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Background: Food insecurity in sub-Saharan Africa and malnutrition constitute the main obstacles for successful treatment of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWH). The aim of this study was to assess the effect of consuming daily 100 g RUTF (ready-to-use therapeutic food) as supplement, on body composition, anemia and zinc status of hospitalized PLWH in Senegal.Methods: A Controlled clinical trial was conducted in 65 PLWH randomly allocated to receive either standard hospital diet alone (Control group: n = 33), or the standard diet supplemented with 100 g RUTF/day (RUTF group: n = 32). Supplementation was continued at home during 9 weeks. Individual dietary intakes were measured and compared to the Recommended Dietary Allowances. Body composition was determined using Bio-Impedance Analysis. Hemoglobin was measured by HemoCue and plasma zinc (PZ) concentration by atomic absorption spectrometry. PZ was adjusted to infection (CRP and α1-AGP). All measures were conducted on admission, discharge and after 9 weeks home-based follow up.Results: 34 and 24% of the patients in RUTF and Control groups were suffering from severe malnutrition (BMI < 16 kg/m(2)), respectively. In both groups, more than 90% were anemic and zinc deficiency affected over 50% of the patients. Food consumed by the Control group represented 75, 14 and 55% of their daily recommended intake (DRI) of energy, iron and zinc, respectively. When 100 g of RUTF was consumed with the standard diet, the DRI of energy and zinc were 100% covered (2147 kcal, 10.4 mg, respectively), but not iron (2.9 mg). After 9 weeks of supplementation, body weight, and fat-free mass increased significantly by +11% (p = 0.033), and +11.8% (p = 0.033) in the RUTF group, but not in the Control group, while percentage body fat was comparable between groups (p = 0.888). In the RUTF group, fat free mass gain is higher in the patients on ART (+11.7%, n = 14; p = 0.0001) than in those without ART (+6.2%, n = 6; p = 0.032). Anemia decreased significantly with the supplementation, but zinc status, measured using plasma zinc concentration, remained unchanged.Conclusion: Improving PLWH' diet with 100 g RUTF for a long period has a positive impact on muscle mass and anemia but not on the zinc status of the patients.Trial Number: NCT02433743, registered 29 April 2015. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Dolutegravir recently became the third integrase strand transfer inhibitor (INSTI) approved for use in HIV-1-infected individuals. In contrast to the extensive dataset for HIV-1, in vitro studies and clinical reports of dolutegravir for HIV-2 are limited. To evaluate the potential role of dolutegravir in HIV-2 treatment, we compared the susceptibilities of wild-type and INSTI-resistant HIV-1 and HIV-2 strains to the drug using single-cycle assays, spreading infections of immortalized T cells, and site-directed mutagenesis. Findings: HIV-2 group A, HIV-2 group B, and HIV-1 isolates from INSTI-naïve individuals were comparably sensitive to dolutegravir in the single-cycle assay (mean EC50 values = 1.9, 2.6, and 1.3 nM, respectively). Integrase substitutions E92Q, Y143C, E92Q + Y143C, and Q148R conferred relatively low levels of resistance to dolutegravir in HIV-2ROD9 (2- to 6-fold), but Q148K, E92Q + N155H, T97A + N155H and G140S + Q148R resulted in moderate resistance (10- to 46-fold), and the combination of T97A + Y143C in HIV-2ROD9 conferred high-level resistance (>5000-fold). In contrast, HIV-1NL4-3 mutants E92Q + N155H, G140S + Q148R, and T97A + Y143C showed 2-fold, 4-fold, and no increase in EC50, respectively, relative to the parental strain. The resistance phenotypes for E92Q + N155H, and G140S + Q148R HIV-2ROD9 were also confirmed in spreading infections of CEM-ss cells. Conclusions: Our data support the use of dolutegravir in INSTI-naïve HIV-2 patients but suggest that, relative to HIV-1, a broader array of replacements in HIV-2 integrase may enable cross-resistance between dolutegravir and other INSTI. Clinical studies are needed to evaluate the efficacy of dolutegravir in HIV-2-infected individuals, including patients previously treated with raltegravir or elvitegravir [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Although a dramatic decrease in AIDS progression has been observed after Highly Active Anti Retroviral Therapy (HAART) in both low- and high-resource settings, few data support that fact in low-resource settings. This study describes