A multicenter clinical trial of oral ribavirin in HIV-infected people with lymphadenopathy: virologic observations. Ribavirin-LAS Collaborative Group.

A double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial comparing two daily doses of oral ribavirin (600 and 800 mg) and a placebo was performed at four medical centers geographically distributed throughout the USA. One hundred and sixty-four HIV-infected adult men with lymphadenopathy were enrolled over a 2-month period and received active treatment for 24 weeks followed by a 4-week interval during which they did not receive the study drug. A marked interlaboratory variation in HIV isolation from peripheral blood mononuclear cells was observed, underscoring the critical role of quality assurance in similar multicenter trials. Nevertheless, the combined data indicate that ribavirin did not significantly suppress HIV activity (on measurement of reverse transcriptase activity) after week 6 or reduce serum p24 antigenemia.