Cohort of Young Adults Infected With HIV Since Birth or During Childhood

Overview

Background: With the improvement of the prognosis for HIV-infected infants, thanks to the availability of antiretroviral therapies, young adults infected with HIV since birth are becoming an emerging group among the HIV-infected population. Morbidity, mortality and immunovirological evolution in these young adults need to be studied in a large population and compared to patients infected with HIV later in adulthood or to the general population in terms of mortality. Moreover, the study of accelerated or premature ageing, linked to HIV and/or antiretroviral therapy, is particularly interesting in this population. Objectives: To study the transition to adulthood and the further evolution of HIV-1 or -2 perinatally infected young adults: 1) To study the teenager to adult transition in terms of clinical and immunovirological status, schooling and professional integration, sexuality and reproductive life, transition from paediatrics to adult departments; 2) To study prognosis, morbidity and mortality according to age, infection stage at the time of antiretroviral initiation and therapeutic history; 3) To study the incidence and expression of adverse events and the potential link to antiretroviral therapies; 4) To study the markers of a potential premature ageing, from the metabolic, cardiovascular and immunological points of view.

Methods: A national multicenter cohort of young adults, infected with HIV since birth or during childhood, including a common module and a physiopathological module (metabolic,, cardiovascular and immunological). A control group of HIV-uninfected young adults is included for comparison in the latter module. Patients aged between 18 and 25 years of age, whose HIV diagnosis was made before the age of 13 are eligible for ANRS CO19 COVERTE. This cohort is an extension of the EPF cohort (ANRS CO10), in which follow-up stops at the age 18, with an extension to adults with a HIV diagnosis established before the age of 13. Questionnaires are filled out by physicians once a year. Self-administered questionnaires are also carried out. Blood sampling and specific biological exams are collected and a biobank constituted. In the physiopathological module, specific exams are carried out at inclusion and after 3 years of follow-up: metabolic and immunological exams, OGTT, CT-scan and DXA-scan, and cardiovascular explorations (carotid intima-media thickness, pulse wave velocity …). An estimated 400 enrolments during the first 3 years is expected in the common module and an estimated 200 HIV-infected subjects and 75 uninfected controls is expected in the physiopathological module. Expected results: The follow-up of young adults in this cohort will bring new data on the long term efficacy of antiretroviral treatment and their adverse events, from the metabolic, cardiovascular and immunological, point of view, be they linked or not to HIV infection per se. This analysis will take into account the characteristics of this population, as compared to adults infected during adulthood: an early exposure to HIV and antiretroviral treatment, a different social context, difficulties in care, and a different exposure to risk factors for adverse events and complications. We will evaluate the impact of the transition to adulthood and of the transition from paediatrics to adult departments, on clinical prognosis, adherence, professional and schooling integration, sexuality, social life.