The follicular fluid adipocytokine milieu could serve as a prediction tool for fertility treatment outcomes.

Research Question: Can the adipocytokine milieu of the follicular niche improve the ability to predict treatment outcomes in infertile patients?

Design: Follicular fluid samples from overweight patients were analysed and compared with samples from matched normal-weight patients. Concentrations of adiponectin, chemerin, C-reactive protein, interleukin-6 (IL-6), IL-10, IL-18, insulin, leptin, prolactin, resistin, tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) and bone morphogenetic protein-15 (BMP-15) were assessed by multiple magnetic bead immunoassay (MMBI) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and correlated with fertility treatment outcomes.

Results: Analysis of samples from 22 overweight and 22 normal-weight patients demonstrated that TNF-α can predict oocyte maturation rate.

Cannabis alters epigenetic integrity and endocannabinoid signalling in the human follicular niche.

Study Question: Do phytocannabinoids (PCs) affect follicular endocannabinoid signalling and the epigenome in the surrounding granulosa cells (GCs)?

Summary Answer: Exposure to PCs increases the expression of endocannabinoid receptors and reduces DNA methylation enzyme expression and global DNA methylation in naïve GCs.

What Is Known Already: Cannabis plant derivatives, known as PCs, are used for medicinal and recreational purposes. The main PC, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), is the third most commonly used substance by women of childbearing age, hence knowledge of the effect it has on reproduction is of utmost importance.

Understanding how geographic, demographic and treatment history impact health outcomes of patients with multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis in Pakistan, 2014-2017.

Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the top 10 leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide [1]. In 2017, approximately 10 million people were infected with TB and 1.3 million patients faced mortality [1].

Does body mass index impact assisted reproductive technology treatment outcomes in gestational carriers.

Background: The purpose of this study was to assess whether increased body mass index (BMI) negatively affects assisted reproductive technology (ART) outcomes among gestational carriers.

Methods: A retrospective matched case-control cohort, including all gestational carrier (GC) cycles performed at CReATe Fertility Centre (Toronto, ON, Canada) between 2003 and 2016.

Setting: A Canadian fertility clinic, with a large surrogacy program.

Are teachers at higher risk of HIV infection than the general population in Burkina Faso?

In order to assess the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevalence among teachers in Burkina Faso, we carried out a national survey in 336 primary and secondary schools from urban and rural areas. Among 2088 teachers who agreed to participate, 1498 (71.7%) provided urine for HIV testing.

Are healthcare workers at higher risk of HIV infection than the general population in Burkina Faso?

In order to assess the HIV prevalence in healthcare workers (HCWs) in Burkina Faso, we conducted a national survey in 97 health facilities from urban and rural areas. Of 1570 HCWs who agreed to participate, 1013 (64·5%) provided a urine sample for HIV testing. The crude prevalence of HIV in HCWs was 3·5% (95% CI 2·3-4·6).

Voluntary HIV testing and risky sexual behaviours among health care workers: a survey in rural and urban Burkina Faso.

Background: Voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) together with a safe sexual behaviour is an important preventive strategy in the control of HIV. Although Health care workers (HCWs) are critical in the response to HIV, little is known about VCT and high risk behaviours (HRB) among this group in West Africa. This study aims to assess the prevalence of VCT and HRB among HCWs in Burkina Faso.

Who Is Going for VCT? A Case Study in Urban Burkina Faso.

Introduction. Voluntary HIV counselling and testing (VCT) is a key element of treatment and is essential for prevention of vertical HIV transmission. Little information is available on the uptake of VCT in Burkina Faso.

Epidemiology of herpes simplex virus type 2 infection in rural and urban Burkina Faso.

Background: Herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) infection enhances human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) susceptibility and may increase sexual transmission, but few data on HSV-2 prevalence are available from West Africa. The main objective of this study was to describe the prevalence and determinants of HSV-2 among adults in urban and rural Burkina Faso.

Methods: We conducted (i) a 2-stage clustered population-based survey among adults aged 15 to 49 years in Ouagadougou (N = 883 women and 791 men), the capital city of Burkina Faso, and (ii) a cross-sectional study among attendees (N = 2018) of all 98 antenatal clinics from 4 provinces of the country.

