Publications by authors named "Winston A"

Objective: Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) is frequently overlooked in polytrauma patients due to the overshadowing of more severe injuries, a fact that makes its identification in post-acute settings challenging since symptoms overlap with other conditions and no validated diagnostic tools exist. To address this gap, this scoping review explored the literature on mTBI diagnosis in post-acute civilian polytrauma settings.

Methods: By utilizing the Arksey and O'Malley framework and PRISMA-ScR guidelines, the review focused on studies from 2010 to 2024 related to delayed mTBI diagnosis in adults.

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Introduction: Depressive symptoms are highly prevalent among people with HIV, which can negatively impact HIV-related outcomes. We explore the cascade of mental healthcare for people with HIV experiencing depressive symptoms.

Methods: People with HIV who were part of the Pharmacokinetic and clinical Observations in PeoPle over fiftY (POPPY) study (2013-2016) were included.

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Purpose Of Review: Cognitive disorders persist in persons with HIV, despite virologically suppressive antiretroviral therapy. We summarize the current evidence on risk factors for cognitive decline in persons with HIV in the modern antiretroviral therapy-era.

Recent Findings: Recent consensus recommendations have proposed a new approach for defining cognitive impairment in persons with HIV, which distinguishes true cognitive impairment from low cognitive performance alone and considers both HIV and non-HIV-associated causes of brain injury.

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Article Synopsis
  • - The study aimed to determine how psychosocial factors contribute to differences in cognitive performance between individuals with and without HIV, involving 273 participants from Cape Town, South Africa.
  • - Researchers conducted cognitive tests across seven areas and evaluated 12 psychosocial measures, discovering that individuals with HIV scored lower in nearly all psychosocial variables and experienced a significant reduction in cognitive performance compared to those without HIV.
  • - Findings revealed that while some of the cognitive impairment linked to HIV could be explained by demographic and psychosocial factors, there remained a significant association indicating that these adjustments alone do not fully account for cognitive deficits.
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Background: We aimed to provide insights into the effects of comorbidities on sleep health in people with HIV by assessing associations between multimorbidity patterns and sleep outcomes in the Pharmacokinetic and clinical Observations in PeoPle over fiftY (POPPY) sub-study.

Methods: Principal component analysis identified six multimorbidity patterns among participants with HIV (n = 1073) at baseline: Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), Sexually transmitted diseases, Metabolic, Mental/Joint, Neurological and Cancer/Other. Burden z-scores were calculated for each individual/pattern.

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Background: Both efavirenz and dolutegravir have been associated with neuropsychiatric side-effects and cognitive impairment. Furthermore, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) HIV RNA escape has not been comprehensively studied in African populations. We aimed to examine changes in cognition, neuropsychiatric symptoms, and CSF viral control associated with the widespread switch from efavirenz-based to dolutegravir-based antiretroviral therapy (ART).

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Although the American Psychological Association has taken a strong antiracism stance, scientific racism continues to be published in psychology journals and scholarly books. Recent articles claim that the folk categories of race are genetically meaningful divisions and that evolved genetic differences among races and nations are important for explaining immutable differences in cognitive ability, educational attainment, crime, sexual behavior, and wealth; all claims that are opposed by a strong scientific consensus to the contrary. These claims remain a serious source of harm through the naturalization of inequality and through support for the work of racial extremists.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study investigates the effects of antiretroviral therapy (ART) interruption on neuro-axonal injury, specifically measuring levels of neurofilament light protein (NfL) in individuals during primary HIV-1 infection.
  • Findings show that NfL decreased after 48 weeks of ART, indicating reduced neuronal injury, and remained stable despite viral rebound after ART interruption.
  • Additionally, baseline NfL levels correlated with higher plasma HIV-1 RNA and older age but showed no significant relationship with inflammation markers like IL-6 or total HIV-1 DNA.
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Article Synopsis
  • * None of the participants experienced a recurrence of PRT or significant changes in kidney function or related biomarkers during the study.
  • * The findings indicate that TAF is a safe and effective treatment choice for those at risk of developing PRT.
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Cellular senescence is an established driver of aging, exhibiting context-dependent phenotypes across multiple biological length-scales. Despite its mechanistic importance, profiling senescence within cell populations is challenging. This is in part due to the limitations of current biomarkers to robustly identify senescent cells across biological settings, and the heterogeneous, non-binary phenotypes exhibited by senescent cells.

