Acyclovir to Treat Patients Co-infected With HIV and Herpes Viruses in Uganda

Summary

This study will determine whether acyclovir, a medicine used to treat herpes simplex virus 2 (HSV-2), can slow down the progression (worsening) of HIV disease in people with both HIV and HSV-2 infections. HSV-2 increases the amount of HIV virus in the blood of infected people and may make HIV progress faster. The study will evaluate: "Whether people who take acyclovir can avoid antiretroviral treatment until later in their lives "Whether people who take acyclovir get fewer genital ulcers "How well people are able to take acyclovir and any side effects they experience from it "Differences in the amount of HIV virus in the blood of patients who are and are not taking acyclovir, and how HIV/AIDS is different in these patients. People 18 years of age and older living in the Rakai district of Uganda who are infected with both HIV (early stage disease) and HSV-2 may be eligible for this study. Participants are randomly assigned to take the study drug, acyclovir, or a placebo (look-alike pill with no active ingredient) daily for 2 years. During this time, they visit the clinic once a month for a routine physical examination. Patients who develop genital ulcers or complications of HIV are treated for the problem, and patients whose HIV disease progresses, requiring them to begin antiretroviral therapy, are treated accordingly.

Timeline

Start

2006-11

Primary completion

2010-10

Completion

2010-11

Publications

• Background Moriuchi M, Moriuchi H, Williams R, Straus SE. Herpes simplex virus infection induces replication of human immunodeficiency virus type 1. Virology. 2000 Dec 20;278(2):534-40. doi: 10.1006/viro.2000.0667.
• Background Serwadda D, Gray RH, Sewankambo NK, Wabwire-Mangen F, Chen MZ, Quinn TC, Lutalo T, Kiwanuka N, Kigozi G, Nalugoda F, Meehan MP, Ashley Morrow R, Wawer MJ. Human immunodeficiency virus acquisition associated with genital ulcer disease and herpes simplex virus type 2 infection: a nested case-control study in Rakai, Uganda. J Infect Dis. 2003 Nov 15;188(10):1492-7. doi: 10.1086/379333. Epub 2003 Oct 28.
• Background Stein DS, Graham NM, Park LP, Hoover DR, Phair JP, Detels R, Ho M, Saah AJ. The effect of the interaction of acyclovir with zidovudine on progression to AIDS and survival. Analysis of data in the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study. Ann Intern Med. 1994 Jul 15;121(2):100-8. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-121-2-199407150-00004.
• Redd AD, Newell K, Patel EU, Nalugoda F, Ssebbowa P, Kalibbala S, Frank MA, Tobian AA, Gray RH, Quinn TC, Serwadda D, Reynolds SJ. Decreased monocyte activation with daily acyclovir use in HIV-1/HSV-2 coinfected women. Sex Transm Infect. 2015 Nov;91(7):485-8. doi: 10.1136/sextrans-2014-051867. Epub 2015 Apr 22.
• Reynolds SJ, Makumbi F, Newell K, Kiwanuka N, Ssebbowa P, Mondo G, Boaz I, Wawer MJ, Gray RH, Serwadda D, Quinn TC. Effect of daily aciclovir on HIV disease progression in individuals in Rakai, Uganda, co-infected with HIV-1 and herpes simplex virus type 2: a randomised, double-blind placebo-controlled trial. Lancet Infect Dis. 2012 Jun;12(6):441-8. doi: 10.1016/S1473-3099(12)70037-3. Epub 2012 Mar 19.

Drugs

Indications