Development and field evaluation in African and Asian countries of an hepatitis B virus PCR on open polyvalent platforms to determine treatment eligibility: results from the "Agence Nationale de Recherche sur le Sida et les hépatites" 12327 study.

Objectives: Widespread testing and treatment are essential to eliminate hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection as a public health concern. However, in resource-limited countries, access to HBV PCR is limited. In this study, we developed a quantitative HBV PCR assay on open molecular platforms and evaluate its performance in diagnosing clinically significant HBV DNA thresholds as defined by the WHO (2000 IU/mL, 20 000 IU/mL, and 200 000 IU/mL).

Feasibility, safety, efficacy and potential scaling-up of sofosbuvir-based HCV treatment in Central and West Africa: (TAC ANRS 12311 trial).

Access to Hepatis C treatment in Sub-Saharan Africa is a clinical, public health and ethical concern. The multi-country open-label trial TAC ANRS 12311 allowed assessing the feasibility, safety, efficacy of a specific care model of HCV treatment and retreatment in patients with hepatitis C in Sub Saharan Africa. Between November 2015 and March 2017, with follow-up until mid 2019, treatment-naïve patients with HCV without decompensated cirrhosis or liver cancer were recruited to receive 12 week-treatment with either sofosbuvir + ribavirin (HCV genotype 2) or sofosbuvir + ledipasvir (genotype 1 or 4) and retreatment with sofosbuvir + velpatasvir + voxilaprevir in case of virological failure.

Higher risk of mortality in HIV-HBV co-infected patients from sub-Saharan Africa is observed at lower CD4 cell counts.

Background: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) co-infection in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive individuals increases the risk of overall mortality, especially when HBV DNA levels are high. The role of CD4 cell counts in this association is poorly defined. We aimed to determine whether HIV-HBV co-infection influences changes in CD4 cell count before and during antiretroviral therapy and whether it affects mortality risk at levels of CD4.

Determination of reverse transcriptase inhibitor resistance mutations in HIV-1 infected children in Côte d'Ivoire.

Treatment scale-up is leading to a progressive increase in HIV resistance to antiretrovirals, especially in children. To assess resistance to reverse transcriptase inhibitors (RTIs) in HIV-1 infected children in Côte d'Ivoire, genotypic resistance tests were performed and interpreted using the ANRS algorithm (www.hivfrenchresistance.

Meaning in Measurement: Evaluating Young Autistic Adults' Active Engagement and Expressed Interest in Quality-of-Life Goals.

Unlabelled: The need for support programs and meaningful measurement of outcomes with autistic adults is growing. To date, success in autism intervention has been defined based on changes in discretely defined, observable behaviors with limited consideration of the person's experience, motivations, or the complex contexts in which these skills are used. Behavioral skill-building interventions are effective at increasing or decreasing specific behaviors, but a purely behavioral focus is not enough for meaningful improvements in adult quality of life (QoL).

Model-based cost-effectiveness estimates of testing strategies for diagnosing hepatitis C virus infection in Central and Western Africa.

Background: Whereas 72% of hepatitis C virus (HCV)-infected people worldwide live in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), only 6% of them have been diagnosed. Innovative technologies for HCV diagnosis provide opportunities for developing testing strategies more adapted to resource-constrained settings. However, studies about their economic feasibility in LMICs are lacking.

Efavirenz-based simplification after successful early lopinavir-boosted-ritonavir-based therapy in HIV-infected children in Burkina Faso and Côte d'Ivoire: the MONOD ANRS 12206 non-inferiority randomised trial.

Background: The 2016 World Health Organization guidelines recommend all children <3 years start antiretroviral therapy (ART) on protease inhibitor-based regimens. But lopinavir/ritonavir (LPV/r) syrup has many challenges in low-income countries, including limited availability, requires refrigeration, interactions with anti-tuberculous drugs, twice-daily dosing, poor palatability in young children, and higher cost than non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI) drugs. Successfully initiating LPV/r-based ART in HIV-infected children aged <2 years raises operational challenges that could be simplified by switching to a protease inhibitor-sparing therapy based on efavirenz (EFV), although, to date, EFV is not recommended in children <3 years.

