Low nadir CD4+ T-cell counts predict gut dysbiosis in HIV-1 infection.

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-1 infection causes severe gut and systemic immune damage, but its effects on the gut microbiome remain unclear. Previous shotgun metagenomic studies in HIV-negative subjects linked low-microbial gene counts (LGC) to gut dysbiosis in diseases featuring intestinal inflammation. Using a similar approach in 156 subjects with different HIV-1 phenotypes, we found a strong, independent, dose-effect association between nadir CD4+ T-cell counts and LGC.

Balances: a New Perspective for Microbiome Analysis.

High-throughput sequencing technologies have revolutionized microbiome research by allowing the relative quantification of microbiome composition and function in different environments. In this work we focus on the identification of microbial signatures, groups of microbial taxa that are predictive of a phenotype of interest. We do this by acknowledging the compositional nature of the microbiome and the fact that it carries relative information.

A population based perspective of twenty years of specialized ambulatory treatment for alcohol use disorders in publicly financed clinics. Barcelona 1996-2015.

Objective: To provide information on persons treated for alcohol use disorders (AUD) over 20 years in a large city in a Southern European country and its trends, adding knowledge on the frequency of treatment from a population perspective.

Methods: This is a study of the number of annual admissions to ambulatory addiction treatment centers funded by the public sector in Barcelona (Catalonia, Spain) for the years 1996-2015. Descriptive analyses of AUD admissions were conducted, comparing changes in the number of patients entering treatment by different independent variables across periods.

Long-Term Opioid Agonist Treatment Participation after First Treatment Entry is Similar across 4 European Regions but Lower in Non-Nationals.

Heroin users in opioid agonist treatment (OAT) show markedly reduced heroin consumption, less crime and a lower mortality rate. However, the extent of long-term OAT participation over subsequent treatment episodes remains unclear. We analysed the annual proportion of patients in treatment (at least 1 day) since the start of first OAT in 4 European regions: Barcelona (BA) 1996-2012: 8,602 patients; Czech -Republic (CZ) 2000-2014: 4,377 patients; Netherlands (NL) 1994-2014: 33,235 patients, Zurich (ZU) 1992-2015: 11,795.

The Prescription of Mobile Apps by Primary Care Teams: A Pilot Project in Catalonia.

Background: In Catalonia, the Fundació TIC Salut Social's mHealth Office created the AppSalut Site to showcase to mobile apps in the field of health and social services. Its primary objective was to encourage the public to look after their health. The catalogue allows primary health care doctors to prescribe certified, connected apps, which guarantees a safe and reliable environment for their use.

HIV LTR-Driven Antisense RNA by Itself Has Regulatory Function and May Curtail Virus Reactivation From Latency.

Latently infected T lymphocytes are an important barrier toward eliminating a persistent HIV infection. Here we describe an HIV-based recombinant fluorescent-lentivirus referred to as "rfl-HIV" that enables to analyze sense and antisense transcription by means of fluorescence reporter genes. This model virus exhibited similar transcriptional and functional properties of the antisense transcript as observed with a wild type HIV, and largely facilitated the generation of latently-infected T cells clones.

Analysis of the costs and cost-effectiveness of the guidelines recommended by the 2018 GESIDA/Spanish National AIDS Plan for initial antiretroviral therapy in HIV-infected adults.

Background: The GESIDA/National AIDS Plan expert panel recommended preferred regimens (PR), alternative regimens (AR) and other regimens (OR) for antiretroviral treatment (ART) as initial therapy in HIV-infected patients for 2018. The objective of this study was to evaluate the costs and the efficiency of initiating treatment with PR and AR.

Methods: Economic assessment of costs and efficiency (cost-effectiveness) based on decision tree analyses.

[The extent of the implementation of reproductive health strategies in Catalonia (Spain) (2008-2017)].

Objective: We analyse how reproductive health strategies have been incorporated into the everyday activities of the services and the resulting transformation of professional and user practices.

Method: Cartographic research taking a multi-sited ethnographic approach that seeks to reveal the processes of transformation. Data generation techniques featuring participant observation and situated interviews.

High risk and probability of progression to osteoporosis at 10 years in HIV-infected individuals: the role of PIs.

Background: Osteoporotic fractures still remain very infrequent and physicians rarely evaluate bone health. We wanted to assess the magnitude of this problem in the near future by determining the risk and likelihood of progression to osteoporosis.

Methods: We estimated the risk of progression to osteopenia/osteoporosis among HIV-infected patients with at least 2 DXA scans (3726 scans from 875 patients).

Efficacy of single-tablet darunavir, cobicistat, emtricitabine, and tenofovir alafenamide in the treatment of HIV-1.

HIV eradication is not feasible and lifelong treatment is warranted to manage HIV infection. In this scenario, the advent of single-tablet, once-daily, fixed-dose co-formulations is important for reducing pill burden and maximize long-term drug adherence. Cobicistat-boosted darunavir along with emtricitabine and tenofovir alafenamide co-formulation (DRV/c/FTC/TAF or the trade name Symtuza®) is the first marketed protease inhibitor-based fixed-dose combination regimen for the treatment of HIV infection.

PLANT: A Method for Detecting Changes of Slope in Noisy Trajectories.

