HIV | Epiical

Impact of time of ART initiation on HIV specific T cell functionality in perinatally infected young adults

2017

Authors: Rinaldi S, Cotugno N, Pallikkuth S, Palma P, Pahwa S; on behalf of the EPIICAL Consortium

Published: 8th Conference on HIV Persistence

Background Early initiation of antiretroviral therapy (ART) in vertically HIV-infected children provides an opportunity to limit the size of reservoir, but whether and how the time of ART treatment initiation can durably impact host immune responses associated with HIV infection is still unknown.

Factors associated with time to virological response in children with perinatal HIV in Europe and Thailand initiating antiretroviral theraphy (ART) very early in infancy

2017

Authors: Palma P, Chan M, Goodall R, Judd A, Gibb D, Babiker A, Rojo P.

Published: 35th Annual Meeting of the European Society for Paediatric Infectious Diseases (ESPID), May 23rd-27th May, 2017, Madrid

Background A major obstacle to curing HIV infection is persistence of virus as integrated proviral DNA in long-lived cells even after many years on ART.

B-cell responses in early treated long term viral suppressed seroneg HIV infected children

2017

Authors: Palma P, Zangari P, Cotugno N, Rocca S, Nastouli E, McCoy LE, Ferns RB, Pahwa S, Rossi P

Published: 24th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections, February 13th – 16th, 2017, Seattle. P_1975.

Background It is still unknown whether the paucity of HIV-specific immune responses in early-treated (treated within 6 months of age; ET) HIV-infected children may represent a limitation or an advantage in the perspective of immune therapeutic studies.

Early antiretroviral therapy in children perinatally infected with HIV: a unique opportunity to implement immunotherapeutic approaches to prolong viral remission

2015

Authors: Klein N, Palma P, Luzuriaga K, et al.

Published in: Lancet Infect Dis. 2015;15(9):1108-1114

Abstract From the use of antiretroviral therapy to prevent mother-to-child transmission to the possibility of HIV cure hinted at by the Mississippi baby experience, paediatric HIV infection has been pivotal to our understanding of HIV pathogenesis and management. Daily medication and indefinite antiretroviral therapy is recommended for children infected with HIV.

The EPIICAL project: an emerging global collaboration to investigate immunotherapeutic strategies in HIV-infected children

2015

Authors: Palma P, Foster C, Rojo P, et al.

Published in: J Virus Erad. 2015;1(3):134-139.

Abstract The EPIICAL (Early-treated Perinatally HIV-infected Individuals: Improving Children’s Actual Life with Novel Immunotherapeutic Strategies) project arises from the firm belief that perinatally infected children treated with suppressive antiretroviral therapy (ART) from early infancy represent the optimal population model in which to study novel immunotherapeutic strategies aimed at achieving ART-free remission.

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