Association between KSHV-Specific Humoral and T Cell Responses with Recurrence of HIV-Associated Kaposi Sarcoma.

Kaposi sarcoma (KS) is an AIDS-defining angio-proliferative malignancy, with the Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpes virus (KSHV) as its etiologic agent. Upon treatment with chemotherapy, a proportion of HIV-associated KS patients experience disease recurrence within a few months of completing treatment. We aimed at determining whether KSHV-specific adaptive immune responses were associated with KS recurrence upon complete remission.

Zipime-Weka-Schista study protocol: a longitudinal cohort study and economic evaluation of an integrated home-based approach for genital multipathogen screening in women, including female genital schistosomiasis, human papillomavirus, Trichomonas and HIV in Zambia.

Introduction: Multiplathogen home-based self-sampling offers an opportunity to increase access to screening and treatment in endemic settings with high coinfection prevalence of sexually transmitted (HIV, human papillomavirus (HPV)) and non-sexually transmitted pathogens ()). Chronic coinfections may lead to disability (female genital schistosomiasis) and death (cervical cancer). The Zipime-Weka-Schista (Do self-testing sister!) study aims to evaluate the validity, acceptability, uptake, impact and cost-effectiveness of multipathogen self-sampling for genital infections among women in Zambia.

Nationwide survey of Helicobacter pylori seropositivity and gastric atrophy in Zambia.

Background: Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is a common bacterial infection which predominately drives upper gastrointestinal pathology. We carried out a nationwide serological survey in response to the deficiency of robust African data on H.

Duodenal quantitative mucosal morphometry in children with environmental enteric dysfunction: a cross-sectional multicountry analysis.

Background: Environmental enteric dysfunction (EED), a chronic inflammatory condition of the small intestine, is an important driver of childhood malnutrition globally. Quantifying intestinal morphology in EED allows for exploration of its association with functional and disease outcomes.

Objectives: We sought to define morphometric characteristics of childhood EED and determine whether morphology features were associated with disease pathophysiology.

Inflammation and cytomegalovirus viremia during pregnancy drive sex-differentiated differences in mortality and immune development in HIV-exposed infants.

Children who are HIV-exposed but uninfected have increased infectious mortality compared to HIV-unexposed children, raising the possibility of immune abnormalities following exposure to maternal viraemia, immune dysfunction, and co-infections during pregnancy. In a secondary analysis of the SHINE trial in rural Zimbabwe we explored biological pathways underlying infant mortality, and maternal factors shaping immune development in HIV-exposed uninfected infants. Maternal inflammation and cytomegalovirus viraemia were independently associated with infant deaths: mortality doubled for each log rise in maternal C-reactive protein (adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) 2.

Endoscopic diagnosis of gastric and oesophageal cancer in Lusaka, Zambia: a retrospective analysis.

Introduction: There are uncertainties surrounding the spectrum of upper gastrointestinal (UGI) diseases in sub-Saharan Africa. This is mainly due to the limitations of data collection and recording. We previously reported an audit of UGI endoscopic diagnoses in Zambia spanning from 1977 to 2014.

Viral Epitope Scanning Reveals Correlation between Seasonal HCoVs and SARS-CoV-2 Antibody Responses among Cancer and Non-Cancer Patients.

Seasonal coronaviruses (HCoVs) are known to contribute to cross-reactive antibody (Ab) responses against SARS-CoV-2. While these responses are predictable due to the high homology between SARS-CoV-2 and other CoVs, the impact of these responses on susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 infection in cancer patients is unclear. To investigate the influence of prior HCoV infection on anti-SARS-CoV-2 Ab responses among COVID-19 asymptomatic individuals with cancer and controls without cancers, we utilized the VirScan technology in which phage immunoprecipitation and sequencing (PhIP-seq) of longitudinal plasma samples was performed to investigate high-resolution (i.

Primary headache disorders among people living with HIV in Lusaka, Zambia.

Objective: We completed a cross-sectional survey study to determine headache prevalence and its association with HIV characteristics among people living with HIV (PLHIV) in Lusaka, Zambia.

Background: Headaches are common but their association with HIV status is unknown.

Methods: The HARDSHIP survey, a headache epidemiology questionnaire previously validated in Zambia, was distributed during a 3-month period to 3666 consecutive adult PLHIV attending routine clinic appointments at the Adult Infectious Diseases Centre at the University Teaching Hospital in Lusaka, Zambia.

Helicobacter pylori Diagnosis and Treatment in Africa: The First Lagos Consensus Statement of the African Helicobacter and Microbiota Study Group.

Background: Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection is the most prevalent type of bacterial infection. Current guidelines from different regions of the world neglect specific African conditions and requirements.

Transcutaneous fluorescence spectroscopy: development and characterization of a compact, portable, and fiber-optic sensor.

Significance: The integrity of the intestinal barrier is gaining recognition as a significant contributor to various pathophysiological conditions, including inflammatory bowel disease, celiac disease, environmental enteric dysfunction (EED), and malnutrition. EED, for example, manifests as complex structural and functional changes in the small intestine leading to increased intestinal permeability, inflammation, and reduced absorption of nutrients. Despite the importance of gut function, current techniques to assess intestinal permeability (such as endoscopic biopsies or dual sugar assays) are either highly invasive, unreliable, and/or difficult to perform in certain patient populations (e.

Perspectives on development and advancement of new tuberculosis vaccines.

