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Background and Objectives: Even after four decades, HIV infection remains a global challenge and a leading cause of mortality in adults across the world. Anti-retroviral therapy (ART) that controls HIV viremia, is now available through public health facilities in India but drug resistance, which is likely to develop among these individuals remains poorly studied in India. The objectives of present study are to find out the HIV-1 virus subtypes, drug resistance mutations and HIV-1 drug resistance to NRTI, NNRTI and protease inhibitors in the Solapur district, India. Materials and Methods: In a cross sectional study, forty two ART-experienced HIV-1-infected patients with CD4+ count < 200 cells ml-1 and viral load (VL) > 3, 000 copies ml-1 were recruited. All patients belonged to Maharashtra State of India near Barshi Solapur and had been on ART treatment for over 5 years. EDTA whole blood from HIV-1-infected patients was centrifuged and the viral nucleic acid was purified from the plasma. Viral nucleic acid was amplified by PCR using protease and reverse transcriptase specific primers. The resulting amplicons were sequenced and studied for mutations. The tools from Stanford University website were used for subtyping of HIV-1 and identification of mutations conferring drug resistance. Results: In present investigation, HIV-1 subtypes were subtype C in 37 (88.09%), subtype CRF01_AE in 2 (4.76%), and subtype A in 3 patients (7.14%). Drug resistance mutations of NRTI, NNRTI and protease were observed in 15 (37.71%) of 42 patients tested. Drug resistance for NRTI was observed in 12 (28.57%) and for NNRTI in 13 (30.95%) patients. No drug resistance was observed for protease inhibitors. Conclusion: Considerable HIV-1 drug resistance exists among patients receiving ART from a rural areas of India, suggesting more studies from rural region are required to prevent development of resistance to ART. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Nearly all smokers show some evidence of lung and systemic cellular and/or humoral inflammation, only a few will experience an amplified response and develop chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Several studies have shown systemic inflammation in COPD patients with increased neutrophil, macrophage and T lymphocyte numbers, and high concentrations of inflammatory mediators in peripheral blood (C-reactive protein, interleukin (IL)-6, IL-8, and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α)). Aims and Objective: To study oxidative stress, antioxidant status, and TNF-α levels in patients with COPD. Materials and Methods: Forty-four COPD patients along with an equal number of age- and sex-matched controls were included in study. The levels of malondialdehyde (MDA; by thiobarbituric acid assay), assay of TNF-α (by TNF-α), and total antioxidant were measured. Results: Malondialdehyde level was found to be significantly higher in all cases, and it was statistically significant in COPD patients with Global Initiative on Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) classification grades 2 and 3. Total antioxidant level was significantly lower in all the patients with COPD and was statistically significant in GOLD grades 2 and 3. Like MDA, TNF level was also significantly higher in all the cases with statistically significant increase in GOLD grades 2 and 3. Conclusion: To better understand the role of these trace elements and oxidative stress in the pathogenesis and complications of COPD, it is recommended to carry out further clinical studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Adolescents with perinatally acquired HIV (AWH) are at an increased risk of poor cognitive development yet the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Circulating galectin-9 (Gal-9) has been associated with increased inflammation and multimorbidity in adults with HIV despite antiretroviral therapy (ART); however, the relationship between Gal-9 in AWH and cognition remain unexplored., Design: A cross-sectional study of two independent age-matched cohorts from India [AWH on ART ( n  = 15), ART-naive ( n  = 15), and adolescents without HIV (AWOH; n  = 10)] and Myanmar [AWH on ART ( n  = 54) and AWOH ( n  = 22)] were studied. Adolescents from Myanmar underwent standardized cognitive tests., Methods: Plasma Gal-9 and soluble mediators were measured by immunoassays and cellular immune markers by flow cytometry. We used Mann-Whitney U tests to determine group-wise differences, Spearman's correlation for associations and machine learning to identify a classifier of cognitive status (impaired vs. unimpaired) built from clinical (age, sex, HIV status) and immunological markers., Results: Gal-9 levels were elevated in ART-treated AWH compared with AWOH in both cohorts (all P  < 0.05). Higher Gal-9 in AWH correlated with increased levels of inflammatory mediators (sCD14, TNFα, MCP-1, IP-10, IL-10) and activated CD8 + T cells (all P  < 0.05). Irrespective of HIV status, higher Gal-9 levels correlated with lower cognitive test scores in multiple domains [verbal learning, visuospatial learning, memory, motor skills (all P  < 0.05)]. ML classification identified Gal-9, CTLA-4, HVEM, and TIM-3 as significant predictors of cognitive deficits in adolescents [mean area under the curve (AUC) = 0.837]., Conclusion: Our results highlight a potential role of Gal-9 as a biomarker of inflammation and cognitive health among adolescents with perinatally acquired HIV., (Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc.)