Data of pre-clinical and early clinical trials of acriflavine and hydroxy-methyl-ellipticine reviewed, enriched by the experience of their use for 18 months to 6 years in combinations with other HIV1 virostatics

Two virostatics which we discovered in 1990, acriflavine (ACF) and hydroxy-methyl-ellipticine (HEL) and shown active on HIV1 resistant to AZT have been introduced into combinations of four virostatics selected among ten available: themselves, plus zidovudine, zalcitabine, didanosine, lamivudine, stavudine, saquinavir, ritonavir, indinavir, the combinations were applied in 3-week sequences, differing from each other by drug rotation. Those which contained ACF may have more often a CD34 decrease than those containing neither ACF nor HEL, and they present more often a CD4 increase. No significant difference as far as side effects or beneficial effects could be detected after 18 months to 6 years, between sequences containing ACF or HEL or both, and sequences not containing any one of them.