viruses from the brain, where anti-HIV drugs may not penetrate in effective concentrations.  Papers in the scientific literature show that insulin can assist transport of drugs across cell membranes and the blood-brain barrier.  Insulin has been shown (SGA et al) to enhance transport of AZT into the brains of rats.   Anecdotally, two human patients treated with insulin-potentiated ribavirin (with molecular structure similar to AZT) within less than a month went into complete remissions that, at the time of this report, had lasted more than 2 years.  Thus insulin potentiation therapy (IPT) may be an effective way to get therapeutic concentrations of anti-HIV drugs into the brain to stop the auto-reinfection process and give better clinical outcomes.