Inducing Immune Quiescence to Prevent HIV Infection in Women

Summary

In this project, the investigators want to analyse the capacity of Acetylsalicylic acid and hydoxychlroquin (HCQ) to induce an Immune Quiescence (IQ) phenotype, which has been previously associated with natural protection to HIV infection. This phenotype is characterized by lower expression of genes involved in cellular activation, lower resting levels of inflammatory cytokine production, lower level of systemic activated T cells, increased levels of systemic T regulatory, increased production of anti-viral anti-protease serpins at the female genital tract and reduced numbers of HIV target cells (mainly CD4+ CCR5+ T cells) in the FGT ( female genital tract). The objective of this study is to determine if daily oral administration of Acetylsalicylic acid or hydroxychlroroquin can reduce systemic and mucosal immune activation in HIV negative women.

Timeline

Start

2014-04

Primary completion

2015-12

Completion

2018-01-01

Publications

• Lajoie J, Kowatsch MM, Mwangi LW, Boily-Larouche G, Oyugi J, Chen Y, Kimani M, Ho EA, Kimani J, Fowke KR. Low-Dose Acetylsalicylic Acid Reduces T Cell Immune Activation: Potential Implications for HIV Prevention. Front Immunol. 2021 Nov 18;12:778455. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2021.778455. eCollection 2021.
• Lajoie J, Mwangi L, Fowke KR. Preventing HIV infection without targeting the virus: how reducing HIV target cells at the genital tract is a new approach to HIV prevention. AIDS Res Ther. 2017 Sep 12;14(1):46. doi: 10.1186/s12981-017-0166-7.

Drugs

Indications