[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe have previously shown that blood levels of B-cell Activating Factor (BAFF) rise relatively to disease progression status in the context of HIV-1 infection. Excess BAFF was concomitant with hyperglobulinemia and the deregulation of blood B-cell populations, notably with increased frequencies of a population sharing characteristics of transitional immature and marginal zone (MZ) B-cells, which we defined as marginal zone precursor-like" (MZp). In HIV-uninfected individuals, MZp present a B-cell regulatory (Breg) profile and function, which are lost in classic-progressors.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEur J Public Health
December 2023
Background: Wearing a face mask and keeping a minimal distance from others are common nonpharmaceutical interventions that governments may mandate or recommend to contain the spread of infectious diseases. The article addresses the following questions: (i) Do people interact closer when the face mask is worn? (ii) Do people interact closer because they believe that the mask reduces the risk of contagion? (iii) If the mask induces people to interact closer, does the increase in risk entailed by shorter distances entirely offset the decrease in risk offered by the mask?
Methods: With a view to maximizing both the external and the internal validity of the study, between 2021 and 2022 we performed a large field experiment on real-life interactions (n > 4500) and a controlled laboratory experiment in virtual reality.
Results: Converging between the field and the lab, the results indicate that in general people interact closer when the mask is worn, and in particular when they believe that the mask reduces the risk of contagion.
Chronic inflammation persists in people living with HIV (PLHIV) despite antiretrovial therapy (ART) and is involved in their premature development of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) such as atherosclerosis. We have previously reported that an excess of “B-cell activating factor” (BAFF), an important molecule for the selection and activation of first-line Marginal Zone (MZ) B-cell populations, is associated with deregulations of precursor-like MZ (MZp), whose potent B-cell regulatory (Breg) capacities are altered in PLHIV, early on and despite 1−2 years of ART. Based on these observations, and growing evidence that MZ populations are involved in atherosclerosis control, we designed a cross sectional study to explore the associations between BAFF and its analogue “A proliferation-inducing ligand” (APRIL) with subclinical CVD in long-time-treated individuals of the Canadian HIV and Aging Cohort Study (CHACS) imaging sub-study group.
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