Mesenchymal Stem Cells for Immune Non-responder Patients With HIV Infection

Highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) is an effective means to inhibit virus replication, increase the number of CD4+T lymphocytes and reduce mortality in HIV-infected people. However, it has been found that around 10% - 40% of patients have not achieved ideal immune function reconstruction under the condition of good viral load control and are referred to as"inadequate immunological responders" or "immune non-responders" (INRs). A series of intervention measures have been proposed for patients with immune non-response, including growth hormone therapy, immunosuppressive therapy, cytokine therapy, traditional Chinese medicine therapy, etc., but there is no specific and effective treatment in clinical practice. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are pluripotent stem cells with high self-renewal ability and multi-directional differentiation potential derived from mesoderm. MSCs have considerable therapeutic effects due to their migration, differentiation, immune-modulation, and regeneration abilities. The immunomodulatory effect of mesenchymal stem cells can inhibit the excessive immune activation in patients. At the same time, the paracrine effect of mesenchymal stem cells can also regulate the disordered microenvironment and promote the repair of damaged cells and tissues. This is a randomised, placebo-controlled, clinical trial to evaluate the safety and feasibility of a 3-doses treatment regimen with MSCs (1 million cells/Kg MSCs, months 0-1-2) in HIV infected adults with immune non-response. Subjects are block randomised (1:1) to receive either MSCs (n=10), or placebo (n=10), as the control treatment. Changes in CD4+Tcount and CD4/8，adverse events, opportunistic infection signs are evaluated as determinants of safety and efficacy of MSCs. Study endpoints are measured along a follow-up period of 12 months, that includes 7 visits.