HUMiD study
Research type
Research Study
Full title
HIV and Urinary Mitochondrial Dysfunction (a pilot study)
IRAS ID
170721
Contact name
Brendan Payne
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS foundation Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 6 months, 2 days
Research summary
We are interested in improving the long-term health of people living with HIV infection. Thanks to modern anti-HIV drugs our patients can expect to survive for many decades. However HIV patients appear to be at an increased risk for many of the common diseases of older age. The reasons for this are not fully understood. We have been studying mitochondria, the tiny ‘batteries’ which power our cells. As we age, these mitochondria become damaged, and we have recently discovered that some HIV patients have an increase in this damage. We have previously studied this problem by taking samples of leg muscle (a ‘muscle biopsy’) but this is an invasive test and is not suitable for large-scale studies. Instead we would like to find a simple non-invasive way to study mitochondrial damage in our patients. We hope that we may be able to do this by looking for damage to the DNA from mitochondria in urine samples.
We are interested in studying a wide range of HIV patients as the mitochondrial damage in urine might be seen only in certain groups of patients. As part of this study, we will also undertake a sub-study of patients who are starting HIV treatment to see if there are any changes.
The study will be run at the Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle-upon-Tyne. We will collect blood and urine samples at the time of a routine clinic visit. These samples will be examined for damage to mitochondria as well as detailed tests of kidney function.REC name
North East - Newcastle & North Tyneside 1 Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
15/NE/0256
Date of REC Opinion
17 Aug 2015
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion