Search

Introduction: The HIV Prevention Trials Network (HPTN) 074 study demonstrated a positive effect of an integrated systems navigation and psychosocial counseling intervention on HIV treatment initiation, viral suppression, medication assisted treatment (MAT) enrollment, and risk of death among people who inject drugs (PWID). In this sub-study, we analyzed the incidence, causes, and predictors of death among HIV-infected and uninfected participants. Methods: The HPTN 074 randomized clinical trial was conducted in Indonesia, Ukraine, and Vietnam. HIV-infected PWID with unsuppressed viral load (indexes) were recruited together with at least one of their HIV-negative injection partners. Indexes were randomized in a 1:3 ratio to the intervention or standard of care. Results: The trial enrolled 502 index and 806 partner participants. Overall, 13% (66/502) of indexes and 3% (19/806) of partners died during follow-up (crude mortality rates 10.4 [95% CI 8.1–13.3] and 2.1 [1.3–3.3], respectively). These mortality rates were for indexes nearly 30 times and for partners 6 times higher than expected in a population of the same country, age, and gender (standardized mortality ratios 30.7 [23.7–39.0] and 5.8 [3.5–9.1], respectively). HIV-related causes, including a recent CD4 < 200 cells/μL, accounted for 50% of deaths among indexes. Among partners, medical conditions were the most common cause of death (47%). In the multivariable Cox model, the mortality among indexes was associated with sex (male versus female aHR = 4.2 [1.5–17.9]), CD4 count (≥ 200 versus < 200 cells/μL aHR = 0.3 [0.2–0.5]), depression (moderate-to-severe versus no/mild aHR = 2.6 [1.2–5.0]) and study arm (intervention versus control aHR = 0.4 [0.2–0.9]). Among partners, the study arm of the index remained the only significant predictor (intervention versus control aHR = 0.2 [0.0–0.9]) while controlling for the effect of MAT (never versus ever receiving MAT aHR = 2.4 [0.9–7.4]). Conclusions: The results confirm that both HIV-infected and uninfected PWID remain at a starkly elevated risk of death compared to general population. Mortality related to HIV and other causes can be significantly reduced by scaling-up ART and MAT. Access to these life-saving treatments can be effectively improved by flexible integrated interventions, such as the one developed and tested in HPTN 074. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The etiopathogenesis of idiopathic non-cirrhotic portal hypertension (INCPH) is so far poorly understood. Altered immunity, blood diseases, infections, congenital defects and drug exposure have been documented in a part of patients with INCPH owing to increased recognition of the disorder in patients with HIV, or various haematological disorders or autoimmune diseases. We aim to discuss the possible etiopathogenesis of INCPH. Case presentation: We reported that a patient with intestinal infection of T. Marneffei and hyper-IgE syndrome, a group of rare primary immunodeficiency disorders, was finally diagnosed with INCPH for gastroesophageal variceal bleeding. The diagnosis was mainly based on histopathological features. Transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt was performed and there was no recurrence of melena during the six-month follow-up. Conclusion: In the context of immunodeficiency, INCPH may associated with intestinal infections. Thus, screening for enterogenic infection and immunological disorders in patients with unexplained portal hypertension is necessary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is a widely occurring vaginal inflammation in women of childbearing age caused by dysbiosis of the vaginal flora. Few studies have investigated the effect of serum carotenoids on the development and pathogenesis of BV. This study thus aimed to explore the correlation between serum carotenoids and BV in American women. Method: The analysis included 1252 participants with BV from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) between 2001 and 2004. Multiple logistic regression was conducted to explore the correlation between BV and serum carotenoids, while smooth curve fitting was utilized to examine potential nonlinear correlations. Furthermore, stratified subgroup analyses and sensitivity analyses were conducted. ORs reflected the correlation between BV and serum carotenoids. Result: Results of multiple logistic regression indicated that total serum carotenoids and BV had an inverse correlation. In the fully adjusted model II, the quartile with the highest levels of α-carotene and β-cryptoxanthin had a substantially lower incidence of BV. Smooth curve fitting revealed a significant negative linear correlation between serum carotenoids and the incidence of BV. The negative correlation between serum carotenoids and BV was relatively stable in stratified analyses. Moreover, in sensitivity analyses, the association between serum carotenoids and BV persisted, and β-carotene became significantly negatively correlated with BV. Conclusion: This study found an inverse correlation between serum carotenoids and the prevalence of BV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is one of the most common infections among women of reproductive age and accounts for 15–50% of infections globally. The role played by folate in the pathogenesis and progression of BV is poorly understood. