The number of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) patients worldwide have been increasing rapidly in recent years, and is said to be approximately 38 million (UNAIDS; end of 2003). Against this backdrop, there is a rush to develop a vaccine for HIV. However, because of the mutation of the configuration of the virus following infection, an accurate vaccine has not yet been found. In addition, although many therapeutic medications for HIV have been developed, none completely cure HIV. Furthermore, current AIDS drugs (protease inhibitors, non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors, nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors, etc.) employ complex techniques. Long-term administration of these agents causes patients to suffer persistent adverse events, such as anemia, peripheral neuritis, pancreatitis, nausea, and headaches. Also, the possibility of long-term administration resulting in drug resistance cannot be ruled out. Yet another disadvantage of current treatment modalities is cost, in that current therapeutic medications for HIV are extremely expensive, often ranging between $15,000 to $20,000 per person per year, which necessarily limits patient access.
One type of agent that represents an effective alternative to current HIV treatment modalities is the delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) inducing agent, which type of agent has been researched as an immunomodulator that elicits immunological response in HIV patients by increasing the activity of the immune system cells in the body. Delayed-type hypersensitivity inducers are substances that induce Type 4 hypersensitivity when they come into contact with human skin, and they include trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid, picryl chloride(PC), 2,4-dinitrofluorobenzene (DNFB), and 1-chloro-2,4-dinitrobenzene (DNCB). Of these, DNCB has been widely used in the treatment of HIV and in immunological research, and the present invention focuses on DNCB as a DTH inducer in many embodiments, as described in greater detail below.