University of California, Los Angeles

Office for Protection of Research Subjects

HUMAN SUBJECT PROTECTION COMMITTEE (HSPC)

 

APPLICATION TO INVOLVE HUMAN SUBJECTS IN RESEARCH

 

PROJECT TITLE:       HIV Replication and Thymopoiesis in Adolescents

 

PRINCIPAL                                           Name                                                                          Degree(s)                                   University Title                         Campus Phone No.

INVESTIGATOR:         Paul Krogstad                                           M.D.                           Associate Professor                          [redacted]

          Department                                                             Campus  Mailing Address                                                                   Campus Mail Code                                            e-mail Address

Pediatrics – Infectious Diseases        22-373 MDCC                                  175217                         [redacted]

CO-INVESTIGATOR                             Name                                                                                                  Degree(s)                                   University Title                         Campus Phone No.

or FACULTY SPONSOR:                         see attached list                                                                 

          Department                                                             Campus Mailing Address                                                                                            Campus Mail Code                                            e-mail Address

 

PRIMARY CONTACT                            Name                                                  Campus Phone No.                                           e-mail Address

PERSON:                                                Alison Watts            {redacted]                    [redacted]                     

APPLICATION STATUS: X New     Addendum    Renewal      Previous HSPC number, if applicable:       

 

 

INVESTIGATOR'S ASSURANCE

I certify that the information provided in this application is complete and correct.

 

I understand that as Principal Investigator, I have ultimate responsibility for the conduct of the study, the ethical performance of the project, the protection of the rights and welfare of human subjects, and strict adherence to any stipulations imposed by the HSPC.

 

I agree to comply with all UCLA policies and procedures, as well as with all applicable federal, State, and local laws regarding the protection of human subjects in research, including, but not limited to, the following:

 

·         performing the project by qualified personnel according to the approved protocol,

·         implementing no changes in the approved protocol or consent form without prior HSPC approval (except in an emergency, if necessary to safeguard the well-being of human subjects),

·         obtaining the legally effective informed consent from human subjects or their legally responsible representative, and using only the currently approved, stamped consent form with human subjects,

·         promptly reporting significant or untoward adverse effects to the HSPC in writing within 5 working days of occurrence.

·         if I will be unavailable to direct this research personally, as when on sabbatical leave or vacation, I will arrange for a co-investigator to assume direct responsibility in my absence.  Either this person is named as a co-investigator in this application, or I will advise HSPC by letter, in advance of such arrangements.

 

 

____________________________________________________________________

Principal Investigator                                              Date

 

FACULTY SPONSOR’S ASSURANCE

By my signature as sponsor on this research application, I certify that the student  or  guest investigator is knowledgeable about the regulations and policies governing research with human subjects and has sufficient training and experience to conduct this particular study in accord with the approved protocol.   In addition,

 

·         I agree to meet with the investigator on a regular basis to monitor study progress.

·         Should problems arise during the course of the study, I agree to be available, personally, to supervise the investigator in solving them.

·         I assure that the investigator will promptly report significant or untoward adverse effects to the HSPC in writing within 5 working days of occurrence.

·         If I will be unavailable, as when on sabbatical leave or vacation, I will arrange for an alternate faculty sponsor to assume responsibility during my absence, and I will advise the HSPC by letter of such arrangements.

 

 

____________________________________________________________________

Faculty Sponsor * (if PI is a student or a fellow)        Date

* The faculty sponsor must be a member of the UCLA faculty.  The faculty member is considered the responsible party for legal and ethical performance of the project.


 

SECTION II - FUNDING

THIS SECTION MUST BE COMPLETED

 

1. Check all of the appropriate boxes for funding sources for this research, include pending funding source(s):

 

 X Extramural*      UCLA Academic Senate      Department      Gift      Other:      

 

* P.I. of Contract or Grant:  Paul Krogstad, M.D.    

 

Funding Source:      National Institutes of Health

 

Contract or Grant No.:      

 

Contract or Grant Title:      

 

2.   If using an IDENTICAL protocol for more than one extramural funding proposal, list all funding sources below.  Attach an additional sheet if more space is needed.

 

a.   P.I. of Contract or Grant:      

 

Funding Source:      

 

Contract or Grant No.:      

 

Contract or Grant Title:      

 

 

b.   P.I. of Contract or Grant:      

 

Funding Source:      

 

Contract or Grant No.:      

 

Contract or Grant Title:      

 

3.   STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL INTERESTS: If you are required to submit either a Form 730-U* or a Form 740-U* to the Office of Sponsored Research, please attach a copy of those form(s) with this application.  See #9 of the Guidelines for additional information regarding this requirement.

