Genetic diversity of HPV35 in Chad and the Central African Republic, two landlocked countries of Central Africa: A cross-sectional study.

Human Papillomavirus (HPV)-35 accounts for up 10% of cervical cancers in Sub-Saharan Africa. We herein assessed the genetic diversity of HPV35 in HIV-negative women from Chad (identified as #CHAD) and HIV-infected men having sex with men (MSM) in the Central African Republic (CAR), identified as #CAR. Ten HPV35 DNA from self-collected genital secretions (n = 5) and anal margin samples (n = 5) obtained from women and MSM, respectively, were sequenced using the ABI PRISM® BigDye Sequencing technology.

Release of infectious virus and cytokines in nasopharyngeal swabs from individuals infected with non-alpha or alpha SARS-CoV-2 variants: an observational retrospective study.

Background: The dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 alpha variant shedding and immune responses at the nasal mucosa remain poorly characterised.

Methods: We measured infectious viral release, antibodies and cytokines in 426 PCR+ nasopharyngeal swabs from individuals harboring non-alpha or alpha variants.

Findings: With both lineages, viral titers were variable, ranging from 0 to >10 infectious units.

In vitro inhibitory activity against HPV of the monoterpenoid zinc tetra-ascorbo-camphorate.

Zinc tetra-ascorbo-camphorate (or drug "C14") is a synthetic monoterpenoid derivative that has potent anti-HIV-1 activity in vitro. In this study, we evaluated the in vitro antiviral properties of C14 against human papillomavirus (HPV). Inhibition assay of HPV-16-pseudovirus (PsVs) adsorption on COS-7 cells by C14 was used.

[Professor Jacques Fouad Acar, Africa and the "potluck"].

The biography of Professor Jacques Fouad Acar (1931-2020) shows the exceptional trajectory of an atypical doctor, infectiologist-clinician and microbiologist, propelled by the international dynamics of integration and social progress originating in the Lebanese diaspora with his first founding experiences in Dakar, Senegal, in French West Africa, during the golden age of French colonial medicine. Jacques Acar's imprint will comprise three remarkable dimensions: on the one hand, the promotion of integrated multidisciplinary clinical-biological reasoning in infectious pathology; on the other hand, independence of thought in the field of action, which will become his leitmotiv during his university hospital career, allowing him to integrate "pastoral esprit de corps" into his fundamental research at the Pasteur Institute in Paris on the molecular mechanisms of antibiotic resistance and to participate in the explosion of world medicine; lastly, his unique emotional intelligence potentiated by his instinctive sense of networking, with students of all origins and disciplines.

HSV-2 Infection as a Potential Cofactor for HIV Disease Progression and Selection of Drug Resistance Mutations in Adults under WHO-Recommended First-Line Antiretroviral Therapy: A Multicentric, Cross-Sectional Study in Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, and Gabon.

Although herpes simplex virus-2 (HSV-2) infection is a known cofactor for HIV transmission in Central Africa, its role in HIV disease progression is unclear. The aim of this study was to examine the potential link between HSV-2 infection and HIV disease progression, in addition to identifying the presence of genes conferring HIV antiretroviral resistance mutations. This was a cross-sectional study involving 302 HIV-infected adults in Central Africa with virological failure (viral load >1000 copies/mL) on first-line antiretroviral therapy from four different countries.

Purifying Selection in Human Immunodeficiency Virus-1 Gene in Perinatally Human Immunodeficiency Virus-1-Infected Children Harboring Discordant Immunological Response and Virological Nonresponse to Long-Term Antiretroviral Therapy.

Background: Biological monitoring of antiretroviral treatment (ART) in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected pediatric population remains challenging. The aim of the present study was to assess the long-term HIV-1 genetic diversity in gene in HIV-1-infected children in virological failure under antiretroviral regimen adapted according to the successive World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines for resource-constrained settings.

Methods: HIV-1 diversity in gene was assessed in HIV-1-infected children and adolescents born from HIV-infected mothers (median age at follow-up: 13.

A systematic review of self-sampling for HPV testing in Africa.

Background: Human papillomavirus (HPV) testing may be feasible for primary cervical cancer screening in low-resource countries.

Objective: To compare self-sampling by women with clinician-performed sampling for HPV testing in Africa.

Search Strategy: MEDLINE, Google scholar, EMBASE, and several journals were searched from 2000 until 2015 using relevant terms.

