Specific plasma microRNAs are associated with CD4 + T-cell recovery during suppressive antiretroviral therapy for HIV-1.

Objective: This study investigated the association of plasma microRNAs before and during antiretroviral therapy (ART) with poor CD4 + T-cell recovery during the first year of ART.

Design: MicroRNAs were retrospectively measured in stored plasma samples from people with HIV (PWH) in sub-Saharan Africa who were enrolled in a longitudinal multicountry cohort and who had plasma viral-load less than 50 copies/ml after 12 months of ART.

Methods: First, the levels of 179 microRNAs were screened in a subset of participants from the lowest and highest tertiles of CD4 + T-cell recovery (ΔCD4) ( N  = 12 each).

Estimating the prevalence of COPD in an African country: evidence from southern Nigeria.

# Background: Though several environmental and demographic factors would suggest a high burden of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in most African countries, there is insufficient country-level synthesis to guide public health policy.

# Methods: A systematic search of MEDLINE, EMBASE, Global Health and African Journals Online identified studies reporting the prevalence of COPD in Nigeria. We provided a detailed synthesis of study characteristics, and overall median and interquartile range (IQR) of COPD prevalence in Nigeria by case definitions (spirometry or non-spirometry).

Plasma Inflammatory Biomarkers Predict CD4+ T-cell Recovery and Viral Rebound in HIV-1 Infected Africans on Suppressive Antiretroviral Therapy.

This multicountry prospective study investigated whether persistent systemic inflammation, measured by 8 plasma biomarkers, in HIV-1-infected Africans during suppressive antiretroviral therapy (ART) (viral load <50 copies/mL), was associated with CD4+ T-cell recovery and viral rebound (>1000 copies/mL) during long-term treatment. On-ART sCD14 and C-reactive protein concentrations were inversely associated with subsequent CD4+ T-cell counts. Risk of viral rebound was increased for participants with higher on-ART CXCL10 concentrations and reduced for those with a greater sCD163 decline during the first year of ART.

Plasma Biomarkers of Human Immunodeficiency Virus-Related Systemic Inflammation and Immune Activation in Sub-Saharan Africa Before and During Suppressive Antiretroviral Therapy.

We evaluated immune biomarker profiles in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected adults (n = 398) from 5 African countries. Although all biomarkers decreased after antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiation, levels of C-X-C chemokine ligand 10 (CXCL10), lipopolysaccharide-binding protein, C-reactive protein, soluble CD163, and soluble scavenger receptor CD14 were significantly higher during ART than in an HIV-uninfected reference group (n = 90), indicating persistent monocyte/macrophage activation, inflammation, and microbial translocation. Before ART initiation, high HIV viral load was associated with elevated CXCL10 and tuberculosis coinfection was associated with elevated soluble CD14.