Recommendations measuring persistent HIV reservoirs

Date:
September 8, 2020
Source:
The Wistar Institute
Summary:
Scientists compiled the first comprehensive set of recommendations
on how to best measure the size of persistent HIV reservoirs during
cure- directed clinical studies.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Spearheaded by scientists at The Wistar Institute, top worldwide HIV researchers from the BEAT-HIV Martin Delaney Collaboratory to Cure HIV-
1 Infection by Combination Immunotherapy (BEAT-HIV Collaboratory) compiled
the first comprehensive set of recommendations on how to best measure
the size of persistent HIV reservoirs during cure-directed clinical
studies. This perspective article was published today in Nature Medicine.


========================================================================== Cure-directed studies seek to control or eradicate HIV beyond current antiretroviral therapy (ART) which can only suppress but not eliminate
HIV.

Long-term viral persistence on ART continues to cause immune activation, chronic inflammation and progressive damage to multiple organs. Multiple
cure- directed studies are underway worldwide but no consensus statement
was available to prioritize and interpret the many strategies available
today to measure persistent HIV on ART.

"Bringing together many of the original investigators who developed
current assays used to measure HIV, the BEAT-HIV Collaboratory has
now issued recommendations for priority in HIV measures as a guide
for cure-directed studies," said Luis J. Montaner, D.V.M., D.Phil.,
the Herbert Kean, M.D., Family Professor and director of the HIV-1 Immunopathogenesis Laboratory at Wistar's Vaccine & Immunotherapy Center, co-leader of the Delaney Collaboratory and corresponding author on the
article. "A major obstacle to eradication is the virus hiding in some compartments of the immune system where it's difficult to target and
measure. The BEAT-HIV guidelines now provide specific information on the strengths and limitations of each assay available today." The ability
to accurately measure the size of these HIV reservoirs is critical when evaluating potential therapeutic strategies to cure HIV. It is also
necessary for monitoring viral levels and guide ART interruption.

"We systematically reviewed the state of the science in the field and
provided a collective and comprehensive view on which viral measurements
to prioritize in clinical trials," said Mohamed Abdel-Mohsen, Ph.D.,
assistant professor in Wistar's Vaccine & Immunotherapy Center and one
of the authors of the paper. "I think this is a crucial step to take the
best advantage of the most valuable resource available to researchers
in their quest to find a cure for HIV, the blood and tissue samples from
people living with HIV who generously participate in the HIV cure-focused clinical trials all over the world." In current HIV cure-directed studies
in ART-suppressed people living with HIV, viral levels are monitored in peripheral blood cells obtained either by phlebotomy or leukapheresis
(a laboratory procedure to separate white blood cells from whole blood)
and biopsies from gut-associated lymphoid tissue or lymph nodes, though
most trials only use peripheral blood because it is easier to collect.


========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by The_Wistar_Institute. Note: Content
may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Mohamed Abdel-Mohsen, Douglas Richman, Robert F. Siliciano,
Michel C.

Nussenzweig, Bonnie J. Howell, Javier Martinez-Picado, Nicolas
Chomont, Katharine J. Bar, Xu G. Yu, Mathias Lichterfeld, Jose
Alcami, Daria Hazuda, Frederic Bushman, Janet D. Siliciano,
Michael R. Betts, Adam M.

Spivak, Vicente Planelles, Beatrice H. Hahn, Davey M. Smith,
Ya-Chi Ho, Maria J. Buzon, Christian Gaebler, Mirko Paiardini,
Qingsheng Li, Jacob D. Estes, Thomas J. Hope, Jay Kostman, Karam
Mounzer, Marina Caskey, Lawrence Fox, Ian Frank, James L. Riley,
Pablo Tebas, Luis J. Montaner.

Recommendations for measuring HIV reservoir size in
cure-directed clinical trials. Nature Medicine, 2020; DOI:
10.1038/s41591-020-1022-1 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/09/200908113257.htm

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