Accuracy of Curable Sexually Transmitted Infections and Genital Mycoplasmas Screening by Multiplex Real-Time PCR Using a Self-Collected Veil among Adult Women in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Background: Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are highly prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa. Genital self-sampling may facilitate the screening of STIs in hard-to-reach remote populations far from large health care centers and may increase screening rates. The cross-sectional study was carried out to assess the performance of a novel genital veil (V-Veil-Up Gyn Collection Device, V-Veil-Up Pharma, Ltd.

High prevalence of cervical high-risk human papillomavirus infection mostly covered by Gardasil-9 prophylactic vaccine in adult women living in N'Djamena, Chad.

Background: We conducted in 2018 a descriptive, quantitative, population-based, cross-sectional survey estimating the prevalence of cervical high-risk human papillomavirus (HR-HPV) infection and associated risk factors among adult women living in N'Djamena, Chad.

Methods: Five of the 10 districts of N'Djamena were randomly selected for inclusion. Peer educators contacted adult women in community-churches or women association networks to participate in the survey and come to the clinic for women's sexual health "La Renaissance Plus", N'Djamena.

Persistent high-risk behavior and escalating HIV, syphilis and hepatitis B incidences among men who have sex with men living in Bangui, Central African Republic.

Introduction: HIV in sub-Saharan Africa remains a great concern in men who have sex with men (MSM). Intervention on MSM is a key strategy to control the burden of HIV among this population. Herein we assessed the effect of 2 years of HIV testing and counseling on risk-tacking and HIV and STI incidences among MSM living in Bangui in the Central African Republic.

Unusual and unique distribution of anal high-risk human papillomavirus (HR-HPV) among men who have sex with men living in the Central African Republic.

Background: High-risk (HR) human papillomavirus (HPV) infection remains a great concern in relation to African men who have sex with men (MSM), especially those infected with HIV. The prevalence of HR-HPV and associated risk factors was estimated in a cross-sectional observational study covering MSM living in Bangui, Central African Republic.

Methods: MSM receiving care at the Centre National de Référence des Infections Sexuellement Transmissibles et de la Thérapie Antirétrovirale, Bangui, were included.

Usefulness of Simultaneous Screening for HIV- and Hepatitis C-Specific Antibodies and Hepatitis B Surface Antigen by Capillary-Based Multiplex Immunochromatographic Rapid Test to Strengthen Prevention Strategies and Linkage to Care in Childbearing-Aged Women Living in Resource-Limited Settings.

Childbearing-aged women (n = 266) attending a gynecological clinic in Chad were subjected to multiplex immunochromatographic rapid test for HIV, hepatitis B virus (HBV), and hepatitis C virus (HCV). Ten (3.7%) and 8 (3.

Phenotypic Heterogeneity in Attachment of Marine Bacteria toward Antifouling Copolymers Unraveled by AFM.

Up to recent years, bacterial adhesion has mostly been evaluated at the population level. Single cell level has improved in the past few years allowing a better comprehension of the implication of individual behaviors as compared to the one of a whole community. A new approach using atomic force microscopy (AFM) to measure adhesion forces between a live bacterium attached via a silica microbead to the AFM tipless cantilever and the surface has been recently developed.

Cervical cancer in sub-Saharan Africa: an emerging and preventable disease associated with oncogenic human papillomavirus.

Highly oncogenic human papillomavirus (HPV) infections are responsible for 7.7 % of cancers in developing countries, mainly cervical cancer. The incidence of this emerging cancer is steadily increasing in sub-Saharan Africa, with more than 75,000 new cases and close to 50,000 deaths a year, a toll further increased by HIV infection.

Performance evaluation of the touchscreen-based Muse™ Auto CD4/CD4% single-platform system for CD4 T cell numeration in absolute number and in percentage using blood samples from children and adult patients living in the Central African Republic.

Background: The new microcapillary and fluorescence-based EC IVD-qualified Muse™ Auto CD4/CD4% single-platform assay (EMD Millipore Corporation, Merck Life Sciences, KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany) for CD4 T cell numeration in absolute number and in percentage was evaluated using Central African patients' samples compared against the reference EC IVD-qualified BD FACSCount (Becton-Dickinson, USA) flow cytometer.

Methods: EDTA-blood samples from 124 adults, 10 adolescents, 13 children and 3 infants were tested in parallel at 2 reference laboratories in Bangui.