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between serum folate, red blood cell (RBC) folate, and BV in American women. Methods: 1,954 participants from the 2001-2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) program were included in this study. Multiple logistic regression was used to analyze the association between serum folate, RBC folate, and BV, and covariates including race, age, education level, and body mass index were used to construct adjusted models. Stratified analysis was used to explore the stability of the above associations in different populations. Results: In the present cross-sectional study, we found that serum folate and RBC folate were inversely associated with the risk of BV. In the fully adjusted model, the risk of BV was reduced by 35% (OR=0.65, 95% CI: 0.51~0.83, p=0.0007) in the highest serum folate group and 32% (OR=0.68, 95% CI: 0.53~0.87, p=0.0023) in the highest RBC folate group compared to the lowest group. Conclusions: The results of this study indicated that serum folate and RBC folate were inversely associated with the risk of BV folate supplementation may play an important role in the prevention and management of BV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Increased folic acid has been found to be latently protective against gynecological infection, including several kinds of vaginosis. In this study, we laid emphasis on whether RBC (Red Blood Cell) folate was associated with the infectious ratio of Trichomonas vaginalis, a kind of anaerobic parasitic protozoan. Methods: We set RBC folate as the exposure variable and Trichomonas vaginalis as the outcome variable. Other subsidiary variables were regarded as covariates that may work as potential effect modifiers. The cross-sectional study was conducted with two merged waves of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) from 2001 to 2004, and a sample of 1274 eligible women (1212 negative and 62 positive in Trichomonas vaginalis infection) was integrated for the exploration of the association between RBC folate and Trichomonas vaginalis infection. Multivariate regression analyses, subgroup analyses, and subsequent smooth curve fittings were conducted to estimate the relationship between RBC folate and Trichomonas vaginalis in women. Results: In the multivariable logistic regression analyses, a negative association was observed between stratified RBC folate status and Trichomonas vaginalis infection with all confounders adjusted. Referencing the lowest RBC folate concentration quartile, the higher concentration quartiles reported a relatively lower infection ratio, while there was a weak correlation between total RBC folate concentration and T. vaginalis (Trichomonas vaginalis) infection. In subgroup analyses stratified by BMI and age, this association was only found significant in high age and BMI groups. Conclusions: The cross-sectional study indicated a negative association between RBC folic acid and Trichomonas vaginalis infection, and latent effects of BMI and age on the association were also found. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) is a serious infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB). An estimated 1.7 billion people worldwide are infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis (LTBI) during the incubation period without any obvious symptoms. Because of MTB's high infection and mortality rates, there is an urgent need to develop a fast, portable, and sensitive diagnostic technology for its detection.Methods: We included research from PubMed, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, and Embase and extracted the data. MetaDisc and STATA were used to build forest plots, Deek's funnel plot, Fagan plot, and bivariate boxplot for analysis.Results: Forty-six articles were analyzed, the results of which are as follows: sensitivity and specificity were 0.92 (0.91-0.93) and 0.95 (0.94-0.95) respectively. The NLR and PLR were 0.04 (95% CI 0.03-0.07) and 25.32 (95% CI 12.38-51.78) respectively. DOR was 639.60 (243.04-1683.18). The area under the SROC curve (AUC) was 0.99.Conclusions: MPT64 exhibits good diagnostic efficiency for MTB. There is no obvious heterogeneity between the three commercial kits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Neisseria meningitidis is a major cause of bacterial meningitis, and these infections are associated with a high mortality rate. Rapid and reliable diagnosis of bacterial meningitis is critical in clinical practice. However, this disease often occurs in economically depressed areas, so an inexpensive, easy to use, and accurate technology is needed. We performed a pooled-analysis to assess the potential of the recently developed loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay for detection of meningococcus.Methods: Pubmed, Embase, and Web of Science were searched to identify original studies that used the LAMP assay