The landscape of chemokine and cytokine is associated with the distinct clinical status of leprosy patients and their respective household contacts.

Introduction: Leprosy, a chronic infectious disease, is closely linked to the host immune response. According to the WHO, leprosy patients (L) and household contacts (HHC) are classified into subgroups: paucibacillary (PB) and multibacillary (MB), witch reflect the degree of infection in patients and the level of exposure of their contacts. The main goal of this study was to: i) establish a comprehensive overview of soluble mediator signatures of PBMCs upon antigen-specific stimuli and ii) identify whether the chemokine (CH) and cytokine (CY) signatures were associated with distinct clinical manifestations in (L) and immune response profiles in (HHC).

Implications of Developmental 17-OHPC Exposure on the Mesocorticolimbic Serotonergic and Dopaminergic Pathways and Adolescent Mood-Related Behavior in Rats.

The synthetic progestin, 17-α-hydroxyprogesterone caproate (17-OHPC), is administered to pregnant individuals at risk for recurrent preterm birth during a critical period of fetal mesocorticolimbic serotonergic and dopaminergic pathway development. These pathways play an important role in regulating cognitive behaviors later in life. Despite this, there has been very little research regarding the potential long-term effects of 17-OHPC on the behavioral and neural development of exposed children.

Understanding the Association Between Medical Mistrust and Unmet Medical Care Need in Gender and Sexually Diverse People of Color Assigned Female at Birth.

The present study investigated associations of sexual orientation and/or gender identity-based medical mistrust and racial/ethnic-based medical mistrust, respectively, with unmet medical care need among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and/or sexually or gender diverse (LGBTQ+) people of color (POC) assigned female at birth (AFAB). We also tested the interaction of the two types of medical mistrust on unmet medical care need. Participants were 266 LGBTQ+ POC AFAB.

Minority stress and romantic relationship functioning among young sexual minority women.

Growing research suggests that minority stress adversely affects relationship functioning among same-gender couples. However, studies have predominantly focused on concurrent, between-persons associations and neglected the relationships sexual minority people have with partners of other genders. We used multiwave longitudinal data from 200 young sexual minority women in relationships with cisgender men, cisgender women, and transgender or nonbinary individuals to assess between- and within-person associations between minority stress and relationship functioning and to test for differences in these associations by partner gender.

Case report: Myelitis and ganglionitis, an atypical presentation of Hansen's disease.

Hansen's disease, or leprosy, is a disease characterized by dermatological and neurological disorders. A neural form also exists, in which peripheral neuropathy occurs in the absence of skin lesions. However, cases of leprosy that involve the central nervous system and proximal nerves are rare in the literature.

Dyadic Moderators of the Minority Stress-HIV Risk Association in Male Couples.

Minority stressors have been linked to HIV risk behaviors among gay, bisexual, queer, and other men who have sex with men (MSM). Committed partnerships are a key context for new HIV infections and coping with minority stress among MSM, but very little work has tested the minority stress-HIV risk link among male couples, and little is known about how processes within one's relationship may exacerbate or buffer this association. The present study examined links between minority stress (i.

Randomized, double-blind, sham-controlled trial to evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of electroconvulsive therapy in patients with clozapine-resistant schizophrenia.

There is no established treatment for patients with clozapine-resistant schizophrenia (CRS). Clozapine augmentation strategies with antipsychotics or others substances are effective in comparison with placebo while and Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) showed to be effective in comparison with treatment as usual (TAU) but not with placebo (sham-ECT). In the present double- blind randomized controlled trial, we compared 40 outpatients who received 20 sessions of ECT (n = 21) or sham-ECT (n = 19) (age = 37.

Cytokines profile in pure neural leprosy.

Introduction: Pure Neural Leprosy (PNL) is a form of this long time known disease that affects only the peripheral nervous system. Since it is a rare form of the disease, its pathophisiology is still poorly understood.

Objective: Describe the cytokines profile in patients with PNL.

Minority Stress and Intimate Partner Violence among Sexual and Gender Minorities assigned Female at Birth.

Objective: Sexual and gender minorities assigned female at birth (SGM-AFAB) experience high rates of intimate partner violence (IPV). Using multiwave longitudinal data, the present study tested the following associations of minority stress and IPV among SGM-AFAB: concurrent within-person (i.e.

Relationship risk factors for intimate partner violence among sexual and gender minorities: A multilevel analysis.

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is alarmingly prevalent among sexual and gender minority youth assigned female at birth (SGM-AFAB), making it important to identify risk factors that can be targeted in prevention efforts for this population. Although several relationship-level risk factors for IPV have been identified in different-sex couples, research on SGM-AFAB is sparse and predominantly cross-sectional. The present study used seven waves of data from a longitudinal cohort study of SGM-AFAB youth (n = 463) to explore relationship factors (relationship quality, destructive conflict, and self- and partner-jealousy) as risk factors for perpetration and victimization of three types of IPV (physical, psychological, and coercive control).

Retrospective Analyses of COVID-19 and Population Ageing Effects on Italian Mortality during the Pandemic.