Results: The Muse™ technique was highly reproducible, with low intra- and inter-run variabilities less than 15%.

Variability of human immunodeficiency virus-1 in the female genital reservoir during genital reactivation of herpes simplex virus type 2.

Clinical and subclinical genital herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) reactivations have been associated with increases in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-1 genital shedding. Whether HSV-2 shedding contributes to the selection of specific genital HIV-1 variants remains unknown. We evaluated the genetic diversity of genital and blood HIV-1 RNA and DNA in 14 HIV-1/HSV-2-co-infected women, including seven with HSV-2 genital reactivation, and seven without as controls.

Herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) genital shedding in HSV-2-/HIV-1-co-infected women receiving effective combination antiretroviral therapy.

The dynamics of genital shedding of HSV-2 DNA was assessed in HIV-1-infected women taking combination antiretroviral therapy (cART). HIV-1 RNA, HIV-1 DNA and HSV DNA loads were measured during 12-18 months using frozen plasma, PBMC and cervicovaginal lavage samples from 22 HIV-1-infected women, including 17 women naive for antiretroviral therapy initiating cART and 5 women with virological failure switching to a new regimen. Nineteen (86%) women were HSV-2-seropositive.

The case for addressing primary resistance mutations to non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors to treat children born from mothers living with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa.

The prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) drug resistance mutations (DRMs) was estimated in 25 untreated infants who were living with HIV-1, younger than 13 months and living in Senegal. Antiretroviral DRMs were detected in 8 of 25 (32%) children. Non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI) DRMs were present in all (100%) children whose viruses harboured DRMs: K103N in 43%; Y181C, K101E and V106M each in 29%; and Y188L in 14%.

Understanding factors that modulate HIV infection at the female genital tract mucosae for the rationale design of microbicides.

Women are now becoming the pivot of the epidemiological spread of HIV infection worldwide, especially in developing countries. Therefore, research to develop an efficient microbicide is now a priority for the prevention of HIV-1 acquisition in exposed women. However, recent disappointing failures in microbicide clinical trials revealed major gaps in basic and applied knowledge that hinder the development of effective microbicide formulations.

Advanced glycation end products inhibit both infection and transmission in trans of HIV-1 from monocyte-derived dendritic cells to autologous T cells.

Highly active antiretroviral therapy is associated with carbohydrate metabolic alterations that may lead to diabetes. One consequence of hyperglycemia is the formation of advanced glycation end products (AGEs) that are involved in diabetes complications. We investigated the impact of AGEs on the infection of monocyte-derived dendritic cells (MDDCs) by HIV-1 and the ability of MDDCs to transmit the virus to T cells.

Apical interactions of HIV type 1 with polarized HEC-1 cell monolayer modulate R5-HIV type 1 spread by submucosal macrophages.

The in vitro model of HIV-1 transcytosis through a monolayer of HEC-1 cells is thought to mimic the mucosal crossing of the virus that may occur in vivo. We evaluated whether the stimulation of HEC-1 by HIV may modulate HIV infection of macrophages. Thus, the ability to capture, produce, and transfer R5 viruses to T cells, attract T cells, and finally produce cytokines/chemokines, was compared between untreated macrophages (M0) and macrophages differentiated in the presence of medium collected at the basolateral pole of HEC-1, which were unstimulated [M(BL)] or stimulated with either R5-HIV-1Ba-L [M(BL-R5)] or X4-HIV-1NDK [M(BL-X4)].

Comparison of cervicovaginal lavage, cervicovaginal lavage enriched with cervical swab, and vaginal tampon for the detection of HIV-1 RNA and HSV-2 DNA in genital secretions.

Methods: We compared the performance of 3 collection methods for cervicovaginal secretions [cervicovaginal lavage (CVL), CVL enriched with a cervical swab (eCVL), and vaginal tampon (VT)] to identify the most reliable method for detection of cervicovaginal HIV-1 and herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2). HIV-1 RNA (Nuclisens EasyQ; BioMerieux, Marcy-l'Etoile, France), HSV-2 DNA (real-time polymerase chain reaction), and microscopic blood and semen traces were detected in samples from 19 HIV-1-HSV-2-coinfected women seen at 4 weekly visits.

Results: HIV-1 RNA was detected in 49 (79%) of 62 eCVLs, 41 (61%) of 67 CVLs, and 27 (57%) of 47 VTs.