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Objective:

Several co-infections have been shown to impact the progression of HIV-1 infection. We sought to determine if treatment of helminth co-infection in HIV-1-infected adults impacted markers of HIV-1 disease progression.

Design:

To date, there have been no randomized trials to examine the effects of soil-transmitted helminth eradication on markers of HIV-1 progression.

Methods:

A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of albendazole (400 mg daily for 3 days) in antiretroviral-naive HIV-1-infected adults (CD4 cell count> 200 cells/μl) with soil-transmitted helminth infection was conducted at 10 sites in Kenya (Clinical Trials. gov NCT00130910). CD4 and plasma HIV-1 RNA levels at 12 weeks following randomization were compared in the trial arms using linear regression, adjusting for baseline values.

Results:

Of 1551 HIV-1-infected individuals screened for helminth infection, 299 were helminth …