The Use of Lymph Node Biopsies to Support HIV Pathogenesis Studies
What You Need to Know Before You Apply
What is the purpose of this trial?
HIV medicines have led to dramatic improvements in health. However, there remains a concern for potential drug toxicities, cost of drugs, and need for life-long treatment. In addition, research has found that health is not completely restored in HIV-infected patients, even if they have been taking effective HIV medicines for a long time. This may be due to direct drug-toxicity, continued replication of the virus, and/or inflammation of the body in response to the virus. Therefore, a more complete understanding of how HIV stays in the body is necessary.Recent research has shown that one of the places that HIV can stay in the body is in lymphatic tissues such as lymph nodes (even in patients who have been taking HIV medicines for a long time). In addition, the amount of damage to the lymphatic tissues can predict how the immune system (CD4+ T cell count) will respond to therapy.The investigators therefore propose a study in which lymph nodes from the groin area will be removed, with the goals of: 1) seeing how much HIV is in lymph nodes and 2) seeing how much damage has happened to the lymph node architecture.
Who Is on the Research Team?
Steven Deeks, MD
Principal Investigator
University of California, San Francisco
Are You a Good Fit for This Trial?
Inclusion Criteria
Timeline for a Trial Participant
Screening
Participants are screened for eligibility to participate in the trial
Lymph Node Biopsy
Lymph nodes from the groin area will be removed to assess HIV presence and lymph node damage
Follow-up
Participants are monitored for safety and effectiveness after the biopsy procedure
What Are the Treatments Tested in This Trial?
Interventions
- Lymph node biopsy
Find a Clinic Near You
Who Is Running the Clinical Trial?
University of California, San Francisco
Lead Sponsor
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Collaborator