Publications by authors named "T D Mastro"
Sexual behaviour among women using intramuscular depot medroxyprogesterone acetate, a copper intrauterine device, or a levonorgestrel implant for contraception: Data from the ECHO randomized trial.
PLoS One
May 2024
Background: Contraceptive use has complex effects on sexual behaviour and mood, including those related to reduced concerns about unintended pregnancy, direct hormonal effects and effects on endogenous sex hormones. We set out to obtain robust evidence on the relative effects of three contraceptive methods on sex behaviours, which is important for guiding contraceptive choice and future contraceptive developments.
Methods: This is a secondary analysis of data from the Evidence for Contraceptive Options and HIV Outcomes (ECHO) randomized trial in which 7,829 HIV-uninfected women from 12 sites in Eswatini, Kenya, South Africa and Zambia seeking contraception were randomly assigned to intramuscular depot-medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA-IM), the copper intrauterine device (Cu-IUD) or the levonorgestrel (LNG) implant.
Article Synopsis
- South Africa has the highest HIV burden globally, and understanding factors contributing to HIV acquisition is essential for improving national prevention strategies and future trials, as investigated in the ECHO study.
- The study followed 5,768 HIV-negative women aged 16-35 who sought contraceptive services between 2015 and 2018, with a total of 345 new HIV infections observed during the study.
- Key risk factors for incident HIV included being 24 years or younger, having a history of sexually transmitted infections, a BMI of 30 or less, and having new or multiple sexual partners prior to enrollment, highlighting the need for better integration of STI management with contraceptive services.
Huntington's disease (HD) is a genetically inherited neurodegenerative disorder caused by expansion of a polyglutamine (polyQ) repeat in the exon-1 of huntingtin protein (HTT). The expanded polyQ enhances the amyloidogenic propensity of HTT exon 1 (HTTex1), which forms a heterogeneous mixture of assemblies with a broad neurotoxicity spectrum. While predominantly intracellular, monomeric and aggregated mutant HTT species are also present in the cerebrospinal fluids of HD patients, however, their biological properties are not well understood.
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- Oral PrEP became part of a standard prevention strategy in a clinical trial among African women, aiming to assess its impact on HIV incidence during the trial's final year.
- The study analyzed data from the ECHO trial at nine sites in South Africa, focusing on women aged 16-35 who had access to oral PrEP, comparing HIV rates before and after this access.
- Results indicated that, after PrEP access, there were only 12 new HIV cases in 556 person-years, translating to an incidence rate of 2.16%, significantly lower compared to previous rates in the trial.
Introduction: HIV incidence estimates are important to characterize the status of an epidemic, identify locations and populations at high risk and to guide and evaluate HIV prevention interventions. We used the limiting antigen avidity assay (LAg) as part of a recent infection testing algorithm to estimate HIV incidence in the Akwa Ibom AIDS Indicator Survey (AKAIS), Nigeria.
Methods: In 2017, AKAIS, a cross-sectional population-based study was conducted at the household (HH) level in 31 local government areas (LGAs) of Akwa Ibom state.