the incidence of AIDS-defining illnesses (ADI) after HAART initiation and analyzes their risk factors in a low-resource setting. A focus was put on CD4 cell counts and viral load measurements. Methods: 404 HIV-1-infected Senegalese adult patients were enrolled in a prospective observational cohort and data censored as of April 2008. A Poisson regression was used to model the incidence of ADIs over two periods and to assess its association with baseline variables, current CD4, current viral load, CD4 response, and virological response. Results: ADI incidence declined from 20.5 ADIs per 100 person-years, 95% CI = [16.3;25.8] during the first year to 4.3, 95% CI = [2.3;8.1] during the fourth year but increased afterwards. Before 42 months, the decrease was greater in patients with clinical stage CDC-C at baseline and with a viral load remaining below 1000 cp/mL but was uniform across CD4 strata (p = 0.1). After 42 months, 293 patients were still at risk. The current CD4 and viral load were associated with ADI incidence (decrease of 21% per 50 CD4/mm3 and of 61% for patients with a viral load < 1000 cp/ mL). Conclusions: During the first four years, a uniform decline of ADI incidence was observed even in patients with low CD4-cell counts at HAART initiation as long as the viral load remained undetectable. An increase was noted later in patients with immunologic and virological failures but also in patients with only virological failure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sex and gender differences influence the health and wellbeing of men and women. Although studies have drawn attention to observed differences between women and men across diseases, remarkably little research has been pursued to systematically investigate these underlying sex differences. Women continue to be underrepresented in clinical trials, and even in studies in which both men and women participate, systematic analysis of data to identify potential sex-based differences is lacking. Standards for reporting of clinical trials have been established to ensure provision of complete, transparent and critical information. An important step in addressing the gender imbalance would be inclusion of a gender perspective in the next Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) guideline revision. Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals, as a set of well-recognized and widely used guidelines for authors and biomedical journals, should similarly emphasize the ethical obligation of authors to present data analyzed by gender as a matter of routine. Journal editors are also promoters of ethical research and adequate standards of reporting, and requirements for inclusion of gender analyses should be integrated into editorial policies as a matter of urgency.

Background: Although a dramatic decrease in AIDS progression has been observed after Highly Active Anti Retroviral Therapy (HAART) in both low- and high-resource settings, few data support that fact in low-resource settings.This study describes the incidence of AIDS-defining illnesses (ADI) after HAART initiation and analyzes their risk factors in a low-resource setting. A focus was put on CD4 cell counts and viral load measurements.Methods: 404 HIV-1-infected Senegalese adult patients were enrolled in a prospective observational cohort and data censored as of April 2008. A Poisson regression was used to model the incidence of ADIs over two periods and to assess its association with baseline variables, current CD4, current viral load, CD4 response, and virological response.Results: ADI incidence declined from 20.5 ADIs per 100 person-years, 95% CI = [16.3;25.8] during the first year to 4.3, 95% CI = [2.3;8.1] during the fourth year but increased afterwards. Before 42 months, the decrease was greater in patients with clinical stage CDC-C at baseline and with a viral load remaining below 1000 cp/mL but was uniform across CD4 strata (p = 0.1). After 42 months, 293 patients were still at risk. The current CD4 and viral load were associated with ADI incidence (decrease of 21% per 50 CD4/mm3 and of 61% for patients with a viral load < 1000 cp/mL).Conclusions: During the first four years, a uniform decline of ADI incidence was observed even in patients with low CD4-cell counts at HAART initiation as long as the viral load remained undetectable. An increase was noted later in patients with immunologic and virological failures but also in patients with only virological failure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]