Low seroprevalence of syphilis in Burkina Faso.

Background: Little information is available on the epidemiology of syphilis in West Africa, where this infection is routinely screened in antenatal clinics to prevent congenital infection. In order to inform control programmes, the burden of active syphilis was estimated among pregnant women and adults in Burkina Faso.

Methods: This study enrolled 2136 pregnant women from 98 healthcare facilities and 1679 consenting women and men from the general population of Ouagadougou, the capital city.

Bacterial vaginosis among pregnant women in Burkina Faso.

Objectives: Bacterial vaginosis (bv) is a common cause of abnormal or altered vaginal discharge in women of childbearing age. Its association with obstetric and gynecologic complications and HIV are increasingly recognized. Few population-based surveys of BV have been conducted in Africa.

Effect of HIV-1 and antiretroviral therapy on herpes simplex virus type 2: a prospective study in African women.

Objectives: To document the natural history of herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) in relation to HIV and highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) in Africa, a longitudinal study was conducted of women in the placebo arms of two randomised controlled trials of HSV-suppressive therapy in Burkina Faso.

Methods: 22 HIV-uninfected women (group 1), 30 HIV-1-infected women taking HAART (group 2), and 68 HIV-1-infected women not eligible for HAART (group 3) were followed over 24 weeks. HSV-2 DNA was detected on alternate weeks using real-time PCR from cervicovaginal lavages.

Roles of clinical and subclinical reactivated herpes simplex virus type 2 infection and human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1)-induced immunosuppression on genital and plasma HIV-1 levels.

Background: Few longitudinal studies have described the interactions between reactivation of herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) infection (hereafter, "HSV-2 reactivation") and genital and systemic replication of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1).

Methods: Women in Burkina Faso who were seropositive for both HIV-1 and HSV-2 were enrolled in a randomized placebo-controlled trial of therapy to suppress reactivation of HSV-2 infection (hereafter, "HSV suppressive therapy"). During the baseline phase, 6 enriched cervicovaginal lavage specimens were obtained over 12 weeks to detect and quantify the HIV-1 RNA and HSV-2 DNA loads.

Longitudinal effect following initiation of highly active antiretroviral therapy on plasma and cervico-vaginal HIV-1 RNA among women in Burkina Faso.

Background: Highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) could decrease HIV-1 transmissibility by reducing genital and plasma HIV-1 RNA.

Methods: We evaluated the effect of HAART on genital and plasma HIV-1 RNA in a cohort of 39 antiretroviral-naïve women in Burkina Faso. Cervico-vaginal lavages were collected before HAART initiation and at six visits over 28 weeks while on HAART.

Association between bacterial vaginosis and Herpes simplex virus type-2 infection: implications for HIV acquisition studies.

Objectives: Bacterial vaginosis (BV) and Herpes simplex virus type-2 (HSV-2) have been linked to an increased risk of HIV-1 acquisition. Recent research suggests an association between BV and HSV-2 acquisition, but the converse has not been studied. Here, we investigate whether an association exists between BV and HSV-2 infection

Methods: We examined the determinants of BV occurrence in a cohort of female sex workers in Burkina Faso.

Reduction of HIV-1 RNA levels with therapy to suppress herpes simplex virus.

Background: Epidemiologic data suggest that infection with herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) is associated with increased genital shedding of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) RNA and HIV-1 transmissibility.

Methods: We conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of HSV suppressive therapy with valacyclovir (at a dose of 500 mg twice daily) in Burkina Faso among women who were seropositive for HIV-1 and HSV-2; all were ineligible for highly active antiretroviral therapy. The patients were followed for 24 weeks (12 weeks before and 12 weeks after randomization).

Impact of suppressive herpes therapy on genital HIV-1 RNA among women taking antiretroviral therapy: a randomized controlled trial.

Objective: To demonstrate a causal relationship between herpes simplex virus 2 (HSV-2) and increased genital HIV-1-RNA shedding in women on HAART.

Design: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of herpes-suppressive therapy (valacyclovir 500 mg twice a day) in HIV-1/HSV-2-infected women taking HAART in Burkina Faso.

