Evolving strategy for HCV testing in an Italian tertiary care hospital.

Background: Diagnostic tests for hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection should be adapted according to the clinical status of the patient.

Objectives: We exploited the application of different HCV diagnostic algorithms in a tertiary care hospital practice.

Study Design: The laboratory clinical reports to the medical orders for HCV testing during three years were clustered by different combinations of assays for anti-HCV antibodies (HCV Ab) (screening and confirmatory), HCV nucleic acid (HCV-RNA), HCV core antigen (HCV Ag).

Molecular characterization of HIV-1 subtype C gp-120 regions potentially involved in virus adaptive mechanisms.

The role of variable regions of HIV-1 gp120 in immune escape of HIV has been investigated. However, there is scant information on how conserved gp120 regions contribute to virus escaping. Here we have studied how molecular sequence characteristics of conserved C3, C4 and V3 regions of clade C HIV-1 gp120 that are involved in HIV entry and are target of the immune response, are modulated during the disease course.

Performance of V3-based HIV-1 sero subtyping in HIV endemic areas.

HIV-1 serosubtyping based on reactivity to peptides from the V3 region of gp120 is a low-cost and easy to perform procedure often used in geographical areas with high prevalence and incidence of HIV infection. We evaluated the performance of V3-based serotyping on 148 sera from 118 HIV-1-infected individuals living in Uganda, with estimated dates of seroconversion. Of the 148 tested samples, 68 (46.

A multiplex calibrated real-time PCR assay for quantitation of DNA of EBV-1 and 2.

Accurate and highly sensitive tests for the diagnosis of active Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection are essential for the clinical management of individuals infected with EBV. A calibrated quantitative real-time PCR assay for the measurement of EBV DNA of both EBV-1 and 2 subtypes was developed, combining the detection of the EBV DNA and a synthetic DNA calibrator in a multiplex PCR format. The assay displays a wide dynamic range and a high degree of accuracy even in the presence of 1μg of human genomic DNA.

Identification of recent HIV infections and of factors associated with virus acquisition among pregnant women in 2004 and 2006 in Swaziland.

Background: HIV continues to spread at high rates in sub-Saharan Africa. In particular, Swaziland is one of the countries most affected by the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Monitoring of HIV infection in Swaziland is being made by periodical investigations on HIV prevalence in pregnant women.

HIV infection among illegal migrants, Italy, 2004-2007.

To determine HIV prevalence and place of exposure for illegal migrants in Italy, we tested 3,003 illegal adult migrants for HIV; 29 (0.97%) were HIV positive. Antibody avidity index results (indicators of time of infection) were available for 27 of those persons and showed that 6 (22.

Detection of recent HIV infections in African individuals infected by HIV-1 non-B subtypes using HIV antibody avidity.

Background: To estimate HIV incidence several methods have been used to discriminate recent HIV infections from long-standing infections using a single serum sample.

Objective: To evaluate the performance of the anti-HIV avidity index (AI) for identifying recent HIV infections in individuals with a known date of seroconversion from Uganda, where the predominant HIV subtypes are A and D.

Study Design: We selected 149 repository serum samples from Ugandan HIV-positive individuals and evaluated the AI.

Human monocyte-derived dendritic cells differentiated in the presence of IL-2 produce proinflammatory cytokines and prime Th1 immune response.

Interleukin (IL)-2 plays an important role in the control of the immune responses, and it is released in a variety of tissues in response to inflammatory stimuli. As monocytes and mature dendritic cells (DCs) express CD25, the high-affinity subunit of IL-2 receptor, we examined the effect of exogenous IL-2 on the in vitro generation and maturation of DCs from monocytes. Human monocyte-derived DCs (MDDCs) were generated by culturing monocytes with granulocyte macrophage-colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) and IL-4 in the presence or absence of IL-2.

Enhanced cellular immunity to SIV Gag following co-administration of adenoviruses encoding wild-type or mutant HIV Tat and SIV Gag.

Among candidate antigens for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prophylactic vaccines, the regulatory protein Tat is a critical early target, but has a potential for immune suppression. Adenovirus (Ad) recombinants encoding wild-type HIV Tat (Tat-wt) and a transdominant negative mutant HIV Tat (Tat22) were constructed and administered to mice separately or together with Ad-SIVgag. Immunogenicity and effects on immune responses to the co-administered Gag immunogen were evaluated.

The IkappaB kinase is a key factor in triggering influenza A virus-induced inflammatory cytokine production in airway epithelial cells.

Influenza A viruses continue to represent a severe threat worldwide, causing large epidemics and pandemics responsible for thousands of deaths every year. Excessive inflammation due to overabundant production of proinflammatory cytokines by airway epithelial cells is considered an important factor in disease pathogenesis. Here we report that influenza A virus induced IkappaB kinase (IKK) activity in human airway epithelial A549 cells, resulting in persistent activation of nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB), a critical regulator of the inflammatory response.

Inhibition of herpesvirus-induced HIV-1 replication by cyclopentenone prostaglandins: role of IkappaB kinase (IKK).

Objectives: Herpes simplex virus (HSV) infections have been associated with reactivation of HIV-1 replication and increases of HIV-1-load in plasma of co-infected individuals. The present authors have previously reported that in epithelial cells HSV-1 induces the IkappaB-kinase (IKK) causing persistent activation of NF-kappaB, a critical regulator of HIV-1 replication. The present study was performed to investigate whether HSV-1-infection could induce IKK-mediated NF-kappaB activation and enhance HIV-1 expression in human T cells, and to analyze the effect of the IKK-inhibitor prostaglandin A1 (PGA1) and other prostanoids on the NF-kappaB-mediated HSV-HIV interaction.