Clinical Trial of Brain-Penetrating HIV Drugs to Prevent Cognitive Impairment in China

March 31, 2016 updated by: Scott Letendre, University of California, San Diego

Clinical Trial of CNS Penetrating ART to Prevent NeuroAIDS in China

This primary aim of the project is to determine the association between antiretroviral therapy that better distributes into the central nervous system and prevention of HIV-associated neurocognitive impairment.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Advances in treatment have transformed HIV disease to a chronic illness in most individuals in the U.S. The most common central nervous system (CNS) complication of chronic HIV disease is HIV-associated neurocognitive disorder (HAND). In the U.S., HAND prevalence estimates range up to 55% of treated individuals. HAND is also common outside the U.S. For example, our prior project in China identified that more than a third of nearly 150 treated HIV(+) individuals in Anhui and Yunnan provinces had HAND. Data such as these support that the benefits of antiretroviral therapy (ART) can be incomplete, with many patients not returning to normal neurocognitive performance or, worse, developing new neurocognitive impairment while taking ART.

One explanation for this is the limited penetration of some antiretrovirals into the nervous system. Recent reports have identified that worse antiretroviral penetration characteristics are associated with worse control of HIV replication and worse neurocognitive performance. Most reports, however, have focused on treatment - rather than prevention - of HAND. Like many other medical conditions, prevention of HAND may be a more cost-effective public health goal than treating disease that has already occurred.

We are building on our prior work in China by performing a phase 4, randomized, controlled clinical trial of the safety and effectiveness of ART that differs in its penetration characteristics in 250 ART-naive individuals who have normal neurocognitive performance. The primary objective will be to determine the effects of better penetrating (BP) ART (zidovudine-lamivudine-nevirapine) compared with worse penetrating (WP) ART (tenofovir-lamivudine-efavirenz) on the prevention of HAND. We hypothesize that volunteers who are randomized to BP-ART will be less likely to neurocognitively decline over 96 weeks of observation than those who are randomized to WP-ART. The secondary objective will be to assess the influence on study outcomes of two conditions: persistent immune activation and viral hepatitis. In an exploratory aim, the project will also assess the influence on study outcomes of a concise panel of drug disposition-associated genetic polymorphisms.

Demonstrating that HAND can be prevented by using BP-ART should influence HIV treatment guidelines in the U.S., China, and elsewhere and ultimately lead to preservation of normal neurocognitive functioning in people afflicted with HIV/AIDS.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

250

Phase

  • 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

  • China
    • Beijing
      • Beijing, Beijing, China
        • Beijing Ditan Hospital
      • Beijing, Beijing, China
        • Beijing YouAn 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

Ages Eligible for Study

16 years to 68 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Men and women of at least 18 years of age.
  • Ability and willingness of subject to give written informed consent.
  • HIV-1 infection, as documented by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and confirmed by Western blot at any time prior to study entry. Plasma HIV-1 RNA is acceptable as an alternative confirmatory test.
  • Antiretroviral drug-naïve, defined as ≤10 days of ART at any time prior to entry.
  • Clinical HIV-1 RNA ≥1000 copies/mL obtained within 90 days of study screening.
  • Clinical blood CD4+ cell count < 350/mm3 (for men) or <250/mm3 (for women) within 60 days of study screening.
  • Performance within the expected normal range on the project's comprehensive, standardized battery of neuropsychological tests within 4 weeks.
  • For women of child-bearing potential (WOCBP), negative serum or urine pregnancy test at screening and within 48 hours prior to initiating study medications.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Serious illness requiring systemic treatment or hospitalization within 4 weeks.
  • Unacceptable laboratory values obtained within 4 weeks prior to study entry.
  • Untreated syphilis.
  • Child Pugh Class C hepatic impairment.
  • Active Hepatitis B Virus infection.
  • Known allergy/sensitivity to study drugs or their formulations.
  • Severe or untreated conditions that could affect NP test performance.
  • Such conditions include but are not limited to current substance use disorder, poorly controlled diabetes, uncontrolled seizure disorder, and any progressive CNS disorder (e.g., multiple sclerosis, CNS neoplasm) and evidence of acute intoxication or withdrawal, in the opinion of the study clinician.
  • Use of immunomodulators (e.g., interleukins, interferons, cyclosporine), HIV vaccine, systemic cytotoxic chemotherapy, or investigational therapy within 30 days prior to study entry.
  • Currently breast-feeding.
  • Requirement for any medications that have an absolute contraindication with any study drugs. In addition, we will exclude people taking rifampin.
  • Current imprisonment or involuntary incarceration in a medical facility for psychiatric or physical illness.
  • Prior use of nucleoside analogues, such as tenofovir, adefovir, or lamivudine, for treatment of hepatitis B for greater than 8 weeks while the subject was known to be HIV-infected.
  • Any condition that, in the opinion of the investigators, would compromise the subject's ability to participate in the study.

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: Prevention
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: Better-Penetrating ART
zidovudine 300 mg orally every 12 hours lamivudine 300 mg orally daily nevirapine 200 mg orally every 12 hours
Drug: zidovudine-lamivudine-nevirapine
96 weeks of zidovudine 300 mg orally twice daily, lamivudine 300 mg orally daily, nevirapine 200 mg orally daily for the first 14 days then 200 mg orally twice daily
Other Names:
  • Retrovir, Epivir, Viramune
Active Comparator: Worse-Penetrating ART
tenofovir disoproxil fumarate 300 mg orally daily lamivudine 150 mg orally every 12 hours efavirenz 600 mg orally daily
Drug: tenofovir-lamivudine-efavirenz
96 weeks of tenofovir disoproxil fumarate 300 mg orally daily, lamivudine 300 mg orally daily, efavirenz 600 mg orally daily
Other Names:
  • Viread, Epivir, Sustiva

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Decline in neuropsychological performance at 96 weeks
Time Frame: 96 weeks
Comparison of decline in NP performance between treatment groups.
96 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

University of California, San Diego

Collaborators

National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Peking University
Beijing YouAn Hospital
Beijing Ditan Hospital
National Center for AIDS/STD Control and Prevention, China CDC

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Scott L Letendre, M.D., University of California, San Diego

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

Helpful Links

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

July 1, 2010

Primary Completion (Actual)

July 1, 2014

Study Completion (Actual)

July 1, 2015

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

April 21, 2011

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 22, 2011

First Posted (Estimate)

April 25, 2011

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

April 4, 2016

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 31, 2016

Last Verified

March 1, 2016

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • R01MH092225 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)
  • 1R01MH092225-01 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

Yes

IPD Plan Description

Data will be shared in conference presentations and peer-reviewed publications. Data will also be made available on approval of requests for appropriate use.

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.

Clinical Trials on HIV Infections

Clinical Trials on zidovudine-lamivudine-nevirapine

Search Similar Trials

Sponsors and Collaborators

Medical Conditions

Drug Interventions

CROs by country

CROs in Dominican Republic

Conditions

Rare Diseases

Drug Interventions

Dietary Supplements

Sponsor/Collaborators

Locations

3
Subscribe