Time traces obtained from a variety of biophysical experiments contain valuable information on underlying processes occurring at the molecular level. Accurate quantification of these data can help explain the details of the complex dynamics of biological systems. Here, we describe PLANT (Piecewise Linear Approximation of Noisy Trajectories), a segmentation algorithm that allows the reconstruction of time-trace data with constant noise as consecutive straight lines, from which changes of slopes and their respective durations can be extracted.

HIV drug resistance patterns in pregnant women using next generation sequence in Mozambique.

Background: Few data on HIV resistance in pregnancy are available from Mozambique, one of the countries with the highest HIV toll worldwide. Understanding the patterns of HIV drug resistance in pregnant women might help in tailoring optimal regimens for prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV (pMTCT) and antenatal care.

Objectives: To describe the frequency and characteristics of HIV drug resistance mutations (HIVDRM) in pregnant women with virological failure at delivery, despite pMTCT or antiretroviral therapy (ART).

Impact of intensification with raltegravir on HIV-1-infected individuals receiving monotherapy with boosted PIs.

Background: Monotherapy with ritonavir-boosted PIs (PI/r) has been used to simplify treatment of HIV-1-infected patients. In previous studies raltegravir intensification evidenced ongoing viral replication and reduced T cell activation, preferentially in subjects receiving PI-based triple ART. However, data about low-level viral replication and its consequences in patients receiving PI/r monotherapy are scarce.

Unravelling the Metabolic Progression of Breast Cancer Cells to Bone Metastasis by Coupling Raman Spectroscopy and a Novel Use of Mcr-Als Algorithm.

Raman spectroscopy (RS) has shown promise as a tool to reveal biochemical changes that occur in cancer processes at the cellular level. However, when analyzing clinical samples, RS requires improvements to be able to resolve biological components from the spectra. We compared the strengths of Multivariate Curve Resolution (MCR) versus Principal Component Analysis (PCA) to deconvolve meaningful biological components formed by distinct mixtures of biological molecules from a set of mixed spectra.

Poly-victimization from different methodological approaches using the juvenile victimization questionnaire: Are we identifying the same victims?

Objective: This study aims to determine whether three different methodological approaches used to assess poly-victimization that apply the Juvenile Victimization Questionnaire (JVQ; Finkelhor, Hamby, Ormrod, & Turner, 2005) identify the same group of adolescent poly-victims.

Method: The sample consisted of 1,105 adolescents (590 males and 515 females), aged 12-17 years old (M = 14.52, SD = 1.

[Regional protocol for adjusting the therapeutic intensity. Southern Metropolitan Area of Barcelona].

The identification of patients with advanced and complex chronic diseases, and the fragmentation of care towards the end of life, requires the drawing up a long-term therapeutic plan. This should take into account the values and preferences of the patients, as well as the vital and functional prognosis. Having an adjustment tool for determining the diagnostic and therapeutic effort is helpful in the continuity of care, as well as in decision-making in the transitions and dynamic changes of patients as they approach the end of life process.

Benzyl-2-Acetamido-2-Deoxy-α-d-Galactopyranoside Increases Human Immunodeficiency Virus Replication and Viral Outgrowth Efficacy .

Glycosylation of host and viral proteins is an important posttranslational modification needed to ensure correct function of glycoproteins. For this reason, we asked whether inhibition of O-glycosylation during human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) replication could affect HIV infectivity and replication rates. We used benzyl-2-acetamido-2-deoxy-α-d-galactopyranoside (BAGN), a compound that has been widely used to inhibit Oglycosylation in several cell lines.

Primary resistance to integrase strand transfer inhibitors in patients infected with diverse HIV-1 subtypes in sub-Saharan Africa.

Objectives: To investigate the prevalence and patterns of major and accessory resistance mutations associated with integrase strand transfer inhibitors (INSTIs), across diverse HIV-1 subtypes in sub-Saharan Africa.

Methods: pol gene sequences were obtained using Illumina next-generation sequencing from 425 INSTI-naive HIV-infected adults from Kenya (21.2%), Nigeria (7.

Socioeconomic position and occupational social class and their association with risky alcohol consumption among adolescents.

Objectives: To compare different measures of socioeconomic position (SEP) and occupational social class (OSC) and to evaluate their association with risky alcohol consumption among adolescents attending the last mandatory secondary school (ages 15-17 years).

Methods: This was a cross-sectional study. 1268 adolescents in Catalonia (Spain) participated in the study.

Long-term effectiveness of recommended boosted protease inhibitor-based antiretroviral therapy in Europe.

Objectives: The aim of the study was to evaluate the long-term response to antiretroviral treatment (ART) based on atazanavir/ritonavir (ATZ/r)-, darunavir/ritonavir (DRV/r)-, and lopinavir/ritonavir (LPV/r)-containing regimens.

Methods: Data were analysed for 5678 EuroSIDA-enrolled patients starting a DRV/r-, ATZ/r- or LPV/r-containing regimen between 1 January 2000 and 30 June 2013. Separate analyses were performed for the following subgroups of patients: (1) ART-naïve subjects (8%) at ritonavir-boosted protease inhibitor (PI/r) initiation; (2) ART-experienced individuals (44%) initiating the new PI/r with a viral load (VL) ≤500 HIV-1 RNA copies/mL; and (3) ART-experienced patients (48%) initiating the new PI/r with a VL >500 copies/mL.