Infection of people with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) as well as LPBM5 infection in mice results in progressive deterioration of the immune system in the majority of untreated hosts. Peptide immunotherapy has been shown to be effective in the stimulation or immunoregulation of T-helper 1 (TH1) and T-helper 2 (TH2) response subsets. In murine acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), TH1 deficiency enables the host to be susceptible to coxsackievirus infection, inducing cardiopathology in a short period. T-cell receptor (TCR) Vβ8.1 peptide, a 16-mer peptide containing the entire CFR1 segment and part of the FR2 region of human Vβ8, showed both an immunoregulating and immunostimulating effect in murine AIDS. TCR Vβ8.1 peptide acts on T cells promoting interleukin-2 production and therefore enhancing a cellmediated immune response. It retarded development of cardiopathology due to coxsackievirus infection. Retrovirus infected mice treated with the peptide showed a longer life span than the nontreated retrovirus infected animals.

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