HIV-Positive livers safe for HIV-Positive patients? landmark trial results
NCT ID NCT03734393
First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Jul 21, 2026 · Updated 2 times
Summary
This study looked at whether it is safe to transplant livers from deceased HIV-positive donors into HIV-positive recipients. Researchers followed 80 participants to track complications like graft failure, infections, and HIV breakthrough. The goal was to see if using HIV-positive organs could safely expand the donor pool for people with HIV.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- Liver from an HIV-infected deceased donor
- What this could lead to
- If successful, this could expand the donor pool for HIV-positive patients needing liver transplants, reducing wait times and saving lives.
- What could go wrong
- This is a completed study with 80 participants, but results may not apply to all patients. Risks include graft failure, infections, and HIV-related complications.
This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.
Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
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Not a phased trial
Phase numbers describe drug development. The registry uses this when they do not apply, as it does for trials of devices, procedures or behaviour changes, and for observational studies.
- Participants
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80 people
The number who actually took part.
- Started
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Jan 2019
- Finished
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Jul 2025
- Lead sponsor
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Other sponsor
The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
- Ages
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18 years and older
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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Not accepted
This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.
Show the full entry requirements Hide the full entry requirements
Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: * Participant meets the standard criteria for liver transplant at the local center. * Participants being listed for a simultaneous liver kidney (SLK) are eligible if participants meet the standard criteria for both organs. * Participant is able to understand and provide informed consent. * Participant meets with an independent advocate per the HIV Organ Policy Equity (HOPE) Act Safeguards and Research Criteria. * Documented HIV infection (by any licensed assay or documented history of detectable HIV-1 RNA).\* * Participant is ≥ 18 years old. * Opportunistic complications: prior history of certain opportunistic infections is not an exclusion if the participant has received appropriate therapy and has no evidence of active disease. Medical record documentation should be provided whenever possible. * CD4+ T-cell count: ≥ 100/µL within 16 weeks prior to transplant if no history of AIDS-defining infection; or ≥ 200 μL if history of opportunistic infection is present. * HIV-1 RNA is below 50 RNA/mL.\* Viral blips between 50-400 copies will be allowed as long as there are not consecutive measurements \> 200 copies/mL. \*Organ recipients who are unable to tolerate anti-retroviral therapy (ART) due to organ. failure or recently started ART may be eligible despite a detectable viral load if safe and effective ART to be used by the recipient after transplantation is described. * Participant must have or be willing to start seeing a primary medical care provider with expertise in HIV management. * Participant is willing to comply with all medications related to participant's transplant and HIV management. * For participants with a history of aspergillus colonization or disease, no current clinical evidence of active disease. * Agreement to use contraception. * Participant is not suffering from significant wasting (e.g. body mass index \< 21) thought to be related to HIV disease. Exclusion Criteria: * Participant has a history of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML), or primary central nervous system (CNS) lymphoma.\* * Participant is pregnant or breastfeeding. (Note: Participants who become pregnant post-transplant will continue to be followed in the study and will be managed per local site practice. Women that become pregnant should not breastfeed.) * Past or current medical problems or findings from medical history, physical examination or laboratory testing that are not listed above, which, in the opinion of the investigator, may pose additional risks from participation in the study, may interfere with the participant's ability to comply with study requirements or that may impact the quality or interpretation of the data obtained from the study.
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Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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Columbia University Medical Center
New York, New York, 10032, United States
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Emory University
Atlanta, Georgia, 30322, United States
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Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
New York, New York, 10029, United States
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Indiana University
Indianapolis, Indiana, 46202, United States
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Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, Maryland, 21205, United States
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Massachusetts General Hospital
Boston, Massachusetts, 02114, United States
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MedStar Georgetown Transplant Institute
Washington D.C., District of Columbia, 20007, United States
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New York University School of Medicine
New York, New York, 11016, United States
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Northwestern University
Chicago, Illinois, 60611, United States
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Ochsner Clinic Foundation
New Orleans, Louisiana, 70121, United States
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Rush University Medical Center
Chicago, Illinois, 60612, United States
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UPMC - University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 15213, United States
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University of Alabama, Birmingham
Birmingham, Alabama, 35294, United States
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University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
Little Rock, Arkansas, 72205, United States
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University of California, San Diego
San Diego, California, 92103, United States
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University of California, San Francisco
San Francisco, California, 94193, United States
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University of Cincinnati
Cincinnati, Ohio, 45267, United States
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University of Illinois at Chicago
Chicago, Illinois, 60612, United States
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University of Maryland, Institute of Human Virology
Baltimore, Maryland, 21201, United States
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University of Miami
Miami, Florida, 33136, United States
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University of Minnesota
Minneapolis, Minnesota, 55455, United States
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University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19104, United States
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University of Tennessee Health and Science Center
Memphis, Tennessee, 38104, United States
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University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
Dallas, Texas, 75390, United States
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Weill Cornell Medical College
New York, New York, 10065, United States
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Yale University School of Medicine
New Haven, Connecticut, 06520-8022, United States
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