Active clinical trials for "HIV Infections"

HIV is found in both the blood and the genital tract. This study will compare the levels and types of HIV found in the blood with the levels and types of HIV found in the female genital tract. Study hypotheses: 1) In the presence of antiretroviral therapy, viral replication within the female genital tract may lead to the development of drug resistance that is different from that of virus in the blood plasma. 2) Antiretroviral drug levels in the female genital tract may often be lower than in the blood plasma and differences in drug exposure may be associated with differences in virus replication and selection of resistant HIV variants during drug failure. 3) HIV can be recovered in vitro from cells in the female genital tract during successful therapy, and it may be genetically different from the HIV variants recovered from the blood cell latent reservoir on the same visit.

Prevention of unplanned pregnancies among HIV infected couples decreases the rate of maternal-child virus transmission and the number of children orphaned when parents die of AIDS. This study will evaluate two programs for reducing the number of unplanned pregnancies among HIV infected couples in Zambia.

This study will test the safety of and immune response to an oral HIV vaccine in healthy volunteers. The vaccine in this study uses a weakened bacterium called Salmonella typhi to deliver an HIV gene into the body through the mouth. The body then produces an HIV protein from the gene; this protein stimulates an anti-HIV immune response. The vaccine contains only one of the many substances that HIV needs to make more copies of itself, so the vaccine itself cannot cause HIV or AIDS.

Osteopenia and osteoporosis are increasingly reported in HIV-infected patients, and appear to be more frequent than in general population. However, pathogenesis remains unclear, and published studies still give non concordant results. We therefore started a prospective study, to assess the potential role of ARV in the occurrence of osteopenia and osteoporosis. BMD evolution over a 2-years period of follow-up, will be compared between patients starting ARV therapy, and subjects without HAART (no indication of treatment). A correlation between BMD and several factors will be looked at (see below). This study with individual direct benefice, is conducted in 3 outpatients clinics (Strasbourg, Colmar, Mulhouse) in collaboration with the rheumatologic teams. 60 patients are planned to be included over a 3-years inclusion period

Heterosexual contact is now the primary route of transmission for HIV worldwide. This study is a phase 3 trial designed to determine the effectiveness and safety of the 1.0% C31G (SAVVY) vaginal gel for the prevention of male-to-female transmission of HIV among women at high risk.

Microbicides are drugs that destroy microbes such as viruses and bacteria. Rectal microbicides may be able to prevent transmission of HIV during anal intercourse. The purpose of this study is to obtain rectal samples from men to learn information that may be valuable in future clinical trials of rectal microbicides.

Recent studies have shown that patients receiving state-of-the-art treatment for HIV infection (highly active antiretroviral therapy, or HAART) show discordant responses to therapy-that is, they improve both clinically and immunologically (increased CD4 immune cell counts), but their levels of HIV in the blood do not drop. This study will examine blood samples taken from HIV-infected children treated with 2',3'-dideoxyinosine (didanosine, or ddI) in an earlier NCI study to determine if these patients had similar discordant responses to therapy. If so, the study will also examine how these factors may be predictive of disease progression and survival. Investigators will measure HIV levels in blood specimens from children previously enrolled in NCI protocol 88-C-0129. The measurements will be done in specimens drawn before initiation of treatment with ddI and at various times during the course of treatment. The viral responses to therapy will then be correlated with short- and long-term clinical and immunologic outcomes. In addition, researchers will examine these patients' blood samples for additional factors recently discovered to potentially influence disease progression. They include selenium levels and certain genetic factors. A better understanding of discordant responses to therapy will help physicians determine the best treatment option in situations where therapy results do not show uniform benefit. This protocol involves the scientific examination of laboratory specimens only and is not a clinical study open to patient enrollment.

The purpose of this study is to find out if HIV-infected pregnant women who take protease inhibitors (PIs) are more likely to have blood sugar problems than those who do not take PIs. HIV-infected people generally are treated with a combination of different types of anti-HIV drugs, 1 of which is usually a PI. The same holds true for pregnant women, but not much is known about the use of these drugs in pregnancy. Blood sugar and liver problems caused by anti-HIV drugs in nonpregnant patients are well known but their effects in pregnancy are not. Also, certain physical changes brought about by pregnancy may affect the way drugs are handled in the body. There remains a need for further study into the use of anti-HIV drugs during pregnancy and their effect on the safety of the mother and baby.

To determine the incidence of tuberculosis in an inner city population, identify risk factors for TB, describe the natural history in adults and children, evaluate the effect of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) co-infection on the progression of human immunodeficiency virus disease, and determine factors that contribute to compliance and non-compliance with prophylaxis and treatment.

To determine the prevalence and natural history of pulmonary and cardiac complications associated with HIV infection in utero, in infancy, and during early childhood.