 

      * Form 730-U, "Principal Investigator's Statement of Economic Interests" for non-governmental funded projects

      * Form 740-U, "Investigator's Statement of Financial Interests" for NSF or PHS funded projects

 

4.   Is this application for the administrative approval for a training grant, a program project, a multiple project grant, or a center grants?   Yes    X No    If yes,see Guidelines #14.

 

 

If this application is applying for an administrative approval for funding purposes only and does not involve the participation of human subjects,

do not complete the rest of this application.


 

SECTION III - SUMMARY INFORMATION

THIS SECTION MUST BE COMPLETED

 

 

The review of research involving human subjects is conducted by either the Medical Human Subject Protection Committee (MHSPC) or the General Campus Human Subject Protection Committee (GCHSPC) depending on the nature of the protocol.  The MHSPC is composed of primarily medical specialists, and the GCHSPC has principally socio-behavioral experts and some medical professionals.  To aid the OPRS staff in evaluating which HSPC is most likely appropriate for the review of your protocol, please check all appropriate boxes in this section.

 

1.     Will you perform medical procedures as part of this research proposal?   XYes  No

 

2.     SUBJECT POPULATION:  (Check all appropriate boxes.)

 

X Children (see Manual Chapters 4,6,8, & 10)     Cognitively or psychologically impaired (see Manual Chapter 4)

Elderly (see Manual  Chapters 4 & 10)             Institutional residents (see Manual Chapters 4 & 8)

Fetuses (see Manual Chapter 8)                         Human in vitro fertilization (see Manual Chapter 8)

Pregnant women (see Manual Chapter 8)         Exclusion of minorities (see Manual Chapter 8)

Terminally ill (see Manual Chapter 8)                Prisoners or parolees (see manual Chapter8)

Comatose (see Manual Chapter 4)                     Non-English speaking (see Guidelines #11 & Manual Chapter 8)

Cancer patients (see Guidelines #4)                   UCLA students/staff (see Guidelines #10 & Manual Chapter 8)

 

3.     If the research involves any of the following, check the appropriate boxes:

 

Interviews                                                              X HIV/AIDS

Survey/questionnaire                                           X Clinical studies

Behavioral observation                                        Investigational drugs (if checked, complete Section V)

Deception                                                               Investigational devices (if checked, complete Section VI)

Waiver of consent                                                Radiation (see Guidelines #5)

Study of existing data (see Guidelines #12)    Controlled substances (see Guidelines #6)

Study of human biological specimens               Microorganisms or recombinant DNA (see Guidelines #7)

    (see Guidelines #12)                                            Potential development of commercial product from human

X Venipuncture (<450cc)                                               biological materials (see Guidelines #8)

        X Genetic research                                                     X PI or Co-PI is the treating physician

 

4.     LOCATION(S) OF RESEARCH TO BE CONDUCTED AT:

 

        X UCLA campus                                                          Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center

        X Other locations, specify: Children’s Hospital, Los Angeles

       

5.     LAY LANGUAGE SUMMARY:  (Please use non-technical language that is understood by nonscientific members to summarize the proposed research project.  The information must include: (1) a brief statement of the problem and related theory supporting the intent of the study, and (2) a brief but specific description of the procedure(s) involving the human subjects.  Attach an additional page as necessary.  However, please do not exceed one single-spaced, type-written page.)

 

The thymus is a large gland found in the chest.  It is the source of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells, which play a key role in the body’s defense against infection and cancer.  These cells are progressively lost due to HIV infection.  In people with HIV, treatment leads to an increase in T cells.  It remains unclear how much of the increase is due to production of new T cells by the thymus and how much is due to the improved survival of existing T cells. 

 

The intent of this study is to compare several aspects of the function of the thymus in subjects 13-24 years old who acquired HIV at birth versus subjects who acquired HIV through sexual activity or drug abuse versus subjects who are HIV negative.  This will be done using blood collections as well as a CT scan of the thymus.  In addition, a substudy will be performed during which subjects will be admitted to the Clinical Research Center overnight.  They will be given either a sugar solution or a water solution with a non-radioactive marker.  Blood will be collected so that this marker can be detected.

 

 

SECTION IV - PROTOCOL SUMMARY

THIS SECTION MUST BE COMPLETED

 

INSTRUCTIONS:  In order to review your proposal, the Human Subject Protection Committee (MHSPC) must have all of the following information. Each topic must be titled using the boldface subheadings listed below.  State “Not Applicable” for topics that are not applicable to your application.  Address each topic independently in the sequence listed without reliance on information covered under other subparts.  Attaching sections of the grant application is not an acceptable substitute.  Provide sufficient information for effective review by all members of the HSPC, including non-specialists.  Define all abbreviations and terms not part of common language and use simple words and sentence structure as much as possible.  Unless justification is provided, Section IV of this application must not exceed 10 pages (excluding references).  Number each page, beginning with page one for the first page of Section IV.

