Multiple and mixed Helicobacter pylori infections: Comparison of two epidemiological situations in Tunisia and France.

Individuals can be infected by either a single or multiple strains of Helicobacter pylori. Multiple infection with genetically different isolates and particularly mixed infection with both antibiotic-susceptible and resistant isolates are difficult to detect and should impact the effectiveness of eradication treatment. It is largely assumed that multiple infections are more frequent in developing countries but an actual comparison developing/developed using a single methodology has never been reported.

Structural insight into the binding complex: β-arrestin/CCR5 complex.

The chemokine receptor 5 (CCR5) belongs to the superfamily of serpentine G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). The DRY motif (Asp, Arg, Tyr) of the intracellular loop 2 (ICL2), which is highly conserved in the GPCRs has been shown to be essential for the stability of folding of CCR5 and the interaction with β-arrestin. But the molecular mechanism by which it recognizes and interacts with β-arrestin has not been elucidated.

Structural insight into a novel human CCR5-V130I variant associated with resistance to HIV-1 infection.

We report the identification of a novel CC chemokine receptor 5 (CCR5) variant that seems associated with resistance to HIV-1 infection. The V130I mutation of the CCR5 receptor is located in the intracellular loop ICL2 known as DRY box and described in the literature as a nonsynonymous mutation present in nonhuman primates group. Extensive molecular modeling and dynamics simulations were performed to elucidate the mechanism by which the V130I mutation may induce conformational change of the CCR5 folding protein and prevent the interaction with the β-arrestin protein.

HIV-1 drug resistance genotyping from antiretroviral therapy (ART) naïve and first-line treatment failures in Djiboutian patients.

Unlabelled: In this study we report the prevalence of antiretroviral drug resistant HIV-1 genotypes of virus isolated from Djiboutian patients who failed first-line antiretroviral therapy (ART) and from ART naïve patients.

Patients And Methods: A total of 35 blood samples from 16 patients who showed first-line ART failure (>1000 viral genome copies/ml) and 19 ART-naïve patients were collected in Djibouti from October 2009 to December 2009. Both the protease (PR) and reverse transcriptase (RT) genes were amplified and sequenced using National Agency for AIDS Research (ANRS) protocols.

First report of molecular diagnosis of Tunisian hemophiliacs A: identification of 8 novel causative mutations.

Introduction: Hemophilia A is an X linked recessive hemorrhagic disorder caused by mutations in the F8 gene that lead to qualitative and/or quantitative deficiencies of coagulation factor VIII (FVIII). Molecular diagnosis of hemophilia A is challenging because of the high number of different causative mutations that are distributed throughout the large F8 gene. Molecular studies of these mutations are essential in order to reinforce our understanding of their pathogenic effect responsible for the disorder.

Identification of genetic defects underlying FVII deficiency in 10 patients belonging to eight unrelated families of the North provinces from Tunisia.

Unlabelled: Inherited factor VII (FVII) deficiency is a rare disorder characterized by a bleeding phenotype varying from mild to severe. To date, more than 200 mutations have been described along the F7 gene encoding for FVII. The aim of this study was the identification of genetic defects underlying FVII deficiency in 10 patients belonging to eight unrelated families of the North provinces from Tunisia.

Factor VIII haplotypes frequencies in Tunisian hemophiliacs A.

Background: The development of inhibitors against factor 8 (F8) is the most serious complication of replacement therapy with F8 in children with severe hemophilia. It was suggested that mismatched F8 replacement therapy may be a risk factor for the development of anti-factor F8 alloantibodies. Recently four single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) encoding six distinct haplotypes, designated H1 through H6, were studied in different populations.

[Evaluating the therapeutic care of HIV infection in Tunisia].

Objective: Our aim is to determine different therapeutic response profiles in Tunisian HIV-1 infected patients, to identify those with therapeutic failure and to compare the results of the genotypic resistance test used in Tunisia (INNO LiPA Test) with those of automatic sequencing to evaluate its efficacy.

Methods: The retrospective survey concerns 392 infected patients enrolled from January 2001 to December 2006. Evaluation of HIV INNO LiPA test was performed by comparing these test results with those of automatic sequencing in 36 plasmatic samples for 13 infected patients with therapeutic failure.

Identification of the CCR5-Delta32 HIV resistance allele and new mutations of the CCR5 gene in different Tunisian populations.

Polymorphisms in some chemokine receptor genes are associated with susceptibility to and progression of human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1) infection. Most mutations detected in the CC-chemokine receptor 5 (CCR5) gene are specific to different populations. In this study, we focused on polymorphisms of the CCR5 coding region in three healthy populations from Tunisia, corresponding to a cosmopolitan population from Tunis, and two isolated Berber populations.

Effects on immunological and virological outcome of patients using one protease inhibitor or one non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor in a triple antiretroviral therapy: normal clinical practice versus clinical trial findings.

We compared the response of two standard 3-drug regimens containing two-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (Zidovudine +Lamivudine) plus either a protease inhibitor (PIs) (Indinavir) or a non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTIs) (Efavirenz) among treatment-naïve or treatment-experienced HIV-infected persons. The obtained results will be compared to clinical trial findings. Through a retrospective study, we compared the virological and immunological response of 119 Tunisian HIV-1 infected patients (North Africa) who started for the first time/ in salvage use a triple antiretroviral treatment containing one NNRTI (group A1/group A2) or one PI (group B1/group B2).