People Who Inject Drugs (PWID) are at a higher risk of acquiring bloodborne infections. We aimed to estimate the seroprevalence of the Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) in PWID and identify correlates and risk ...factors using data from the Puerto Rico National HIV Behavioral Surveillance System, PWID cycle 5, conducted in 2018.
A total of 502 San Juan Metropolitan Statistical Area participants were recruited through the Respondent Driven Sampling method. Sociodemographic, health-related, and behavioral characteristics were assessed. Testing for HCV antibodies was completed after the face-to-face survey. Descriptive and logistic regression analyses were performed.
Overall seroprevalence of HCV was 76.5% (95% CI: 70.8-81.4%). A significantly (p < 0.05) higher HCV seroprevalence was observed among PWID with the following characteristics: heterosexuals (78.5%), high school graduates (81.3%), tested for sexually transmitted infections (STI) in the past 12 months (86.1%), frequent speedball injection (79.4%), and knowing the HCV serostatus of the last sharing partner (95.4%). Adjusted logistic regression models showed that having completed high school and reported STI testing in the past 12 months were significantly associated with HCV infection (OR
= 2.23; 95% CI: 1.06-4.69; OR
= 2.14; 95% CI: 1.06-4.30, respectively).
We report a high seroprevalence of HCV infection in PWID. Social health disparities and potential missed opportunities validate the continuing call for local action for public health and prevention strategies.
Background
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and World Health Organization guidelines, all individuals aged 13-64 years should get screened for HIV infection as part of ...their routine medical examinations. Individuals at high risk should get tested annually.
Objective
This study aimed to identify the sociodemographic, health care, and sexual behavioral characteristics of provider-initiated HIV testing using data from the Puerto Rico National HIV Behavioral Surveillance 2016 cycle, directed toward heterosexual individuals at increased risk of HIV infection.
Methods
A sample of 358 eligible participants were recruited through respondent-driven sampling, where sociodemographic characteristics, health care use, and HIV test referral were used to assess a description of the study sample. Pearson chi-square and Fisher tests were used to evaluate proportional differences. Multivariate logistic regression models were performed to determine the association between independent variables and HIV test referral. Adjusted prevalence ratios by sex and age with their 95% CIs were determined using a statistical significance level of .05.
Results
Despite 67.9% (243/358) of participants showing high-risk sexual behavioral practices and 67.4% (236/350) reporting a low perceived risk of HIV infection among those who visited a health care provider within the last 12 months, 80.7% (289/358) of the study sample did not receive an HIV test referral at a recent medical visit. Multivariate analysis showed that the estimated prevalence of the participants who received an HIV test referral among those who reported being engaged in high-risk sexual behaviors was 41% (adjusted prevalence ratio .59, 95% CI .39-.91; P=.02) lower than the estimated prevalence among those who did not engage in high-risk sexual behavior.
Conclusions
This sample of Puerto Rican adults reported a significantly lower prevalence of receiving an HIV test referral among heterosexual individuals at increased risk of HIV infection who engaged in high-risk behaviors. This study further emphasizes the need for health care providers to follow recommended guidelines for HIV test referrals in health care settings. Promotion practices in the future should include enhancing referral and access to HIV tests and implementing preventive measures to counteract the HIV epidemic in Puerto Rico.
To describe the use and frequency of use of mobile apps (internetand/ or smartphone-based geospatial networking apps) among men who have sex with men (MSM) and how these platforms are used to engage ...with sexual partners in PR.
A local module including questions regarding mobile apps and sexual engagement and derived from the 2017 Puerto Rico National HIV Behavioral Surveillance System, fifth MSM cycle, was used for this analysis. A subsample of 127 eligible participants was recruited through venue-based sampling and assented to participate. Univariate analysis was used to evaluate sociodemographic and behavioral characteristics, HIV testing, and the ways in which mobile apps are used to find sexual partners.
The participants' median age was 35 years, with a standard deviation of ±11.37 years. Most of our sample (97%) had had anal sex with at least 1 partner in the last 12 months, and 76% of them had had condomless anal sex. Over three fourths (81%) reported using apps for sexual encounters, while 45% stated that the most frequently used app was Grindr. Of the participants who had used apps for sexual encounters, 57% had met 5 or more sexual partners through apps in their lifetime.
