Thus, at this stage of the infection, with relatively well-maintained CD4 counts and no clinical symptoms, CD4 T-cells in HIV infection retain the ability to be activated, which was significantly reduced by NAC and a combination of NAC and vitamin C. After incubation with antioxidants and stimulation with LPS, interestingly, the HIV positive group showed good responses to NAC alone and a “cocktail” of NAC and vitamin C, with CD25 levels returning to below baseline values, however, a similar effect could only be demonstrated in the control group with vitamin C alone. The gene discussed is IL2RA; the disease is HIV infectious disease.