HIV Persistence and Viral Reservoirs

June 29, 2020 updated by: University of California, San Francisco

Treating HIV-infected Elite Controllers as a Model of HIV Remission

Although highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) decreases HIV-associated mortality, it does not to completely restore health. Patients doing well on otherwise effective HAART remain at risk for cancer, cardiovascular/liver disease, osteopenia, and other "non-AIDS-defining" events. While complete eradication may never be feasible, a "functional cure" in which patients are able to maintain undetectable viral loads indefinitely without therapy may be possible. The best evidence for this are the so-called "elite" controllers, whom we define as individuals who are HIV-seropositive, with plasma HIV RNA levels below the level of conventional detection without treatment. Controllers may be conceptualized as a naturally occurring model of a functional cure (or "HIV remission"), and are ideal patients in which to study HIV persistence and the possibility of eradication.

We propose to conduct a pilot study to better characterize the reservoirs that lead to viral persistence in a group of well-characterized controllers. We propose two specific aims: 1) to characterize the dynamics of viral production in blood and gut-associated lymphoid tissue (GALT) in controllers; and 2) to prospectively treat 10 controllers with raltegravir, tenofovir/emtricitabine for 24 weeks and study the effects of HAART on viral dynamics and host inflammatory responses.

Our primary hypotheses are: 1) viral replication is ongoing in untreated controllers, 2) HAART will reduce viral replication in blood and GALT and decrease immune activation, and 3) higher levels of immune activation are associated with greater measures of microbial translocation and distribution of virus to more differentiated T cell subsets.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Completed

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
16

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Phase 4

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • California
      • San Francisco, California, United States, 94110
        • San Francisco General Hospital

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years to 70 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  1. Age ≥18 years, and
  2. HIV infection, and
  3. Antiretroviral-naïve, and
  4. CD4+ T cell count >350 cells/mm3, and
  5. "Controllers": antiretroviral untreated with 50-1000 copies/mL viral load for at least 12 months

Exclusion criteria:

  1. Persons with known rheumatologic conditions (e.g., systemic lupus erythematosus), because of their predilection for biologic false-positive testing on HIV antibody tests.
  2. Screening absolute neutrophil count <1,000 cells/mm3, platelet count <70,000 cells/mm3, hemoglobin < 8 mg/dL, estimated creatinine clearance <40 mL/minute, aspartate aminotransferase >100 units/L, alanine aminotransferase >100 units/L.
  3. Screening genotype resistance testing showing resistance to tenofovir or emtricitabine.
  4. Known kidney disease.
  5. Known bone disease, including pathologic fractures.
  6. Patients with chronic Hepatitis B infection, because of the risk of liver abnormalities after starting and stopping tenofovir/emtricitabine.
  7. Concurrent treatment with lamivudine, adefovir, entecavir, or telbivudine.
  8. Serious illness requiring hospitalization or parental antibiotics within the preceding 3 months.
  9. Any vaccination 2 weeks prior to baseline (Day 0) visit and throughout the study period. NOTE: Because the study will most likely be actively recruiting during the influenza season, all subjects will be encouraged to receive their annual influenza vaccine at the screening visit (4 weeks prior to baseline [Day 0] visit) if they have not already been vaccinated for the 2009-10 season and if it is medically indicated.
  10. Concurrent treatment with immunomodulatory drugs, or exposure to any immunomodulatory drug in the preceding 16 weeks (e.g. corticosteroid therapy equal to or exceeding a dose of 15 mg/day of prednisone for more than 10 days, IL-2, interferon-alpha, methotrexate, cancer chemotherapy). NOTE: Use of inhaled or nasal steroid use is not exclusionary.
  11. Concurrent treatment with phenobarbital, phenytoin, or rifampin.
  12. Pregnant or breastfeeding women. Females of childbearing potential must have a negative serum pregnancy test at screening and agree to use a double-barrier method of contraception throughout the study period.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Experimental: Elite controller
Sixteen controllers will be treated with open-label raltegravir/tenofovir/emtricitabine for 24 weeks.
Drug: Raltegravir, tenofovir/emtricitabine
16 controllers will be treated with open-label raltegravir/tenofovir/emtricitabine for 24 weeks.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Mean Change in Estimated Ultrasensitive Plasma HIV RNA Levels Between Baseline and Week 24
Time Frame: 24 weeks
The isothermal transcription mediated amplification (TMA) assay (Aptima, Gen-Probe/Hologic) was used to measure ultrasensitive plasma HIV RNA levels at weeks 0, 4, 12, and 24. This is a nucleic acid-amplification test that has been FDA-approved for the early detection of HIV infection in blood donors. It is a highly specific and sensitive assay, with a singlicate 50% detection limit of 3.6-14 copies/mL. The assay was performed in triplicate on 0.5 mL plasma (1.5 mL total plasma), improving the overall 50% detection limit to < 5 copies/mL.
24 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
University of California, San Francisco

Collaborators

Collaborators

An organization other than the sponsor that provides support for a clinical study. This support may include activities related to funding, design, implementation, data analysis, or reporting.
Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC
Gilead Sciences
California HIV/AIDS Research Program

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
December 1, 2009

Primary Completion (Actual)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
November 1, 2012

Study Completion (Actual)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
October 1, 2013

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
December 1, 2009

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
December 2, 2009

First Posted (Estimate)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
December 3, 2009

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
July 1, 2020

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
June 29, 2020

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
June 1, 2020

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • H52889-35080

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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