The "PLUS" study is a pilot study to measure the effect of therapy intensification (with raltegravir and optional second agent) on HIV levels in the gut and blood in patients on antiretroviral therapy (ART) with viral load \< 50 copies/mL (herein referred to as "suppressed"). We hypothesize that there is ongoing replication in the gut despite suppressive ART and that this replication can be inhibited by the addition of one or two new antiretroviral drugs whose activity affects a distinct part of the viral life cycle. All study participants will have upper and lower endoscopy at baseline (before intensification) and after intensification. These endoscopies will be used to obtain gut tissue and single cells (for CD4+ cells) .
The "PLUS" study is a prospective, longitudinal pilot study to measure the effect of therapy intensification (with raltegravir and possible addition of a study PI or NNRTI-Non-Nucleoside Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitor) on HIV-1 DNA/RNA levels in the gut-associated lymphoid tissue (GALT) and blood in patients on ART with viral load (VL) \< 50 copies/mL (herein referred to as "suppressed"). We hypothesize that there is ongoing replication in the GALT despite suppressive ART and that this replication can be inhibited by the addition of one or two new antiretroviral drugs whose activity affects a distinct part of the viral life cycle. All study participants will have a colonoscopy and esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) at baseline (before intensification) and a second colonoscopy with EGD 12 weeks after intensification. These endoscopies will be used to obtain GALT mononuclear cells (for CD4+ lymphocytes) as well as tissue for in situ hybridization and immunohistochemical studies.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
NA
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
8
The baseline ART regimen will be intensified with raltegravir 400mg orally (PO) twice daily (BID) (all participants) +/- a study NNRTI or protease inhibitor (PI) (at the option of the participant and the study clinical team).
Subjects who are not already on an NNRTI and who are suitable candidates will have the option of adding a study NNRTI (either efavirenz or etravirine).
Subjects who are not on a PI and who are suitable candidates will have the option of adding a study PI. PIs used as study drugs will include atazanavir (+/- ritonavir), fosamprenavir (+/-ritonavir), lopinavir/ritonavir, and darunavir/ritonavir.
San Francisco General Hospital
San Francisco, California, United States
San Francisco VA Medical Center (SFVAMC)
San Francisco, California, United States
Number of Subjects Who Had a Decrease in HIV RNA Per Million CD4+ T Cells in the Ileum
Number of subjects who had a decrease from week 0 to week 12 in unspliced cell-associated HIV RNA per million CD4+ T cells in the ileum
Time frame: 12 weeks
Number of Subjects Who Experienced an Increase in CD4+ T Cells (as a % of All Cells) in the Ileum.
Number of subjects who experienced an increase in CD4+ T cells (as a % of all cells) in the ileum (by flow cytometry) from week 0 to week 12.
Time frame: 12 weeks
Number of Subjects Who Experienced an Increase in CD4% in the Ileum.
Number of subjects who experienced an increase from week 0 to week 12 in CD4+ T cells (as a % of T cells, by flow cytometry) in the ileum
Time frame: 12 weeks
Average Change in "Activated" (CD38+HLADR+) CD8+ T Cells in the Ileum
Average of changes(week 0-week 12) in the % of CD8+ T cells that are CD38+HLA-DR+, by flow cytometry
Time frame: 12 weeks
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