The present invention relates to a plant derived pharmaceutical composition that has anti-viral HIV activity. The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is the causative agent associated with acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). AIDS and a less malignant form of the lethal disease AIDS Related Complex (ARC), and other related maladies respond to treatment with the composition of this invention.
AIDS was originally defined by the Centers for Disease Control as a disease at least moderately predictive of a defect in a cell mediated immunity, occurring in a person with no known cause for diminished resistance to the disease. It is now known that the syndrome AIDS is simply the end-stage manifestation of a prolonged, chronic erosion of the immune system caused by HIV. The syndrome defined term AIDS may be an outdated term. Perhaps the term "late stage HIV infection" may be a better term since it emphasizes the concept that HIV causes a spectrum of diseases.
HIV infection is a disease of the immune system just as hepatitis B is a disease of the liver, and influenza virus is a disease of the lung. Acute infection with HIV is usually asymptomatic but around the time of seroconversion one fourth of patients may experience transient low grade fever, malaise and other non-specific constitutional symptoms sometimes accompanied by a diffuse erythematous macropapular rash. The patient remains asymptomatic throughout most of the clinical course of the HIV infection. Despite an absence of symptoms about one half of asymptomatic patients develop clinically detectable diffuse enlargements of the lymph nodes. Disease progression is marked by a steady decline in the number of T-helper lymphocytes (CD4 lymphocytes). Other hematological abnormalities include dysregulation of antibody production by B-cells and hypergammaglobulinimia.
When the CD4 lymphocyte count falls below 200 cells per cubic millimeter, most patients begin to have symptoms and/or show clinical evidence of the disease. For reasons poorly understood clinically overt manifestations of disease usually appear on the mucocutaneous surface. Oral thrush (candidiasis) is the most widely recognized harbinger of systemic opportunistic infection, but a variety of other dermatological conditions may appear. Onset of fever, weight loss, night sweats or other constitutional signs signal the occurrence of a serious systemic opportunity infection or AIDS.