Population Pharmacokinetics of Meropenem Across the Adult Lifespan.

Background And Objective: We conducted an opportunistic pharmacokinetic study to evaluate the population pharmacokinetics of meropenem, an antimicrobial commonly used to treat Gram-negative infections in adults of different ages, including older adults, and determined optimal dosing regimens.

Methods: A total of 99 patients were included. The population pharmacokinetic models used had two compartments: zero-order input and linear elimination.

Population Pharmacokinetics of Piperacillin/Tazobactam Across the Adult Lifespan.

Background And Objective: Piperacillin/tazobactam is one of the most frequently used antimicrobials in older adults. Using an opportunistic study design, we evaluated the pharmacokinetics of piperacillin/tazobactam as a probe drug to evaluate changes in antibacterial drug exposure and dosing requirements, including in older adults.

Methods: A total of 121 adult patients were included.

Evaluating the effect and user satisfaction of an adapted and translated mobile health application ASTHMAXcel© among adults with asthma in Pune, India.

Objective: ASTHMAXcel is a mobile application previously shown to improve asthma knowledge, control, and quality of life. In this study, we translated the application to Marathi for pilot testing in Pune, India in order to evaluate its impact on user satisfaction and asthma knowledge among adult asthma patients.

Methods: ASTHMAXcel was adapted to Marathi with the help of asthma patients and clinicians from Bharati Hospital.

Young-onset colon cancer among people living with HIV in metropolitan Atlanta.

Purpose: Colon cancer is a leading cause of cancer-related morbidity and mortality in the USA. We sought to better characterize colon cancer among a predominantly Black cohort with and without HIV.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed all patients (n = 1482) diagnosed with colon cancer between 2015 and 2019 at a large urban tertiary teaching hospital using ICD-9 and ICD-10 codes.

Corrigendum to "Outcomes of Programmed Cell Death Protein 1 (PD-1) and Programmed Death-Ligand 1 (PD-L1) Inhibitor Therapy in HIV Patients with Advanced Cancer".

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1155/2019/2989048.].

Outcomes of Programmed Cell Death Protein 1 (PD-1) and Programmed Death-Ligand 1(PD-L1) Inhibitor Therapy in HIV Patients with Advanced Cancer.

Due to HAART and consequent decline in mortality from infectious complications, HIV patients have an increasing burden of non-AIDS defining cancers. Data on their safety and efficacy is unknown as these patients were excluded from clinical trials due to concern of unforeseen side effects. .

Correlation Between Tenofovir Drug Levels and the Renal Biomarkers RBP-4 and ß2M in the ION-4 Study Cohort.

Background: Concomitant dosing of ledipasvir (LDV) and tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) results in an increased tenofovir (TFV) area under the curve (AUC). The aim of this study was to examine whether there was a correlation between the renal biomarkers retinol binding protein-4 (RBP-4) and β2 microglobulin (β2M) and tenofovir AUC.

Methods: The ION-4 trial enrolled HIV/hepatitis C virus-coinfected patients on nonpharmacologically boosted antiretroviral regimens with TDF-containing backbones.

Candida dubliniensis abscess: A clinical case and a review of the literature.

infections are rare in the absence of prolonged immunocompromised status or intravenous drug abuse. We present a case of a soft tissue abscess in a patient with uncontrolled diabetes as his only immunocompromising risk factor, treated with surgical drainage and medical management.

Direct-Acting Antivirals Improve Access to Care and Cure for Patients With HIV and Chronic HCV Infection.

Background: Direct-acting antivirals (DAA) as curative therapy for hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection offer >95% sustained virologic response (SVR), including in patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. Despite improved safety and efficacy of HCV treatment, challenges remain, including drug-drug interactions between DAA and antiretroviral therapy (ART) and restrictions on access by payers.

Methods: We performed a retrospective cohort study of all HIV/HCV co-infected and HCV mono-infected patients captured in care at our institution from 2011-2015, reflecting the DAA era, to determine treatment uptake and SVR, and to elucidate barriers to accessing DAA for co-infected patients.

Genotype 3 Infection: The Last Stand of Hepatitis C Virus.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) represents a significant global disease burden, with an estimated 130-150 million people worldwide living with chronic HCV infection. Within the six major clinical HCV genotypes, genotype 3 represents 22-30% of all infection and is described as a unique entity with higher rates of steatosis, faster progression to cirrhosis, and higher rates of hepatocellular carcinoma. Hepatic steatosis in the setting of hepatitis C genotype 3 (HCV-3) is driven by viral influence on three major pathways: microsomal triglyceride transfer protein, sterol regulatory element-binding protein-1c, and peroxisome proliferator-associated receptor-α.

Risk factors and epidemiology of Clostridium difficile infection in hematopoietic stem cell transplant recipients during the peritransplant period.

Background: Hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) recipients represent a high-risk group for developing Clostridium difficile (CD) infection (CDI). We aimed to identify specific risk factors for CDI in an HSCT patient population during the peritransplant period.

Methods: We performed a case-control study within a cohort of HSCT patients who received a transplant from November 2010 to March 2013.

Aging of the Liver: What This Means for Patients with HIV.

As the HIV population continues to live longer as a result of antiretroviral therapy, liver-related mortality has become one of the leading causes of non-AIDS related death in this patient population. The liver possesses a remarkable regenerative capacity but undergoes complex biological changes in response to aging and inflammation that result in decreased cellular regeneration and a tipping of the scales towards fibrogenesis. Patients with HIV infection have serological evidence of ongoing inflammation, with elevations in some biomarkers persisting despite adequate virologic control.

Intestinal microbiome disruption in patients in a long-term acute care hospital: A case for development of microbiome disruption indices to improve infection prevention.

Background: Composition and diversity of intestinal microbial communities (microbiota) are generally accepted as a risk factor for poor outcomes; however, we cannot yet use this information to prevent adverse outcomes.

Methods: Stool was collected from 8 long-term acute care hospital patients experiencing diarrhea and 2 fecal microbiota transplant donors; 16S rDNA V1-V2 hypervariable regions were sequenced. Composition and diversity of each sample were described.

Characteristics and Antibiotic Use Associated With Short-Term Risk of Clostridium difficile Infection Among Hospitalized Patients.

Objectives: Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) has been shown to have an excellent sensitivity and specificity for the detection of Clostridium difficile infection (CDI). Little is known about risk factors for CDI within 14 days of an initial negative test. We sought to determine the characteristics among hospitalized patients associated with risk of short-term acquisition of CDI.

Mycobacterium paraffinicum causing symptomatic pulmonary infection.

Mycobacterium paraffinicum has been newly recognized as a species. A case of symptomatic pulmonary infection caused by M. paraffinicum is described, and as far as we know, this is the first case of the organism as a human pathogen.

Pichia anomala (Candida pelliculosa) fungemia in a patient with sickle cell disease.

This case report discusses a patient with sickle cell disease who presented with fungemia from Pichia anomala (teleomorph: Candida pelliculosa). The organism was identified as P. anomala by MALDI-TOF VITEK mass spectrometry and VITEK 2 yeast identification card.