Inverted CD8 T-Cell Exhaustion and Co-Stimulation Marker Balance Differentiate Aviremic HIV-2-Infected From Seronegative Individuals.

HIV-2 is less pathogenic compared to HIV-1. Still, disease progression may develop in aviremic HIV-2 infection, but the driving forces and mechanisms behind such development are unclear. Here, we aimed to reveal the immunophenotypic pattern associated with CD8 T-cell pathology in HIV-2 infection, in relation to viremia and markers of disease progression.

Imaging small molecule-induced endosomal escape of siRNA.

Small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) are a new class of promising therapeutic molecules that can be used for sequence-specific downregulation of disease-causing genes. However, endosomal entrapment of siRNA is a key hurdle for most delivery strategies, limiting the therapeutic effect. Here, we use live-cell microscopy and cytosolic galectin-9 as a sensor of membrane damage, to probe fundamental properties of endosomal escape of cholesterol-conjugated siRNA induced by endosome-disrupting compounds.

Prevalence of HIV-1 pretreatment drug resistance among treatment naïve pregnant women in Bissau, Guinea Bissau.

Background: With increased access to antiretroviral treatment (ART) in sub-Saharan Africa emergence of HIV-1 pretreatment drug resistance constitutes a serious risk. This may lead to rapid virological failure in subjects initiating ART, and mother-to-child transmission despite prophylaxis.

Methods: Treatment-naïve pregnant women from four antenatal care clinics in Bissau, Guinea-Bissau, were enrolled from October 2016 to November 2017.

Retention in care among HIV-positive patients initiating second-line antiretroviral therapy: a retrospective study from an Ethiopian public hospital clinic.

Background: Access to second-line antiretroviral therapy (ART) for HIV-positive patients remains limited in sub-Saharan Africa. Furthermore, outcomes of second-line ART may be compromised by mortality and loss to follow-up (LTFU).

Objective: To determine retention in care among patients receiving second-line ART in a public hospital in Ethiopia, and to investigate factors associated with LTFU among adults and adolescents.