Lymphocyte development in paediatric HIV infection
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Lymphocyte development in paediatric HIV infection
IRAS ID
224570
Contact name
Nigel Klein
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
5 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Millions of children worldwide are infected with HIV through mother to child transmission. Antiviral therapy, where available, now enables children to survive into adulthood; however, the impact of childhood HIV infection on the development of the immune system is unknown. This must be understood to ensure that these children receive optimal care to reduce the impact of this global disease.
To determine which effects are the generic consequences of HIV infection and which effects occur specifically in individuals infected from birth, a comparison between young adults infected at birth, those infected in adulthood and uninfected individuals will be made.
This project proposes to use samples initially obtained as part of a previous project (10/H0713/ 1 (R&D 08ID21)) to complete immunological analysis of B cells to investigate how HIV infection in childhood affects the development of immunological memory. In addition, this proposal intends to extend the original work to cover investigation of T cell repertoires, from the same samples.
This information will be used to help to anticipate the medical needs of increasing numbers of children with HIV infection now entering adulthood. In addition, it will lay the foundations for future studies to explore the role of timely treatment of HIV infection in childhood to minimise the effect of HIV infection on a developing immune system.
REC name
South Central - Hampshire A Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
17/SC/0218
Date of REC Opinion
5 May 2017
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion