Clinical Research Directory

Mycobacterial and Opportunistic Infections in HIV-Negative Thai and Taiwanese Patients Associated With Autoantibodies to Interferon-gamma

Opportunistic infections are caused by bacteria, mycobacteria, fungi or viruses that do not normally cause infections in people with healthy immune systems. Some of these infections can cause public health concerns, especially in areas with limited access to treatment. People who acquire opportunistic infections usually have diseases that affect their immune systems, such as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), or do not have enough white blood cells to fight the infection. However, some people acquire opportunistic infections even though they have normal amounts of white blood cells and are free from known diseases that harm their immune systems. This study will investigate some of the reasons that otherwise healthy people get opportunistic infections to learn more about why some people are more likely to have them. This study will include up to 210 HIV-negative males and females older than 18 years of age who have opportunistic infections. The patients will be drawn from multiple sites in Thailand and Taiwan including Khon Kaen University Hospital, Siriraj Hospital, Ramathibodi Hospital, National Taiwan University Hospital, National Cheng-Kung University Hospital Patients will undergo an initial evaluation that will include a physical examination, medical history, and blood and urine testing. Additional tests will be conducted if the researchers consider that the tests are medically necessary to treat the opportunistic infection; the results of the tests will be reviewed and saved for study purposes. Depending on the severity of the infection, the initial evaluation may take more than 1 day to complete. After the evaluation, patients will be given standard and appropriate medicines to treat the infections. Patients will return for follow-up visits to allow researchers to monitor their condition and to assess how well the patient is responding to the treatment. Patients will be evaluated by the study researchers at least once a year for 2 years following the initial treatment.

T Cell Therapy of Opportunistic Cytomegalovirus Infection

The purpose of this study is to determine if a specific type of cell-based immunotherapy, using T-cells from a donor that are specific against cytomegalovirus (CMV) is feasible to treat infections by CMV. Adoptive T-cell therapy is an investigational (experimental) therapy that works by using the blood of a donor and selecting the T-cells that can respond against a specific infectious entity. These selected T-cells are then infused to the patient, to try to give the immune system the ability to fight the infection. Adoptive T-cell therapy is experimental because it is not approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Vicente Ferrer HIV Cohort Study

The VFHCS is a long-term prospective cohort study of HIV infected patients from a resource-poor rural setting in India. The aim of the study is to use data collected from routine clinical care in order to describe the epidemiology of HIV and its related conditions in the investigators area, and to study the effectiveness of health interventions in a "real-world" setting (implementation and operational research).