Herbal Ashwagandha Inhibits the Onset of Progression of HIV Infection

Human immunodeficiency virus -1 (HIV-1) is one of 2 types of HIV precipitated by acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), transmitted through direct contact with HIV-infected body fluids, including blood, semen, and genital secretions,...

Human immunodeficiency virus HIV-1 is the most widespread type worldwide that can lead to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS).

Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) is a chronic condition caused by the infection of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).



According to statistics, AIDS is the fifth leading cause of death in the US.

People between the ages 25 and 44 in the United States are at substantially higher risk compared to other age groups.

Approximately 36.7 million people worldwide lived with HIV/AIDS in 2016, including, 2.1 million children less than 15 years of age.

According to epidemiological studies, people who serval sexual partners are the most at risk of HIV infection.

However, the virus can also transmit through infected blood transfusion, infected mothers to children.



Most people infected by the HIV virus may experience symptoms of fever, muscle aches, and joint pain similar to those of influenza in the early stage of the viral attacks.



According to epidemiological studies, people who have serval sexual partners are the most at risk of HIV infection.

However, the virus can also transmit through infected blood transfusion, infected mothers to children.


If untreated, the virus will slowly multiply and destroy the cells of the immune system, leading to chronic signs and symptoms of fever, fatigue, and swollen lymph nodes,...

If an infected individual has the numbers of T-cell count below 200, the person is considered to have AIDs.



Ashwagandha also is known as Withania somnifera is a nightshade plant in the genus of Withania, belonging to the family Solanaceae, native to the dry parts of India, North Africa, Middle East, and the Mediterranean.

The herbal medicine has been considered as Indian ginseng and used in Ayurvedic medicine for over 3000 years to treat tumors and tubercular glands, carbuncles, memory loss, and ulcers and considered an anti-stress, cognition-facilitating, anti-inflammatory, and anti-aging herbal medicine.

In the urgency to discover a natural ingredient for the prevention of infectious diseases, researchers examined the clinical efficacy and safety of a new polyherbal preparation, Immu-25, in HIV-infected patients.

The open-label pilot study. included 36 patients (10 female, 26 male) with a mean age of 35 +/-10 years, with confirmed HIV infection with a CD4 count <500 cells/microL, and received two capsules of the test drug twice daily for 18 months.


According to the results of the study, the polyherbal preparation produced good symptomatic improvement within 6 months with an increase in mean (95% CI) weight from 58 (53-64)kg to 63 (56-69)kg, 64 (58-72)kg and 68 (62-74)kg after 6, 12 and 18 months of treatment, respectively.

The application decreased the incidence and severity of symptoms such as diarrhea, fatigue, anorexia, cough, and fever in the participants.

Furthermore, there was a decrease in the mean (95% CI) viral load from 326 438 (428 600-186 420) copies/mL to 180 495 (258 300-124 000) copies/mL and 22 069 (42 100-16 000) copies/mL after 6 and 12 months of treatment, respectively.


Most importantly, the decrease in viral load was associated with an increase in mean (95% CI) CD4 count from a baseline of 243 (203-388) cells/microL to 336 (263-486) cells/microL after 6 months of therapy, and this continued to rise to 527 (285-767) cells/microL (p < 0.001) and 618 (362-1012) cells/microL (p < 0.001) after 12 and 18 months of treatment, respectively.


However, mild gastrointestinal adverse effects had been reported by some of the participants.


Based on the evidence, researchers said, "herbal drug may have a good immunomodulatory effect and has potential as a co-therapeutic agent in the management of HIV infection. Further studies are warranted to confirm its therapeutic potential".

Taken altogether, Ashwagandha may be considered supplements for the prevention and treatment of HIV infection, pending the confirmation of the larger sample size and multicenter human study.


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Author Biography
Kyle J. Norton (Scholar, Master of Nutrition, All right reserved)
Health article writer and researcher; Over 10.000 articles and research papers have been written and published online, including worldwide health, ezine articles, article base, health blogs, self-growth, best before it's news, the karate GB daily, etc.,.
Named TOP 50 MEDICAL ESSAYS FOR ARTISTS & AUTHORS TO READ by Disilgold.com Named 50 of the best health Tweeters Canada - Huffington Post
Nominated for shorty award over last 4 years
Some articles have been used as references in medical research, such as international journal Pharma and Bioscience, ISSN 0975-6299.

Sources
(1) Evaluation of the antiretroviral activity of a new polyherbal drug (Immu-25) in patients with HIV infection by Usha PR1, Naidu MU, Raju YS. (PubMed)