Tuberculosis in HIV Infected Patients in Uganda

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)

Status and phase

Completed

Phase 2

Conditions

Tuberculosis

HIV Infections

Treatments

Drug: prednisolone

Study type

Interventional

Funder types

NIH

Identifiers

NCT00057421

R01AI032414 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Details and patient eligibility

About

This was a clinical trial in HIV infected patients with tuberculosis. The study assessed whether the addition of prednisolone, a type of steroid medication, to the standard treatment for tuberculosis improved immune and viral outcomes in the patients. The study demonstrated that prednisolone increased the CD4 cell count as was hoped, but the beneficial effect was short-lived and was gone within 4 months of stopping therapy. Therefore, the use of prednisolone for tuberculosis in HIV infected patients is not recommended at this time.

Full description

Recent observations from retrospective cohort studies indicate that HIV-associated tuberculosis (TB) is associated with reduced survival and increased rate of opportunistic infections compared to CD4-matched controls. Mounting evidence from immunologic and virologic studies supports the concept of co-pathogenesis, in which cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF alpha) are over-expressed during the course of TB and stimulate viral replication in latently infected cells, possibly leading to greater viral load.

Glucocorticoids are potent inhibitors of cytokines, including TNF, and clinicians have extensive experiences with their use in HIV infection. Although corticosteroid use in HIV infection has a record of safety, the safety and bioavailability of corticosteroids in HIV/TB coinfection has not been established.

This study evaluated the change in viral load and CD4 count in HIV infected patients with TB who were treated with oral prednisolone. The study found that the viral load increased slightly when prednisolone was administered and that patients receiving prednisolone cleared their tuberculosis more rapidly. Although there was some benefit to using prednisolone in these patients, the benefit was short-lived and was gone within 4 months of stopping therapy.

Sex

All

Ages

18 to 60 years old

Volunteers

No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion and exclusion criteria

Inclusion Criteria