Frailty, Specialized Care, and Sociodemographic Factors: Disparities in Oral Pharmacotherapy Class Utilization Among Medicare Part D Beneficiaries With Overactive Bladder in the United States.

Objective: To describe the prevalence of frailty among Medicare beneficiaries with overactive bladder (OAB), analyze oral therapy patterns, and examine potential disparities in treatment.

Methods: This retrospective cohort study utilized the 20% Research Identifiable File Medicare Part D prescription claims dataset (2013-2018). Using the Claims-Based Frailty Index (CFI), Medicare beneficiaries ≥65 years old with OAB were categorized as not frail (CFI <0.

Tenofovir disoproxil fumarate intravaginal ring for HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis in sexually active women: a phase 1, single-blind, randomised, controlled trial.

Background: An intravaginal ring that releases the tenofovir prodrug, tenofovir disoproxil fumarate, provided 100% protection in macaques against simian HIV and was safe in a 14-day clinical trial in sexually abstinent women. We aimed to assess the safety and pharmacokinetics of this intravaginal ring over 90 days in sexually active women.

Methods: We did a phase 1, single-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled trial to assess safety, pharmacokinetics, and acceptability of a tenofovir disoproxil fumarate intravaginal ring used continuously with monthly ring changes for 3 months.

Impact of reproductive aging on the vaginal microbiome and soluble immune mediators in women living with and at-risk for HIV infection.

Background: Reproductive aging may impact the vaginal microbiome and genital tract mucosal immune environment and contribute to genital tract health in women living with and at-risk for HIV infection.

Methods: A cross-sectional study of 102 HIV+ (51 premenopausal, 51 postmenopausal) and 39 HIV-uninfected (HIV-) (20 premenopausal, 19 postmenopausal) women was performed in Bronx and Brooklyn, NY. Cervicovaginal lavage (CVL) was collected for quantification of innate antimicrobial activity against E.

Vaginal microbiome modulates topical antiretroviral drug pharmacokinetics.

Tenofovir gel and dapivirine ring provided variable HIV protection in clinical trials, reflecting poor adherence and possibly biological factors. We hypothesized that vaginal microbiota modulates pharmacokinetics and tested the effects of pH, individual bacteria, and vaginal swabs from women on pharmacokinetics and antiviral activity. Tenofovir, but not dapivirine, uptake by human cells was reduced as pH increased.

Structural basis of mammalian glycan targeting by Vibrio cholerae cytolysin and biofilm proteins.

Vibrio cholerae is an aquatic gram-negative microbe responsible for cholera, a pandemic disease causing life-threatening diarrheal outbreaks in populations with limited access to health care. Like most pathogenic bacteria, V. cholerae secretes virulence factors to assist colonization of human hosts, several of which bind carbohydrate receptors found on cell-surfaces.