Predictors of Attrition and Immunological Failure in HIV-1 Patients on Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy from Different Healthcare Settings in Mozambique

In Mozambique, the evaluation of retention in HIV care and ART programmes is limited. To assess rate and predictors of attrition (no retention in care) and HAART effectiveness in HIV-1 infected patients who pay for medication and laboratory testing in Mozambique, we conducted a multicenter survey of HIV-1-infected patients who started HAART during 2002–2006. Cox proportional hazard models were used to assess risk of attrition and of therapy failure. Overall, 142 patients from 16 healthcare centers located in the capital city Maputo were followed-up for 22.2 months (12.1–46.7). The retention rate was 75%, 48% and 37% after one, two and three years, respectively. Risk of attrition was lower in patients with higher baseline CD4 count (P = 0.022) and attending healthcare center 1 (HCC1) (P = 0.013). The proportion of individuals with CD4 count ≤200 cells/µL was 55% (78/142) at baseline and decreased to 6% (3/52) at 36 months. Among the patients with available VL, 86% (64/74) achieved undetectable VL levels. The rate of immunologic failure was 17.2% (95% CI: 12.6–22.9) per 100 person-years. Risk of failure was associated to higher baseline CD4 count (P = 0.002), likely reflecting low adherence levels, and decreased with baseline VL ≥10,000 copies/mL (P = 0.033). These results suggest that HAART can be effective in HIV-1 infected patients from Mozambique that pay for their medication and laboratory testing. Further studies are required to identify the causes for low retention rates in patients with low CD4 counts and to better understand the association between healthcare setting and attrition rate.     

Network-Level Structural Abnormalities of Cerebral Cortex in Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus

Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) usually begins in childhood and adolescence and causes lifelong damage to several major organs including the brain. Despite increasing evidence of T1DM-induced structural deficits in cortical regions implicated in higher cognitive and emotional functions, little is known whether and how the structural connectivity between these regions is altered in the T1DM brain. Using inter-regional covariance of cortical thickness measurements from high-resolution T1-weighted magnetic resonance data, we examined the topological organizations of cortical structural networks in 81 T1DM patients and 38 healthy subjects. We found a relative absence of hierarchically high-level hubs in the prefrontal lobe of T1DM patients, which suggests ineffective top-down control of the prefrontal cortex in T1DM. Furthermore, inter-network connections between the strategic/executive control system and systems subserving other cortical functions including language and mnemonic/emotional processing were also less integrated in T1DM patients than in healthy individuals. The current results provide structural evidence for T1DM-related dysfunctional cortical organization, which specifically underlie the top-down cognitive control of language, memory, and emotion.     

Soil-Borne Bacterial Structure and Diversity Does Not Reflect Community Activity in Pampa Biome

The Pampa biome is considered one of the main hotspots of the world’s biodiversity and it is estimated that half of its original vegetation was removed and converted to agricultural land and tree plantations. Although an increasing amount of knowledge is being assembled regarding the response of soil bacterial communities to land use change, to the associated plant community and to soil properties, our understanding about how these interactions affect the microbial community from the Brazilian Pampa is still poor and incomplete. In this study, we hypothesized that the same soil type from the same geographic region but under distinct land use present dissimilar soil bacterial communities. To test this hypothesis, we assessed the soil bacterial communities from four land-uses within the same soil type by 454-pyrosequencing of 16S rRNA gene and by soil microbial activity analyzes. We found that the same soil type under different land uses harbor similar (but not equal) bacterial communities and the differences were controlled by many microbial taxa. No differences regarding diversity and richness between natural areas and areas under anthropogenic disturbance were detected. However, the measures of microbial activity did not converge with the 16S rRNA data supporting the idea that the coupling between functioning and composition of bacterial communities is not necessarily correlated.     

Clinical Benefit of Liver Stiffness Measurement at 3 Months after Kasai Hepatoportoenterostomy to Predict the Liver Related Events in Biliary Atresia

Background

The progression of hepatic fibrosis may result in decompensated hepatic failure with cirrhosis, liver related events (LRE) such as ascites, variceal bleeding, and death after successful and timely Kasai hepatoportoenterostomy (HPE) in biliary atresia. The aim of this study is to suggest clinical benefit of the liver stiffness measurement (LSM) using transient elastography at 3 months after the Kasai operation to predict LRE.

Methods

Between January 2007 and December 2011, 69 eligible biliary atresia patients who underwent Kasai HPE and performed transient elastography before and 3 months after HPE were included. The occurrences of LRE were analyzed for all patients. All patients were divided into 2 groups (with and without LRE) for comparison. Multivariate analysis was used to detect the independent risk factors of LRE. The area under the receiver operation characteristics curve (AUROC) was used to establish the LSM optimal cutoff value of 3 months after Kasai operation in predicting LRE.