 

 

INFORMATION REGARDING RENEWAL APPLICATION (1)

 

1.     Renewal Application:  What benefits to the participating subjects or to the society have been derived?  Please also provide a summary of the research activities during the previous approval periods regarding the following issues:

 

a)     How many subjects have been enrolled since the date of last approval and since the initial approval?

b)    Has there been any difficulty obtaining/retaining subjects or obtaining informed consent during the previous approval period?  If yes, describe:

      Approximately how many potential subjects have refused participation?

      How many subjects have voluntarily withdrawn participation at their own request?

      How many subjects have withdrawn participation at the request of the PI?

c)     Have there been any unexpected reactions or complications since last scheduled annual review? 

If yes, please attach Adverse Event Reports (Form HS-5).  If you have submitted the Adverse Event Reports, please state so.

d)    Approximately how many more subjects are required to complete the study?

 

     Not applicable – not a renewal

 

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY, THE BACKGROUND AND THE LITERATURE REVIEW (2-3)

 

2.     Purpose of the Study:  What are the specific scientific objectives (aims) of the research?

 

1.        To compare quantitative parameters of thymopoiesis from adolescents/young adults with perinatal HIV infection (PI-A) with those from age-matched seronegative control subjects (SN-A), and youth with HIV infection acquired via recent adult behaviors (AB-A). 

2.        To evaluate the impact of viral factors on thymopoiesis of HIV infected adolescents.

3.       To examine the T cell receptor repertoire and CTL responses of perinatally infected adolescents.

 

3.     Background: State the background of the study.  Include a critical evaluation of existing knowledge, and specifically identify the information gaps which the project is intended to fill.  Describe previous work in animal and/or human studies that provide a basis for the proposed research and that support the expectation of obtaining useful results without undue risk to human subjects. 

 

        Note:  Include appropriate citations to the scientific literature or attach a copy of literature review.

 

Long term survival after HIV perinatal infection.

Most cases of pediatric HIV-1 infection result from perinatal infection, occurring either in utero or at the time of delivery.  Other cases are acquired postnatally via transfusion or breast-feeding.  Regardless of the means by which infection is acquired, untreated pediatric HIV infection is generally followed by the development of symptomatic disease in the first year of life, and the development of AIDS in as many as 50% of children by 5 years of age [1, 2] .  In the pre-HAART era, the median and mean survival times for perinatally infected children were 8.0 and 9.4 years, respectively [2, 3] .  However, survival into adolescence is now occurring in many cases. The number of these individuals is unclear, but the most recent HIV/AIDS Surveillance Report [4]  notes 180 people who acquired HIV infection perinatally who have had AIDS diagnosed after age 13.  It is likely that a much larger number of children were diagnosed with AIDS prior to age 13, and are now surviving into adolescence because of improvements in preventative care, and the advent of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART).  In concert with the marked decrease in perinatal transmission seen in the last seven years, this increasingly large population of perinatally infected adolescents is changing the face of Pediatric HIV/AIDS in the United States.

Survival into adolescence is likely to be attributable to a combination of viral, host, and treatment factors. Chemokine and chemokine receptor gene polymorphisms, HLA type, and mutation of the viral nef gene are potentially important variables [5] .  However, CCR5 deletions are uncommon in non-Caucasian populations that are most affected by the HIV epidemic [5, 6] , and large deletions in nef appear to be rare.  There have been two small reports [7, 8]  in which mutations of the nef gene were found in 8 long-term survivors of perinatal infection.  In these reports, two patients had large nef gene deletions, and had strikingly mild disease.  One was asymptomatic and on no antiretroviral therapy at 10 years of age, and did not have detectable plasma HIV RNA.  The other was 12 years of age and had only moderately symptomatic disease (CDC class B).  Missense mutations and small deletions of nef were found in some of the others. In contrast, most long-term surviving children have much more advanced disease than the subjects described in these reports.  Nielsen et al [9]  reported a multicenter study of pediatric long-term survivors, defined to be 8 or more years of age.  Only 31/143 (21)% of children with maternally derived HIV infection and 9/54 (17%) with transfusion acquired infection had > 500 CD4+ T cells and no prior AIDS defining conditions.  Thus, in most cases, progressive immunodeficiency and AIDS are seen in adolescents who acquired HIV infection perinatally or via transfusion in early childhood, suggesting that these individuals are infected with fully pathogenic HIV variants.

 

Immunological changes associated with HAART.

The accumulated experience with HAART in adults has shown us that the prolonged suppression of HIV viremia to “undetectable” levels will often (though not invariably) arrest disease progression and bring about significant immunological restoration.  Initially, the marked increase in CD4+ T cells seen with potent anti-retroviral agents was attributed to the reduction in virus-induced destruction or clearance of cells [10, 11] .  Later reports made it clear that redistribution of lymphocytes from lymphoid o