This study shows that there is a need for further research to understand the habits of this population in PR regarding the use of apps to find sexual partners and, also, as a possible way to develop strategies for prevention and health promotion in this group.
The poor prognosis for patients with inflammatory breast cancer (IBC) emphasizes the need to better understand the molecular signature of this disease with the goal of developing effective targeted ...therapeutics. Importantly, 20–40% of IBC cases are triple‐negative breast cancers (TNBC) in which targeted hormone therapy is not effective. Interestingly, approximately 1/2 of cases of IBC overexpress the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), a member of the ErbB family of receptors involve in cell proliferation, migration, and cytoskeleton remodeling. Recently, SEPT9, a member of a large family of cytoskeletal proteins important in diverse biological processes, was found to interact with EGFR. Dysregulation of SEPT9 isoforms have been associated in different cancer types, including breast cancer. To date, no studies have looked at the potential pro‐oncogenic role of SEPT9 isoforms in IBC or TNBC. We will examine the functional relationship between SEPT9_v1, cytoskeleton remodeling and EGFR signaling in the IBC and TNBCs cell lines. Our hypothesis is that SEPT9_v1 contributes to oncogenesis by regulating the activity of ErbB receptors in IBC and/or TNBC. To test our hypothesis, generation of stable cell lines with knockdown or overexpression of SEPT9_v1 using lentiviral and delivering vectors will be developed. Establishment of 2D and 3D cultures of the cell lines will be performed to analyze if the acquisition of pro‐oncogenic phenotypes. To assess these phenotypes, we will use cell proliferation assays using alamar blue to determine the viability of cells, in vitro transwell migration, invasion assays and fluorescent microscopy to determine if there is aberrant morphology or cytoskeleton remodeling. We will determine the specific effect of SEPT9_v1 overexpression and knockdown to the activation of the EGFR signaling. Stability of ErbB receptors upon SEPT9_v1 overexpression or knockdown will be also measured by protein stability assays and by looking directly in the plasma membrane of cells with fluorescent microscopy. Downstream activation of the EGFR pathway will be assessed by Western blot (WB) analysis of activated effector proteins. Co‐immunoprecipitation analysis will be performed to test if there is a specific interaction between EGFR and SEPT9_v1. Our preliminary data shows that approximately 50% of breast cancer cell lines overexpress SEPT9_v1 mRNA when compared to a panel of human mammary epithelial cell lines. Also, by WB analysis we determined that SUM149 expresses two isoforms, SEPT9_v1 and SEPT9_v3. This work will provide new insights into the functional relationship between SEPT9_v1 and EGFR and their contribution to the aggressive metastatic phenotype in IBC. Furthermore, it will help us to identify new potential therapeutic targets for the better management of this disease.
Support or Funding Information
This project is supported by UPR Fondos Institucionales para la Investigación (FIPI to E.Peterson ) and MARC program (5T34GM008721‐38 to A. Agosto)
This is from the Experimental Biology 2019 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this published in The FASEB Journal.
El virus del Zika (VZ), arbovirus, es transmitido por Aedes aegypti y A. albopictus. Desde 1952 se conoce su perfil neurotrópico. El principal hallazgo relacionado con la infección en las Américas, ...es la microcefalia. Dos hipótesis se plantean sobre su afectación en el sistema nervioso central: su característica neurotrópica per se, y el efecto directo del virus sobre la placenta. Las malformaciones y hallazgos clínicos sobre el desarrollo fetal conforman el síndrome de Zika congénito. La reacción de polimerasa en cadena-transcriptasa reversa (RPC-TR) y serología (IgM) son útiles para el diagnóstico definitivo; sin embargo, debe tenerse en cuenta, primero, que la viremia en las mujeres embarazadas puede permanecer por un período más prolongado y segundo, que una IgM positiva para Zika, debe ser adecuadamente interpretada en un medio endémico para otros flavivirus. Se propone a la infección por el VZ, en zonas endémicas, como parte del complejo TORCHS-Z.
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