Influence of exogenous interleukin-2 concentration on the isolation of human immunodeficiency virus.

A significant increase (P = 0.015) in the HIV isolation rate from plasma samples was achieved by use of 10 U/ml exogenous interleukin-2 compared to 20 U/ml. The sensitivity rose from 0% to 29% in patients negative for p24 core antigen (P = 0.031) and from 71% to 86% in patients positive for p24 core antigen in plasma (P > 0.05). Titration of infectious HIV revealed that 10 U/ml interleukin-2 is the optimal concentration to isolate low numbers of infectious particles of HIV.