Cytotoxic Signature and IFN-γ Production Dominate CD4 T-Cell Response During Human Toxoplasmosis.

Toxoplasma gondii is a highly versatile parasite that infects most warm-blooded animals and is a major cause of retinochoroiditis and uveitis in humans. The pathophysiology of these conditions remains poorly understood. Both parasite virulence and host inflammatory response contribute to the development of ocular disease.

Pertussis Vaccination During Pregnancy: Regional Situation and Impact of Implementation on National Immunization Programs in Latin America.

Background: Infants face a high risk of morbidity and mortality from pertussis early in life, leading to the adoption of maternal vaccination. This study aimed to review the characteristics of the maternal pertussis vaccination in Latin American (LATAM) countries and evaluate their impact on pertussis absolute mortality and case fatality rate (CFR) in infants under 1 year old.

Methods: LATAM countries with maternal tetanus, diphtheria and acellular pertussis (Tdap) vaccination in their National Immunization Programs were included.

Clinical outcomes of pediatric patients with congenital toxoplasmosis in a fourthlevel center Introduction. Congenital.

Introduction: Congenital toxoplasmosis is a highly prevalent parasitic disease worldwide, with a high burden of disease and neurodevelopmental involvement in pediatric patients.

Objective: To describe the clinical sequelae and neurodevelopmental state of pediatric patients with congenital toxoplasmosis at the Hospital Militar Central during 2013 to 2020.

Materials And Methods: We conducted an observational, descriptive, cross-sectional study with an analytical component, including pediatric patients diagnosed with congenital toxoplasmosis.

IP-10 and MIG are sensitive markers of early virological response to HIV-1 integrase inhibitors.

Background: Interferon-inducible protein-10 (IP-10) and monokine induced by interferon-gamma (MIG) are chemokines recognized as inflammatory biomarkers during HIV-1 infection. We assessed their early and long-term dynamics after initiation of antiretroviral treatment (ART).

Methods: Persons with HIV-1 (PWH) aged>18 years starting their first ART in 2015-2021 in a prospective cohort (n=73) were included.

Tenofovir disoproxil fumarate/emtricitabine and severity of coronavirus disease 2019 in people with HIV infection.

Background: Effective, safe, and affordable antivirals are needed for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Several lines of research suggest that tenofovir may be effective against COVID-19, but no large-scale human studies with appropriate adjustment for comorbidities have been conducted.

Methods: We studied HIV-positive individuals on antiretroviral therapy (ART) in 2020 at 69 HIV clinics in Spain.

Viruses Previously Identified in Brazil as Belonging to HIV-1 CRF72_BF1 Represent Two Closely Related Circulating Recombinant Forms, One of Which, Designated CRF122_BF1, Is Also Circulating in Spain.

Circulating recombinant forms (CRFs) are important components of the HIV-1 pandemic. Those derived from recombination between subtype B and subsubtype F1, with 18 reported, most of them of South American origin, are among the most diverse. In this study, we identified a HIV-1 BF1 recombinant cluster that is expanding in Spain, transmitted mainly heterosexual contact, which, analyzed in near full-length genomes in four viruses, exhibited a coincident BF1 mosaic structure, with 12 breakpoints, that fully coincided with that of two viruses (10BR_MG003 and 10BR_MG005) from Brazil, previously classified as CRF72_BF1.

Methodology of a Large Multicenter Observational Study of Patients with COVID-19 in Spanish Intensive Care Units.

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic created tremendous challenges for health-care systems. Intensive care units (ICU) were hit with a large volume of patients requiring ICU admission, mechanical ventilation, and other organ support with very high mortality. The Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red-Enfermedades Respiratorias (CIBERES), a network of Spanish researchers to investigate in respiratory disease, commissioned the current proposal in response to the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII) call.

Predictors of low-level HIV viraemia and virological failure in the era of integrase inhibitors: A Spanish nationwide cohort.

Objectives: To pinpoint factors associated with low-level viraemia (LLV) and virological failure (VF) in people living with HIV in the era of high-efficacy antiretroviral treatment (ART) and widespread use of integrase strand transfer inhibitor (INSTIs)-based ART.

Methods: We included adults aged > 18 years starting their first ART between 2015 and 2018 in the Spanish HIV/AIDS Research Network National Cohort (CoRIS). Low-level viraemia was defined as plasma viral load (pVL) of 50-199 copies/mL at weeks 48 and 72 and VF was defined as pVL ≥ 50 copies/mL at week 48 and pVL ≥ 200 copies/mL at week 72.

Toxoplasma gondii-Induced Neutrophil Extracellular Traps Amplify the Innate and Adaptive Response.

Toxoplasmosis affects one-third of the human population worldwide. Humans are accidental hosts and are infected after consumption of undercooked meat and water contaminated with Toxoplasma gondii cysts and oocysts, respectively. Neutrophils have been shown to participate in the control of T.

Clinical and Multimodal Imaging Findings and Risk Factors for Ocular Involvement in a Presumed Waterborne Toxoplasmosis Outbreak, Brazil.