Extraordinary heterogeneity of virological outcomes in patients receiving highly antiretroviral therapy and monitored with the World Health Organization public health approach in sub-saharan Africa and southeast Asia.

Background: The limited access to virological monitoring in developing countries is a major weakness of the current antiretroviral treatment (ART) strategy in these settings. We conducted a large cross-sectional study in Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire, Senegal, Togo, Thailand, and Vietnam to assess virological failure and drug resistance mutations (DRMs) after 12 or 24 months of ART.

Methods: Between 2009 and 2011, we recruited adults attending ART centers 10-14 months (the M12 group) or 22-26 months (M24 group) after initiating ART.

Prevalence and virological profiles of hepatitis B infection in human immunodeficiency virus patients.

Aim: To determine the prevalence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) in adult human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) patients with CD4+ T-cell count less than 500/mm(3) and without antiretroviral therapy; to describe different HBV-HIV coinfection virological profiles; and to search for factors associated with HBs antigen (HBsAg) presence in these HIV positive patients.

Methods: During four months (June through September 2006), 491 patients were received in four HIV positive monitoring clinical centers in Abidjan.

Inclusion Criteria: HIV-1 or HIV-1 and 2 positive patients, age ≥ 18 years, CD4+ T-cell count < 500/mL and formal and signed consent of the patient.

Occult HBV infection in untreated HIV-infected adults in Côte d'Ivoire.

Background: In countries with high rates of chronic HBV, the World Health Organization recommends screening all HIV-infected adults for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) before initiating antiretroviral therapy (ART), and starting HIV-HBV-coinfected patients on regimens containing lamivudine (3TC) or emtricitabine (FTC) plus tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF). Here, we estimated the prevalence of untreated HIV-infected adults with negative serum HBsAg and detectable plasma HBV DNA in Côte d'Ivoire.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional survey.

Tissue culture drug resistance analysis of a novel HIV-1 protease inhibitor termed PL-100 in non-B HIV-1 subtypes.

PL-100 is a novel HIV-1 protease inhibitor (PI) that maintains activity against viruses that are resistant to other PIs. To further characterize this compound, we used it to select for drug resistance in tissue culture, using two non-B HIV-1 subtypes, viz. subtype C and a CRF01_AE recombinant virus.

Development of an allele-specific PCR for detection of the K65R resistance mutation in patients infected with subtype C human immunodeficiency virus type 1.

The selection of drug-resistant variants of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) is an impediment to the efficiency of antiretroviral (ARV) therapy. We have developed an allele-specific real-time PCR assay to explore the presence of K65R minority species among treated HIV-1 subtype B and C infections. Thirty HIV-1 subtype C- and 26 subtype B-infected patients lacking K65R as determined by conventional sequencing methods were studied, and viral minority species were found in four HIV-1 subtype C samples.

Low prevalence of HIV type 1 drug resistance mutations in untreated, recently infected patients from Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Senegal, Thailand, and Vietnam: the ANRS 12134 study.

The frequency of transmitted HIV drug resistance (HIVDR) was evaluated in the context of rapid scale-up of antiretroviral treatment in Thailand, Vietnam, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, and Senegal by using an adaptation of the WHO generic protocol of the HIV Drug Resistance Threshold Survey (HIVDR-TS) for sample collection and classification. Resistance-associated mutations were interpreted using the 2009 WHO list for epidemiological surveys. We included 266 subjects from the five study sites.

Comparison of early CD4 T-cell count in HIV-1 seroconverters in Côte d'Ivoire and France: the ANRS PRIMO-CI and SEROCO cohorts.

Objective: We compared CD4+ decline among untreated HIV-1-infected seroconverters living in Côte d'Ivoire (CI) and in France.

Methods: HIV-1-infected adults were enrolled in the ANRS1220 PRIMO-CI (CI, 1997-2006) and ANRSCO2 SEROCO (France, 1988-1995) cohorts. CD4+ count and percentage declines were estimated from enrollment until 24 months of seroconversion by linear random-effect models adjusted for time since seroconversion, age, gender, cell-associated HIV DNA, HIV RNA, and country.

Medium-term probability of success of antiretroviral treatment after early warning signs of treatment failure in West African adults.

