The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) burden in women continues to increase, and heterosexual contact is now the most common route of infection worldwide. Effective protection of women against HIV-1 infection may require a vaccine specifically targeting mucosal immune responses in the female genital tract (FGT). To achieve this goal, a much better understanding of the immunology of the FGT is needed. Here we review the architecture of the immune system of the FGT, recent studies of potential methods to achieve the goal of mucosal protection in women, including systemic-prime, mucosal-boost, FGT-tropic vectors and immune response altering adjuvants. Advances in other fields that enhance our understanding of female genital immune correlates and the interplay between hormonal and immunological systems may also help to achieve protection of women from HIV infection.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2014.00572 | DOI Listing |
J Assist Reprod Genet
January 2025
The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, Institute for Bioethics and Health Humanities, School of Public and Population Health, Galveston, TX, USA.
Egg donation is a procedure that is powerfully advertised as a beneficial experience with limited mention of the associated risks. Egg donor recruitment advertisements target young and financially insecure women and can serve as a catalyst for interest in egg donation. In the absence of explicit egg donation advertisement regulations and without counterbalancing information from other sources, potential donors may not be able to recognize how advertisements can be misleading.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFClin Rheumatol
January 2025
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Peking Union Medical College, No. 1 Shuaifuyuan, Beijing, 100730, China.
To synthesize available evidence on predictive factors associated with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) flares during pregnancy, we systematically searched MEDLINE, Embase, and the Cochrane Library through January 2024 for observational studies on risk and protective factors of SLE flares during pregnancy. Odds ratios (OR) and mean differences (MD), as well as their 95% confidence intervals (CI) were used to quantify effect sizes. We employed fixed-effect or random-effect models based on heterogeneity assessments (I statistics).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Relig Health
January 2025
School of Social Work, Hadassah Academic College, Jerusalem, Israel.
Religious informal helpers may play a crucial role in recognizing and providing referrals to mental health professional for at-risk individuals, including those with mental illness, especially since members of religious communities tend to conceal their difficulties and to view religious leaders as a sole source of assistance. This quantitative study aimed to explore Jewish bathhouse attendants ("balaniyot") who assist women in their monthly immersion, a unique situation in which mental health symptoms (e.g.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBMJ Case Rep
January 2025
Institute of Neurological Sciences, Prince of Wales Hospital and the University of New South Wales, Randwick, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Acute cerebellar ataxia is a clinical syndrome that involves loss of balance and coordination, typically within less than 72 hours. It usually presents in children and rarely affect adults. A woman in her early 20s presented with acute onset dizziness, vertigo, truncal ataxia and dysarthria 2 weeks following an acute viral illness.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Radiol Prot
January 2025
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Houston, Houston, 77204, UNITED STATES.
Although the Boundary Representation (BREP) method creates detailed surface phantoms of Chinese women of childbearing age, these phantoms cannot be directly used in Monte Carlo simulations. They must first be converted into voxel phantoms, a process that may diminish some of the inherent advantages of the surface phantoms. Therefore, the aim of this study is to construct a tetrahedral mesh (TM) phantom of Chinese women of childbearing age based on the BREP phantom, incorporating micron-level structural refinements to certain organ tissues while maintaining the original model's structure.
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