Tuberculosis (TB) remains a leading cause of death worldwide and is estimated to have caused 1.3 million deaths worldwide in 2022. Approximately one quarter of the world's population are infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis, of whom up to 10% will progress to developing active TB disease.

Antibody profiling and predictive modeling discriminate between Kaposi sarcoma and asymptomatic KSHV infection.

Protein-level immunodominance patterns against Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV), the aetiologic agent of Kaposi sarcoma (KS), have been revealed from serological probing of whole protein arrays, however, the epitopes that underlie these patterns have not been defined. We recently demonstrated the utility of phage display in high-resolution linear epitope mapping of the KSHV latency-associated nuclear antigen (LANA/ORF73). Here, a VirScan phage immunoprecipitation and sequencing approach, employing a library of 1,988 KSHV proteome-derived peptides, was used to quantify the breadth and magnitude of responses of 59 sub-Saharan African KS patients and 22 KSHV-infected asymptomatic individuals (ASY), and ultimately to support an application of machine-learning-based predictive modeling using the peptide-level responses.

Assessment of a screening tool to aid home-based identification of adolescents (aged 10-14) living with HIV in Zambia and South Africa: HPTN 071 (PopART) study.

Introduction: The HPTN071 (PopART) for Youth (P-ART-Y) study evaluated the acceptability and uptake of a community-level combination HIV prevention package including universal testing and treatment (UTT) among young people in Zambia and South Africa. We determined whether a four-question primary care level screening tool, validated for use in clinical settings, could enhance community (door-to-door) identification of undiagnosed HIV-positive younger adolescents (aged 10-14) who are frequently left out of HIV interventions.

Method: Community HIV-care Providers (CHiPs) contacted and consented adolescents in their homes and offered them participation in the PopART intervention.

Acceptability of a Randomized Trial of Anti-depressant Medication or Interpersonal Therapy for Treatment of Perinatal Depression in Women with HIV.

Postpartum depression (PPD) affects nearly 20% of postpartum women in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), where HIV prevalence is high. Depression is associated with worse HIV outcomes in non-pregnant adults and mental health disorders may worsen HIV outcomes for postpartum women and their infants. PPD is effectively treated with psychosocial or pharmacologic interventions; however, few studies have evaluated the acceptability of treatment modalities in SSA.

Cannabis Use Associates With Reduced Proviral Burden and Inflammatory Cytokine in Tissues From Men With Clade C HIV-1 on Suppressive Antiretroviral Therapy.

Background: Human immunodeficiency virus 1 (HIV-1) tissue reservoirs remain the main obstacle against an HIV cure. Limited information exists regarding cannabis's effects on HIV-1 infections in vivo, and the impact of cannabis use on HIV-1 parenchymal tissue reservoirs is unexplored.

Methods: To investigate whether cannabis use alters HIV-1 tissue reservoirs, we systematically collected 21 postmortem brain and peripheral tissues from 20 men with subtype C HIV-1 and with suppressed viral load enrolled in Zambia, 10 of whom tested positive for cannabis use.

Prevalence of Clarithromycin-Resistant Helicobacter pylori Strains in Zambia: A Sub-Saharan African Country.

Introduction: Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is one of the most important infections globally, affecting more than 50% of the human population. Clarithromycin (CLA)-containing regimens are recommended for empirical eradication of H.

NAD precursors and bile acid sequestration treat preclinical refractory environmental enteric dysfunction.

Environmental enteric dysfunction (EED) is a diffuse small bowel disorder associated with poor growth, inadequate responses to oral vaccines, and nutrient malabsorption in millions of children worldwide. We identify loss of the small intestinal Paneth and goblet cells that are critical for innate immunity, reduced villous height, increased bile acids, and dysregulated nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) synthesis signaling as potential mechanisms underlying EED and which also correlated with diminished length-for-age score. Isocaloric low-protein diet (LPD) consumption in mice recapitulated EED histopathology and transcriptomic changes in a microbiota-independent manner, as well as increases in serum and fecal bile acids.

Early Initiation of Antiretroviral Therapy is Protective Against Seizures in Children With HIV in Zambia: A Prospective Case-Control Study.

Background: Seizures are relatively common among children with HIV in low- and middle-income countries and are associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Early treatment with antiretroviral therapy (ART) may reduce this risk by decreasing rates of central nervous system infections and HIV encephalopathy.

Methods: We conducted a prospective, unmatched case-control study.

Accuracy of portable ultrasound machines for obstetric biometry.

Objective: To evaluate the accuracy of two portable ultrasound machines (PUM) in assessing fetal biometry and estimated gestational age (EGA).

Methods: This was a secondary analysis of data from the Fetal Age Machine Learning Initiative, an observational study of pregnant women in the USA and Zambia. Each participant underwent ultrasound assessment by an experienced sonographer using both a high-specification ultrasound machine (HSUM) and a PUM (Butterfly iQ or Clarius C3) to measure fetal biometry and calculate EGA at each visit.

Protein status in relation to linear growth faltering and environmental enteropathy.

Purpose Of Review: Children with linear growth faltering refractory to nutritional management show evidence of environmental enteropathy, which may compromise nutrient availability. Protein could be particularly affected, due to the possibility of sub-optimal digestibility and/or increase in requirement for immune response. This increase in protein requirement along with poor intake could potentially lead to increased breakdown of body protein sources and in turn a depleted protein state.