The spread of COVID-19 led to an extremely high number of deaths in Italy in 2020 with respect to previous years. Because the total number of deaths may depend on both the population structure and the mortality rate by age groups, a detailed overview of the Italian pandemic situation is here provided by following two main lines of inquiry: (i) checking for similarities and differences among mortality rates per age groups before and during the COVID-19 spread; (ii) analyzing the responsiveness of the Italian population structure to different mortality rates. Real-based evidence led us to conduct analyses for two groups associated with different population stages of life, referred to as younghood and adulthood periods.

Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid-Derived Lipid Mediators as Potential Biomarkers for Leprosy Among Individuals with Asymptomatic Infection.

Intra-household contacts (HCs) of leprosy patients are at increased risk of infection by and about ∼5-10% will develop active disease. A prognostic tool to identify HCs with the greatest risk of progressing to active disease would enhance early leprosy diagnosis and optimize prophylactic intervention. Previous metabolomics studies suggest that host lipid mediators derived from ω-3 and ω-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) are potential biomarkers for leprosy.

Case report: Injected corticosteroids for treating leprosy isolated neuritis.

One of the main manifestations of leprosy is peripheral nerve impairment. Early diagnosis and treatment are important to reduce the impact of neurological impairment, which can cause deformities and physical disabilities. Leprosy neuropathy can be acute or chronic, and neural involvement can occur before, during, or after multidrug therapy, and especially during reactional episodes when neuritis occurs.

Evidencing leprosy neuronal inflammation by 18-Fluoro-deoxy-glucose.

Background: Leprosy is caused by multiple interactions between Mycobacterium leprae (M. leprae) and the host's peripheral nerve cells. M.

Interplay among differential exposure to and TLR4 polymorphism impacts the immune response in household contacts of leprosy patients.

Introduction: The aim of the present study was to investigate the association between the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs1927914 A/G in gene and the immunological profile of household contacts (HHC) of leprosy patients. Leprosy classification is usually complex and requires the assessment of several clinical and laboratorial features.

Methods: Herein, we have applied distinct models of descriptive analysis to explore qualitative/quantitative changes in chemokine and cytokine production in HHC further categorized according to operational classification [HHC(PB) and HHC(MB)] and according to SNP.

Biomedical and behavioral outcomes of 2GETHER: A randomized controlled trial of a telehealth HIV prevention program for young male couples.

Objective: This study evaluated the efficacy of the 2GETHER relationship education and HIV prevention program for young male couples in reducing risk for HIV.

Method: We conducted a comparative effectiveness randomized controlled trial of 2GETHER, a five-session hybrid group- and couple-based intervention delivered via videoconference, relative to a single-session HIV testing and risk reduction counseling protocol delivered to couples. We randomized 200 young male couples ( = 400) to 2GETHER or control from 2018 to 2020.

The burden of caregivers of schizophrenia outpatients during the COVID-19 pandemic: A same-sample comparison with the pre-pandemic burden.

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has affected the vulnerable Brazilian population. In this study, we investigated the burden of COVID-19 on caregivers for patients with schizophrenia.

Objective: This study assessed objective and subjective burden of caregivers for patients with schizophrenia during the COVID-19 pandemic and compared the measurements obtained in the study to that before the pandemic.

Reimagining leprosy elimination with AI analysis of a combination of skin lesion images with demographic and clinical data.

Background: Leprosy is an infectious disease that mostly affects underserved populations. Although it has been largely eliminated, still about 200'000 new patients are diagnosed annually. In the absence of a diagnostic test, clinical diagnosis is often delayed, potentially leading to irreversible neurological damage and its resulting stigma, as well as continued transmission.

Progressive neuropathy in patients with lepromatous leprosy after multidrug therapy.

Background: The lepromatous pole is a stigmatising prototype for patients with leprosy. Generally, these patients have little or no symptoms of peripheral nerve involvement at the time of their diagnosis. However, signs of advanced peripheral neuropathy would be visible during the initial neurological evaluation and could worsen during and after multidrug therapy (MDT).

Gene expression patterns associated with multidrug therapy in multibacillary leprosy.

Multidrug therapy (MDT) has been successfully used in the treatment of leprosy. However, although patients are cured after the completion of MDT, leprosy reactions, permanent disability, and occasional relapse/reinfection are frequently observed in patients. The immune system of multibacillary patients (MB) is not able to mount an effective cellular immune response against .

Protocol for an attention-matched randomized controlled trial of 2GETHER: a relationship education and HIV prevention program for young male couples.

Background: Young men who have sex with men (YMSM) are disproportionately impacted by the HIV epidemic in the USA, and a large number of new infections among YMSM occur in the context of main or primary partnerships. At the same time, healthy romantic relationships promote health and wellbeing by improving social support and encouraging healthy behaviors. Thus, we created 2GETHER: a relationship education and HIV prevention program for young male couples.

Arginase 1 is a marker of protection against illness in contacts of leprosy patients.

Leprosy household contacts are generally more prone to develop the disease compared to the general population. Previous studies have demonstrated that genes related to the alternative activation (M2) profile in macrophages are associated with the increased bacillary load in multibacillary leprosy patients (MB), and that contacts of MB patients have a higher risk of contracting the disease. In addition, positive serological responses to PGL-1 or LID-1 are associated with a higher risk of disease.