to detect meningococcus. After pooling of data, the sensitivity and specificity were calculated, a summary receiver operating characteristic (SROC) curve was determined, and the area under the SROC curve was computed to determine diagnostic accuracy. Publication bias was assessed using Deek's funnel plot.Results: We examined 14 studies within 6 publications. The LAMP assay had high sensitivity (94%) and specificity (100%) in the detection of meningococcus in all studies. The area under the SROC curve (0.980) indicated high overall accuracy of the LAMP assay. There was no evidence of publication bias.Discussion: The LAMP assay has accuracy comparable to bacterial culture and PCR for detection of meningococcus, but is less expensive and easier to use. We suggest the adoption of the LAMP assay to detect meningococcus, especially in economically depressed areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Cryptococcus is a conditional pathogenic fungus causing cryptococcosis, which is one of the most serious fungal diseases faced by humans. Lateral flow immunochromatographic assay (LFA) is successfully applied to the rapid detection of cryptococcal antigens.Methods: Studies were retrieved systematically from the Embase, PubMed, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library before July 2019. The quality of the studies was assessed by Review Manager 5.0 based on the Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Study guidelines. The extracted data from the included studies were analyzed by Meta-DiSc 1.4. Stata 12.0 software was used to detect the publication bias.Results: A total of 15 articles with 31 fourfold tables were adopted by inclusion and exclusion criteria. The merged sensitivity and specificity in serum were 0.98 and 0.98, respectively, and those in the cerebrospinal fluid were 0.99 and 0.99, respectively.Conclusions: Compared to the urine and other samples, LFA in serum and cerebrospinal fluid is favorable evidence for the diagnosis of cryptococcosis with high specificity and sensitivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via the original article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The present meta-analysis examined the diagnostic accuracy of T2 Candida for candidiasis.Methods: The literature databases, such as PubMed, Embase, DVIO, Cochrane library, Web of Science, and CNKI, were searched on T2 Candida detection.Results: A total of 8 articles, comprising of 2717 research subjects, were included in the study. The pooled sensitivity and specificity were 0.91 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.88-0.94) and 0.94 95% CI: 0.93-0.95), respectively. The pooled positive likelihood ratio and negative likelihood ratio was 10.16 (95% CI: 2.75-37.50) and 0.08 (95% CI: 0.02-0.35), respectively. The combined diagnostic odds ratio is 133.65 95% CI: 17.21-1037.73), and the AUC of SROC is 0.9702 [(SE = 0.0235), Q* = 0.9201(SE = 0.0381)].Conclusions: The current evidence supported that T2 Candida has high accuracy and sensitivity and is of major clinical significance in the diagnosis of Candida infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: A novel method, termed loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP), was developed by Notomi et al. (2000). Individually published results have been reported that this technology has been successfully applied to the detection of a variety of pathogens. However, the overall diagnostic accuracy of LAMP for Mycoplasma pneumoniae (MP) remains unclear. A meta-analysis was therefore performed to review the accuracy of LAMP for Mycoplasma pneumoniae.Methods: Cochrane Library and PubMed were systematically searched and checked for studies using LAMP for detecting mycoplasma pneumoniae. We used PCR as a reference standard to evaluate the quality of the studies eligible for inclusion in the meta-analysis. Then, the data from the studies were extracted by two independent assessors. Meta-DiSc 1.4 software was utilized to test the heterogeneity of sensitivity (SEN), specificity (SP), positive likelihood ratio (PLR), negative likelihood ratio (NLR), and diagnosis odds ratio (DOR). The pooled analysis results were plotted, and the summary receiver operating characteristic (SROC) curve was plotted by calculating the area under the curve (AUC). Generated pooled summary estimates (95% CIs) were calculated for the overall accuracy, and a bivariate meta-regression model was used for the meta-analysis.Results: Seven studies with nine fourfold tables were included in this meta-analysis. The pooled SEN and SPE for diagnosing Mycoplasma pneumoniae were 0.90 (95% CI: 0.87-0.93) and 0.98 (95% CI: 0.96-0.99), respectively. The PLR was 31.25 (95% CI: 14.83-65.87), NLR 0.10 (95% CI: 0.05-0.22), DOR 399.32 (95% CI: 172.01-927.00), and AUC 0.9892.Conclusions: In conclusion, compared with PCR, LAMP is a valuable alternative method for Mycoplasma pneumoniae diagnosis in clinic with high sensitivity and specificity. However, more evidence is required to confirm that LAMP can fully replace other methods in the clinical diagnosis of MP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]