# Impact of HIV co-infections and comorbidities on circadian rhythm in the liver

> **NIH NIH DP1** · EMORY UNIVERSITY · 2024 · $571,625

## Abstract

Project Summary
HIV-associated comorbidities, co-infections, and complications (CCCs) can exacerbate the health burden in
people living with HIV (PLWH). Using innovative cell culture and in vivo systems, this application focuses on
HIV-related pathogenesis in the liver and the establishment of a new area of HIV research that combines studies
of the circadian rhythm in the context of HIV/HBV co-infections and other liver-related diseases such as fatty
liver disease. Understanding the unique biological and metabolic processes that take place in PLWH with HIV-
related CCCs may lead to highly impactful research findings and treatments. The main hypothesis of this
proposal is that disruption of circadian clock genes, pathways, and functions may impact HIV-related CCCs.
Disruption of circadian rhythm can alter the susceptibility to gut permeability to HIV and can further lead to
complications in the liver. In addition, viral hepatitis, and specifically chronic HBV infection in PLWH poses a
serious health burden as it accelerates the progression to liver cirrhosis and liver cancer with mechanisms that
are still not well understood. Moreover, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a complex disease which is
impacted by circadian metabolic genes and pathways with detrimental consequences for liver pathogenesis in
PLWH. Finally, drug metabolism takes place in the liver and metabolism of HIV antivirals is dependent on
circadian regulation. The proposed studies will use state-of-the art technologies and physiologically-relevant cell
culture and in vivo systems under normal or abnormal circadian conditions for HIV/HBV co-infection and fatty
liver studies with the premise to yield highly impactful findings in HIV-related pathogenesis in the liver.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10917568
- **Project number:** 1DP1DK139804-01
- **Recipient organization:** EMORY UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Eleftherios Michailidis
- **Activity code:** DP1 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $571,625
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-08-15 → 2029-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10917568

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10917568, Impact of HIV co-infections and comorbidities on circadian rhythm in the liver (1DP1DK139804-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10917568. Licensed CC0.

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