West African adults with warning signs of failure of antiretroviral treatment (ART) at 6 months were assessed for the probability and factors associated with success at 36 months. After 6 months on ART, patients were included if they had a bad immunologic response (BIR) (month 6 CD4 count < pre-ART CD4 count + 50/mm(3)), incomplete virologic suppression (IVS) (month 6 plasma HIV-1 RNA >300 copies/ml), or both (Dual). They were followed for 30 months after inclusion.

Detection of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) type 1 M184V and K103N minority variants in patients with primary HIV infection.

We used an allele-specific real-time PCR assay to explore the presence of K103N and M184V minority species among primary human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infections and their potential influence in HIV transmission. Thirty randomly chosen antiretroviral drug-naive patients lacking both the K103N and the M184V mutations as determined by conventional sequencing methods were studied, and K103N and M184V viral minority species were found in three (10%) and four (11%) patients, respectively.

Nucleoside and nucleotide analogs select in culture for different patterns of drug resistance in human immunodeficiency virus types 1 and 2.

Recent findings suggest bidirectional antagonisms between the K65R mutation and thymidine analogue mutations in human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1)-infected, treatment-experienced patients, yet little is known about HIV-2 in this regard. This study addressed the effects of innate polymorphisms in HIV-2 on emergent resistance to nucleoside/nucleotide analogues. Emergent drug resistance profiles in HIV-2 subtypes A (n = 3) and B (n = 1) were compared to those of HIV-1 subtypes B and C.

Two-months-off, four-months-on antiretroviral regimen increases the risk of resistance, compared with continuous therapy: a randomized trial involving West African adults.

Background: A randomized trial was launched in Côte d'Ivoire in 2002 to compare continuous antiretroviral treatment (hereafter, "C-ART") to an ART regimen of 2 months off and 4 months on therapy (hereafter, "2/4-ART"). We report the final analysis.

Methods: A total of 435 adults who were receiving successful ART ((median CD4 cell count prior to ART, 272 cells/mm(3); 88% were receiving a zidovudine-lamivudine-efavirenz regimen) were randomized to receive C-ART or 2/4-ART.

Near full-length genomic analysis of a novel subtype A1/C recombinant HIV type 1 isolate from Canada.

The rapid introduction of non-B HIV-1 subtypes into Quebec, mostly from persons from regions where HIV prevalence is high and where different variants circulate, means that recombination must now be an important consideration in the epidemiologic surveillance of HIV infection. No circulating recombinant form (CRF), currently involving exclusively subtypes A1 and C, exists in the Los Alamos HIV database. This study presents a near full-length genomic analysis of a novel HIV-1 recombinant involving subtypes A1 and C.

HIV-1 antiretroviral drug resistance in recently infected patients in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire: A 4-year survey, 2002-2006.

We performed HIV-1 drug resistance genotypic analysis of viral isolates from 100 antiretroviral (ARV)-naive, recently HIV-1-infected (between 2002 and 2006) individuals from Abidjan (Côte d'Ivoire). The overall prevalence of HIV-1 variants with resistance mutations to reverse transcriptase, protease, or fusion inhibitors was 6%. The majority of isolates were CRF02_AG.

Susceptibility to antiretroviral drugs of CRF01_AE, CRF02_AG, and subtype C viruses from untreated patients of Africa and Asia: comparative genotypic and phenotypic data.

Non-B HIV-1 viruses are predominant in developing countries where access to antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) is progressively being intensified. It is important to obtain more data on the susceptibility of these viruses to available ARVs. CRF01_AE, CRF02_AG, and subtype C strains of HIV-1 obtained from untreated patients from Vietnam, Cote d'Ivoire, and India were analyzed for their in vitro susceptibility to NRTIs, NNRTIs, PIs, and an entry inhibitor (T-20) using a recombinant viral assay (PHENOSCRIPT).

Characterization of nevirapine (NVP) resistance mutations and HIV type 1 subtype in women from Abidjan (Côte d'Ivoire) after NVP single-dose prophylaxis of HIV type 1 mother-to-child transmission.

Nevirapine (NVP) single dose is widely used in developing countries to prevent HIV-1 mother-to-child transmission. However, this regimen selects key drug resistance mutations that can impair further HAART efficacy. We studied the HIV-1 reverse transcriptase genotype from 29 Ivoirian women 1 month after an NVP single-dose prophylaxis.