Methods: Participants were followed for a total of 12 biweekly visits before and after randomization.

Longitudinal assessment of HIV-1 and HSV-2 shedding in the genital tract of West African women.

Forty-two HSV-2-seropositive women, of whom 22 were HIV-1 seropositive, were followed up weekly for 3 weeks for assessment of HIV-1 and HSV-2 genital shedding in Bobo Dioulasso, Burkina Faso. HSV-2 DNA and HIV-1 RNA were quantitated in cervicovaginal lavages enriched with a cervical swabbing (eCVL) using real-time polymerase chain reaction. HIV-1 RNA shedding was detected in eCVL from 19 of 22 (86.

Is sexually transmitted infection management among sex workers still able to mitigate the spread of HIV infection in West Africa?

Objective: To assess the role of sexually transmitted infection (STI) management to prevent HIV acquisition among sex workers in Burkina Faso.

Design: Open cohort study of professional and nonprofessional sex workers with 3-month follow-up visits.

Methods: Baseline and follow-up visits consisted of the administration of a behavioral questionnaire, education sessions on HIV and STIs, a medical examination, and laboratory testing for STI and HIV diagnosis.

PCR-based detection of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex in urine of HIV-infected and uninfected pulmonary and extrapulmonary tuberculosis patients in Burkina Faso.

To evaluate a one-tube nested PCR-based analysis of urine for diagnosing pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) and extrapulmonary tuberculosis (EPTB) in Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso, a prospective analysis of urine samples from HIV- and non-HIV-infected adults with PTB and EPTB (case patients) and with pathology other than tuberculosis (TB) (control patients) was performed. Three groups of patients were classified as microbiological-positive and -negative PTB and EPTB on the basis of clinical signs and microbiological results. Urine from patients was analysed using the DNA extraction and Sechi's methods, both modified, for the detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

Review of STI and HIV epidemiological data from 1990 to 2001 in urban Burkina Faso: implications for STI and HIV control.

Objectives: To better understand the sexually transmitted infection (STI)/HIV dynamics in an urban west African setting in order to adapt STI/HIV control efforts accordingly.

Methods: Review of STI and HIV epidemiological studies performed over the past decade in Bobo-Dioulasso, the second city of Burkina Faso. Trends in STI prevalence among commercial sex workers and the general population were assessed over time through studies that used the same recruitment and laboratory diagnostic procedures.

Spectrum of commercial sex activity in Burkina Faso: classification model and risk of exposure to HIV.

Objective: Before designing a sexually transmitted infection (STI)/HIV intervention study targeting female commercial sex workers in Bobo Dioulasso, Burkina Faso, we conducted a socioanthropologic survey to analyze the prostitution network in the city in 1998. According to social characteristics, women were classified in six different categories, including four groups of nonprofessional sex workers. The aim of the current study is to assess HIV exposure across this classification model.

Differential pattern in circulating nitrogen derivatives, lactoferrin, and anti-lactoferrin antibodies in HIV type 1 and HIV type 2 infections.

HIV-1 infection is associated with a dramatic reduction in antioxidative molecules both at the cellular level and in the circulation. This is particularly so for lactoferrin, an iron-binding protein involved in natural defenses (antimicrobial and antiviral activities, etc.) and found in whole secretions, including milk and mucus.

Impairment of circulating lactoferrin in HIV-1 infection.

Levels of plasma lactoferrin are decreased in HIV-1-infected patients in relation to the progression of the disease. Plasma lactoferrin concentrations were determined using a specific and sensitive enzyme immunoassay. 97 plasma were studied (22 asymptomatic, 45 symptomatic patients compared to 30 healthy controls) and the results showed a highly significant decrease (p < 0.

[Role of interleukin-4 in the regulation of nitric oxide production by normal human monocytes].

Resting normal human monocytes were found to produce small amounts of cGMP in response to IL-4. This production was inhibited in the presence of LNMMA suggesting an association with activation of the NO synthase (NOS) pathway. In addition, this cGMP generation was abrogated in the presence of either a Ca2+ chelator, EGTA, or a calcium/calmodulin inhibitor, W7, suggesting that IL-4 stimulates the constitutive NOS (cNOS).