Comparison of the immunological and virological responses to cART between HIV-1/O and HIV-1/M patients followed up in France.

Background: Therapeutic outcomes for patients infected by genetically divergent HIV-1/O are not well-known due to scarce data and the lack of an appropriate comparison with patients infected by pandemic HIV-1/M. We aimed to compare the immunological and virological response to cART between HIV-1/O and HIV-1/M patients followed in France.

Methods: All naïve HIV-1/O subjects initiating cART in France in ANRS-ORIVAO study were compared to naïve HIV-1/M subjects initiating cART in ANRS-COPANA cohort.

Initial MRI findings predictive of a pathological complete response to neoadjuvant treatments in HER2-positive breast cancers.

Purpose: This study aimed to determine if initial MRI findings could predict a pathological complete response (pCR) following neoadjuvant systemic therapy (NST) in HER2-positive breast cancers.

Methods: The study retrospectively included 111 patients (Center 1, training set) and 71 patients (Center 2, validation set) with HER2-positive cancer who underwent NST. Initial clinicopathological data and MRI findings were recorded.

Anti-gp41 antibody levels reflect HIV viral suppression and cellular reservoir in long-term antiretroviral-treated trial participants.

Background: A major challenge to HIV cure strategies is the quantification of persistent reactivation-prone virus in people living with HIV.

Objectives: To determine whether anti-gp41 antibody levels correlate with viral suppression and HIV-1 DNA levels in patients on ART.

Methods: Participants with plasma HIV-1 RNA below 50 copies/mL for >12 months were included from three ANRS cohorts (COPANA, MONOI and APROCO).

Systemic DPP4 activity is reduced during primary HIV-1 infection and is associated with intestinal RORC CD4 cell levels: a surrogate marker candidate of HIV-induced intestinal damage.

Introduction: Combined anti-retroviral therapy (cART) transformed HIV-1 from a deadly disease into a chronic infection, but does not cure HIV infection. It also does not fully restore HIV-induced gut damage unless administered extremely early after infection. Additional biomarkers are needed to evaluate the capacity of therapies aimed at HIV remission/cure to restore HIV-induced intestinal immune damage and limit chronic inflammation.

Impact of protease inhibitors on circulating PCSK9 levels in HIV-infected antiretroviral-naive patients from an ongoing prospective cohort.

Objective: The study aims to assess the association between proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9), a major regulator of LDL cholesterol (LDL-C) homeostasis, and HIV-related dyslipidaemia in a cohort of HIV-positive (HIV+) patients under protease inhibitors.

Methods: Plasma PCSK9 levels were measured in 103 HIV+ patients before and after initiating protease inhibitor-based antiretroviral therapy (ART), and in 90 HIV-negative controls matched for age and sex. PCSK9 was measured by ELISA.

Sub-Saharan African migrants have slower initial CD4+ cell recovery after combined antiretroviral treatment initiation than French natives.

Objective: Poorer immunologic responses to combined antiretroviral treatment (cART) have been reported among sub-Saharan African (SSA) migrants than among native Europeans. We studied whether differences in CD4 cell recovery between French natives and SSA migrants starting first-line cART could be explained by differences in socioeconomic conditions, inflammatory marker levels, and other established determinants.

Methods: We compared 319 French natives and 175 SSA migrants (ANRS-COPANA cohort).

Elevated Basal Pre-infection CXCL10 in Plasma and in the Small Intestine after Infection Are Associated with More Rapid HIV/SIV Disease Onset.

Elevated blood CXCL10/IP-10 levels during primary HIV-1 infection (PHI) were described as an independent marker of rapid disease onset, more robust than peak viremia or CD4 cell nadir. IP-10 enhances the recruitment of CXCR3+ cells, which include major HIV-target cells, raising the question if it promotes the establishment of viral reservoirs. We analyzed data from four cohorts of HIV+ patients, allowing us to study IP-10 levels before infection (Amsterdam cohort), as well as during controlled and uncontrolled viremia (ANRS cohorts).

Late Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) Initiation Is Associated with Long-Term Persistence of Systemic Inflammation and Metabolic Abnormalities.

Objectives: HIV-induced immunodeficiency is associated with metabolic abnormalities and systemic inflammation. We investigated the effect of antiretroviral therapy (ART) on restoration of insulin sensitivity, markers of immune activation and inflammation.

Methods: Immunological, metabolic and inflammatory status was assessed at antiretroviral therapy initiation and three years later in 208 patients from the ANRS-COPANA cohort.

Plasma cholesterol efflux capacity from human THP-1 macrophages is reduced in HIV-infected patients: impact of HAART.

The capacity of HDL to remove cholesterol from macrophages is inversely associated with the severity of angiographic coronary artery disease. The effect of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection or its treatment on the ability of HDL particles to stimulate cholesterol efflux from human macrophages has never been studied. We evaluated the capacity of whole plasma and isolated HDL particles from HIV-infected subjects (n = 231) and uninfected controls (n = 200), as well as in a subset of 41 HIV subjects receiving highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) to mediate cholesterol efflux from human macrophages.