Effect of metabolic status on response to SIV infection and antiretroviral therapy in nonhuman primates.

Current antiretroviral therapy (ART) regimens efficiently limit HIV replication, thereby improving the life expectancy of people living with HIV; however, they also cause metabolic side effects. The ongoing obesity epidemic has resulted in more people with metabolic comorbidities at the time of HIV infection, yet the effect of preexisting metabolic dysregulation on infection sequelae and response to ART is unclear. Here, to investigate the impact of preexisting obesity and insulin resistance on acute infection and subsequent long-term ART, we infected a cohort of lean and obese adult male macaques with SIV and administered ART.

Immune restoration by TIGIT blockade is insufficient to control chronic SIV infection.

TIGIT is a negative immune checkpoint receptor associated with T cell exhaustion in cancer and HIV. TIGIT upregulation in virus-specific CD8 T cells and NK cells during HIV/SIV infection results in dysfunctional effector capabilities. studies targeting TIGIT on CD8 T cells suggest TIGIT blockade as a viable strategy to restore SIV-specific T cell responses.

The effect of cigarette smoke versus vaporized nicotine on healing of a rat femur.

Introduction: Little data exists regarding the effects of vaporized nicotine on healing. Our goal was to compare vaporized nicotine, combusted nicotine and control with respect to bone healing in a rat femur fracture model.

Materials And Methods: Forty-five male Sprague Dawley rats were divided into three equal cohorts.

Reappraisal of effective refractory period testing.

To test the hypothesis that effective refractory period (ERP) testing is an accurate and reproducible measure of the cardiac refractory period, 4 pigs and 12 dogs were studied. We define the conventional ERP as the longest S1-S2 interval associated with noncapture and the triplicate ERP as the average of three ERP values determined by the up-down algorithm. We also determined the probability curve for noncapture after testing multiple S1-S2 intervals.

Technique for placement of chronic third cerebroventricular cannula in female goats (Capra hircus).

A practical method for chronic catheterization of the third cerebroventricular space in goats was developed by using a stereotaxic device. In female goats of various ages and weights, a stereotaxically mounted drill was positioned at an angle of 11.5 degrees with the tip of the drill bit located at a skull reference point 2 to 3 mm rostral to the posterior border of Bregma (intersection of the coronal with the sagittal sutures).