In 2015, an outbreak of presumed waterborne toxoplasmosis occurred in Gouveia, Brazil. We conducted a 3-year prospective study on a cohort of 52 patients from this outbreak, collected clinical and multimodal imaging findings, and determined risk factors for ocular involvement. At baseline examination, 12 (23%) patients had retinochoroiditis; 4 patients had bilateral and 2 had macular lesions.

Massive Release of CD9+ Microvesicles in Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection, Regardless of Virologic Control.

Background: The role of extracellular vesicles (EVs) in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) pathogenesis is unknown. We examine the cellular origin of plasma microvesicles (MVs), a type of ectocytosis-derived EV, the presence of mitochondria in MVs, and their relationship to circulating cell-free mitochondrial deoxyribonucleic acid (ccf-mtDNA) in HIV-infected patients and controls.

Methods: Five participant groups were defined: 30 antiretroviral therapy (ART)-naive; 30 ART-treated with nondetectable viremia; 30 elite controllers; 30 viremic controllers; and 30 HIV-uninfected controls.

Circulating inflammatory mediators as biomarkers of ocular toxoplasmosis in acute and in chronic infection.

Toxoplasmosis is highly endemic worldwide. In Brazil, depending on the geographical region and socioeconomic status, 40-70% of individuals become seropositive at some point in their lives. A significant proportion of Toxoplasma gondii-chronically infected individuals who are otherwise immunocompetent develop recurrent ocular lesions.

Deprescribing of non-antiretroviral therapy in HIV-infected patients.

Purpose: In recent decades, the life expectancy of HIV-infected patients has increased considerably, to the extent that the disease can now be considered chronic. In this context of progressive aging, HIV-infected persons have a greater prevalence of comorbid conditions. Consequently, they usually take more non-antiretroviral drugs, and their drug therapy are more complex.

Neurocognitive safety after 96 weeks on dual therapy with atazanavir/ritonavir plus lamivudine: results of the neurocognitive substudy of the SALT randomized clinical trial.

Background: Concerns have been voiced over the capacity of deintensification strategies to preserve neurocognitive function and prevent neurocognitive impairment.

Methods: We present the 96 week results of a neurocognitive substudy nested within the SALT clinical trial: a randomized, open-label, non-inferiority trial that compares whether atazanavir/ritonavir + lamivudine is non-inferior to atazanavir/ritonavir + two NRTIs in HIV-suppressed patients on stable triple therapy. A global deficit score (GDS) for five neurocognitive tasks was used to assess neurocognitive function.

Analysis of the costs and cost-effectiveness of the guidelines recommended by the 2018 GESIDA/Spanish National AIDS Plan for initial antiretroviral therapy in HIV-infected adults.

Background: The GESIDA/National AIDS Plan expert panel recommended preferred regimens (PR), alternative regimens (AR) and other regimens (OR) for antiretroviral treatment (ART) as initial therapy in HIV-infected patients for 2018. The objective of this study was to evaluate the costs and the efficiency of initiating treatment with PR and AR.

Methods: Economic assessment of costs and efficiency (cost-effectiveness) based on decision tree analyses.

Cure of chronic hepatitis C virus infection in an HIV-coinfected patient with multiple comorbidities and drug interaction challenges.

Curing hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in patients harbouring multiple severe comorbidities is a medical challenge. Evidence-based data are lacking regarding HCV treatment with direct-acting antiviral regimens in particular populations of HCV/HIV-coinfected patients with cirrhosis and chronic kidney disease on haemodialysis. Here, we present the HCV treatment challenges facing a patient with HIV coinfection, prior failure of both HIV-1 and HCV therapy, cirrhosis, end-stage renal failure on haemodialysis, as well as management of drug-drug interactions, especially given the need to receive long-term amiodarone therapy.

Immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome in an HIV-infected patient using subcutaneous silicone fillers.

The immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome (IRIS) remains a concern in severely immunosuppressed HIV-infected patients after starting antiretroviral therapy. We present an HIV-infected transgender woman with subcutaneous silicone fillers, who simultaneously developed tuberculosis-associated and silicone-related IRIS. We propose a possible connection between IRIS and the autoimmune/inflammatory syndrome induced by adjuvants (ASIA).

Sequence Analysis of In Vivo-Expressed HIV-1 Spliced RNAs Reveals the Usage of New and Unusual Splice Sites by Viruses of Different Subtypes.

HIV-1 RNAs are generated through a complex splicing mechanism, resulting in a great diversity of transcripts, which are classified in three major categories: unspliced, singly spliced (SS), and doubly spliced (DS). Knowledge on HIV-1 RNA splicing in vivo and by non-subtype B viruses is scarce. Here we analyze HIV-1 RNA splice site usage in CD4+CD25+ lymphocytes from HIV-1-infected individuals through pyrosequencing.

Brief Report: European Mitochondrial Haplogroups Impact on Liver Fibrosis Progression Among HCV and HIV/HCV-Coinfected Patients From Northwest Spain.

The impact of mitochondrial DNA haplogroups on the outcome of liver fibrosis was evaluated in 362 hepatitis C virus infection (HCV)-monoinfected and HIV/HCV-coinfected patients (147 and 215, respectively) in clinical follow-up at 2 reference hospitals in the Northwest of Spain. The mitochondrial DNA haplogroup H was the most prevalent (50.3%) in this population.