Dubourg G, Lagier J, Hüe S, et al Gut microbiota associated with HIV infection is significantly enriched in bacteria tolerant to oxygen. BMJ Open Gastroenterol 2016;3:e000080. doi: 10.1136/bmjgast-2016-000080
The adequacy of the ethical approval for this work is unclear.
There are two issues:
The local ethical approval number ‘09-022’ listed in this article was used in other research articles. We have not received confirmation that its reuse in this particular study is appropriate.1
The French regional ethics approval ‘ANRS EP55 MICROGUT’ listed in this article was issued in 2014. This is 2 years after recruitment to the study began, suggesting that this approval was sought retrospectively.
The authors and the affiliated institution, Aix-Marseille University, have differing views on the validity of the ethical approval. The corresponding author told BMJ that the ethical approval information in the article is accurate and adequate. Aix-Marseille University stated that the ethical approval information in the article is incorrect. Aix-Marseille provided us with different approval numbers for this work.
A second affiliated institution, Institut Hospitalo-Universitaire en Maladies Infectieuses de Marseille (IHU), has not replied to our inquiries.
This notice will be updated once our investigation is complete.
Reference
- 1. Frank F, Florens N, Meyerowitz-Katz G, et al. Raising concerns on questionable ethics approvals - a case study of 456 trials from the Institut Hospitalo-Universitaire Méditerranée Infection. Res Integr Peer Rev 2023;8:9. 10.1186/s41073-023-00134-4 [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]