In the September issue of Antimicrobial agents and chemotherapy, Dutch scientists published data that was an important step in answering the question of the mechanisms of the effectiveness of thalidomide in the treatment of infected patients by HIV and patients infected with mycobacteria.

It has been established in experiments that thalidomide can be effective in the treatment of tuberculosis, melanoma, systemic connective tissue diseases, severe forms of bronchial asthma, bacterial meningitis. In recent years, thalidomide has been used as a concomitant treatment for HIV infection and mycobacterial infections, including tuberculosis.

Scientists have discovered that thalidomide normalizes the ratio of subpopulations of immunocompetent cells called T-helpers (Th). In volunteers who received 400 mg of thalidomide once, the production of gamma interferon increased by type 1 T-meds and the production of interleukin-5 (IL-5) decreased, while levels of IL-2 (Th1) and IL-4 (Th2) have not changed..

Thus, a single dose of thalidomide induces a predominant response from type 1 T-helpers. It is well known that mycobacterial infections and HIV are mainly affected by Th1. Researchers believe that this may be due to the effectiveness of thalidomide in the treatment of HIV infection, tuberculosis and leprosy, but this hypothesis requires further research.