Clinical Efficacy of Cefixime for the Treatment of Early Syphilis.

Safe and efficacious alternative treatment options for syphilis are necessary. This randomized, 2-arm, noncomparative pilot study evaluated the efficacy of oral cefixime 400 mg in achieving a ≥4-fold rapid plasma reagin titer decrease by 3 or 6 months after treatment. The proportion of cefixime arm participants treated successfully was 87% (95% confidence interval, 69%-100%; 13/15).

Clinical trial protocol to evaluate the efficacy of cefixime in the treatment of early syphilis.

Background: Syphilis rates have been increasing both in the USA and internationally with incidence higher among men-who-have-sex-with-men and people living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. Currently, benzathine penicillin is the recommended treatment for syphilis in all patients. Global shortages and cost increases in benzathine penicillin call for alternative treatment options.

Association of cervical precancer with human papillomavirus types other than 16 among HIV co-infected women.

Background: HIV-seropositive women face high risk for infection with oncogenic human papillomavirus (oncHPV) types, abnormal Pap test results, and precancer, but cervical cancer risk is only modestly increased. Human papillomavirus (HPV)16 is highly oncogenic but only weakly associated with HIV status and immunosuppression, suggesting HPV16 may have a greater innate ability to evade host immune surveillance than other oncHPV types, which in turn should result in a greater relative increase in the prevalence of other oncHPV types among women with cervical precancer.

Objective: We sought to assess whether the underrepresentation of HPV16 among HIV-seropositive relative to HIV-seronegative women remains among those with cervical precancers.

Tenofovir use and urinary biomarkers among HIV-infected women in the Women's Interagency HIV Study (WIHS).

Background: Tenofovir (TDF) has been associated with renal tubular injury. Biomarkers that signal early tubular dysfunction are needed because creatinine rise lags behind TDF-associated kidney dysfunction. We examined several urinary biomarkers to determine if rises accompanying TDF initiation preceded creatinine changes.

The relationship between race and HIV-distal sensory polyneuropathy in a large cohort of US women.

Introduction: HIV-distal sensory polyneuropathy (HIV-DSPN) is a common complication of HIV infection, yet race as a potential risk factor is not known.

Methods: Between April and October 2009, as part of the NIH Women's Interagency HIV Study (WIHS), 1414 women, 973 of whom were HIV-infected, were clinically evaluated for peripheral neuropathy. Utilizing available clinical, laboratory, and sociodemographic variables, we conducted a cross-sectional analysis of factors associated with HIV-DSPN.

Smoking cessation among women with and at risk for HIV: are they quitting?

Background: Cigarette smoking is an important risk factor for adverse health events in HIV-infected populations. While recent US population-wide surveys report annual sustained smoking cessation rates of 3.4-8.

Factors associated with prevalent hepatitis C infection among HIV-infected women with no reported history of injection drug use: the Women's Interagency HIV Study (WIHS).

Although the primary mode of hepatitis C virus (HCV) transmission is exposure to blood products or injection drug use (IDU), studies have found varying independent risk factors for HCV infection among persons with no history of IDU or exposure to blood products. For HIV-infected women, sexual transmission may be another potential source of HCV infection. HIV-infected and HIV-negative women at risk for HIV enrolled in the Women's Interagency HIV Study (WIHS) during October 1994 to November 1995 and again between October 2001 and November 2002 were studied.