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Persistent inflammation is described in people with HIV (PWH) on antiretroviral treatment (ART). Early ART initiation is associated with reduced inflammation. We aimed to evaluate neuroinflammation, using translocator protein (TSPO) [C]PBR28 PET neuroimaging in PWH who initiated ART during acute HIV (aPWH) versus chronic HIV infection (cPWH) versus a control population.

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Background: Treatment-simplification strategies are important tools for patient-centred management. We evaluated long-term outcomes from a PI monotherapy switch strategy.

Methods: Eligible participants attending 43 UK treatment centres had a viral load (VL) below 50 copies/ml for at least 24 weeks on combination ART.

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The aim of this study is to identify the factors associated with peripheral neuropathy and to explore neurofilament light chain (NfL) as a biomarker for peripheral neuropathy (PN) in effectively virologically suppressed adults living with HIV. All protease inhibitor monotherapy versus ongoing triple therapy in the long-term management of HIV infection (PIVOT) trial participants with data on PN at baseline were included in the study. NfL plasma levels (pNfL) were measured in a sub-set of participants.

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Background: The European AIDS Clinical Society (EACS) guidelines were revised in 2023 for the 19th time, and all aspects of HIV care were updated.

Key Points Of The Guidelines Update: Version 12.0 of the guidelines recommend the same six first-line treatment options for antiretroviral treatment (ART)-naïve adults as versions 11.

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Background: Despite the growing utilization of data-driven methods to investigate multimorbidity patterns, there is currently no consensus or guidance on the conditions to include when identifying patterns. This scoping review aims to systematically examine the nature of conditions included in existing studies using data-driven techniques.

Methods: A comprehensive search of three electronic databases (MEDLINE, Web of Science and Scopus) was conducted to identify relevant publications from inception to 28 February 2022 using predefined search terms and inclusion/exclusion criteria.

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Background: Hepatic steatosis is a major cause of chronic liver disease associated with several negative health outcomes. We compared the prevalence of and factors associated with steatosis in people living with and without HIV.

Methods: Older (>50 years) and younger (<50 years) people with HIV and older HIV-negative controls (>50 years) underwent liver transient elastography examination with controlled attenuation parameter (steatosis ≥238 dB/m, moderate/severe steatosis ≥280 dB/m, liver fibrosis ≥7.

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Background: Anticholinergic medications (ACMs) are associated with poorer age-related outcomes, including falls and frailty. We investigate associations between ACM use and recurrent falls and frailty among older (aged ≥50 years) people with HIV in the POPPY study.

Methods: Anticholinergic potential of co-medications at study entry was coded using the anticholinergic burden score, anticholinergic risk score, and Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network score; drugs scoring ≥1 on any scale were defined as ACM.

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Article Synopsis
  • - Current methods for classifying cognitive impairment in HIV patients can overstate the severity of the condition, affecting the understanding of underlying disease mechanisms.
  • - The existing criteria used since 2007 can mislabel over 20% of cognitively healthy individuals as impaired, leading to inappropriate assessments across different educational and socioeconomic groups.
  • - The International HIV-Cognition Working Group has developed six recommendations for a new diagnostic approach that separates HIV-related brain injury from other causes and emphasizes clinical context to improve understanding and management of cognitive impairment in diverse populations.
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People living with HIV are at increased risk for depression, though the underlying mechanisms for this are unclear. In the general population, depression is associated with peripheral and central inflammation. Given this, and since HIV infection elicits inflammation, we hypothesised that peripheral and central inflammatory biomarkers would at least partly mediate the association between HIV and depressive symptoms.

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Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is among the leading causes of death worldwide and HIV is an independent risk factor for the development of COPD. However, the etiology of this increased risk and means to identify persons with HIV (PWH) at highest risk for COPD have remained elusive. Biomarkers may reveal etiologic pathways and allow better COPD risk stratification.

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