Results

LSM value, aminotransferase, albumin, bilirubin, and PT-INR significantly differed among the two groups. Multivariate analysis demonstrated LSM value as the most powerful independent factor of the development of LRE. The cut-off value of 19.9 kPa was calculated to be optimal for predicting LRE development with total sensitivity and specificity of 1.804. AUROC resulted in 0.943, with sensitivity of 85.3% and specificity of 95.2%.

Conclusions

The LSM value of 3 months after Kasai HPE can be a useful predictor of LRE development.     

Bcl-xL Silencing Induces Alterations in hsa-miR-608 Expression and Subsequent Cell Death in A549 and SK-LU1 Human Lung Adenocarcinoma Cells

Bcl-xL is an anti-apoptotic protein that is frequently found to be overexpressed in non-small cell lung cancer leading to an inhibition of apoptosis and poor prognosis. Recently, the role of miRNAs in regulating apoptosis and cell survival during tumorigenesis has become evident, with cancer cells showing perturbed expression of various miRNAs. In this study, we utilized miRNA microarrays to determine if miRNA dysregulation in bcl-xL silenced lung adenocarcinoma cells could be involved in regulating cell death. Short interfering RNA-based transfection of A549 and SK-LU1 lung adenocarcinoma cells was successful in inducing a reduction in bcl-xL expression levels, resulting in a decrease in cell viability. A total of 10 miRNAs were found to be significantly differentially expressed when compared between siRNA-transfected and non-transfected cells including hsa-miR-181a, hsa-miR-769-5p, hsa-miR-361-5p, hsa-miR-1304 and hsa-miR-608. When overexpression studies on hsa-miR-608 was performed via transfection of miRNA mimics, cell death was found to be induced in A549 and SK-LU1 cells in comparison to untreated cells. This effect was reversed when knockdown studies involving anti-sense inhibitors were introduced. Combination of siRNA based silencing of bcl-xL (siBcl-xL) followed by anti-sense inhibitor transfection led to a decrease in the apoptotic population of A549 and SK-LU1 cells in comparison to cells only treated with siBcl-xL, illustrating the connection between bcl-xL, hsa-miR-608 and cell death. Gene target prediction analysis implicated the PI3K/AKT, WNT, TGF-β, and ERK signaling pathways as targets of bcl-xL induced miRNA alterations. We have demonstrated that bcl-xL silencing in A549 and SK-LU1 cells leads to the occurrence of cell death through the dysregulation of specific miRNAs. This study also provides a platform for anti-sense gene therapy whereby miRNA expression can be exploited to increase the apoptotic properties in lung adenocarcinoma cells.     

Expression of DNA methyltransferases is involved in Quercus suber cork quality

Cork oak (Quercus suber) is an important Portuguese species, mainly due to the economic value of the cork it produces. Cork results from phellogen, a meristematic tissue, which can locally produce lenticels or have discontinuities, originating “defects”: pores and nail inclusions that are detrimental to cork industrial use. Epigenetic processes control plant development and its deregulation can lead to altered phenotypes; therefore, the study of epigenetic players in the phellogen is important to understand the emergence of cork's defects. DNA methyltransferases (DNMTs) and one protein associated to MET1 (DMAP1) were characterized in Q. suber, and their gene expression was analyzed in phellogen and contiguous differentiating cell layers of trees producing high and low quality cork, after the evaluation of their defects by physical and image analysis methods. All classes of DNMTs (MET, DRM, and CMT) with the respective canonical motifs were identified in Q. suber. The expression analyses of these genes showed that QsDRM2 was the most active methyltransferases in the cells analyzed, and that all the genes were differentially expressed in trees with distinct cork quality, with a tendency for higher expression levels in low quality producers. Interestingly, the global methylation level was higher in cells with low expression of DNA methyltransferases. A positive and significant correlation was obtained between QsDMAP1 gene expression and the percentage of cork defects. This work provides the first evidence that cork quality in Q. suber is likely influenced by epigenetic mechanisms.     

Human Spermatogenic Failure Purges Deleterious Mutation Load from the Autosomes and Both Sex Chromosomes,including the Gene DMRT1

Gonadal failure, along with early pregnancy loss and perinatal death, may be an important filter that limits the propagation of harmful mutations in the human population. We hypothesized that men with spermatogenic impairment, a disease with unknown genetic architecture and a common cause of male infertility, are enriched for rare deleterious mutations compared to men with normal spermatogenesis. After assaying genomewide SNPs and CNVs in 323 Caucasian men with idiopathic spermatogenic impairment and more than 1,100 controls, we estimate that each rare autosomal deletion detected in our study multiplicatively changes a man''s risk of disease by 10% (OR 1.10 [1.04–1.16], p<2×10⁻³), rare X-linked CNVs by 29%, (OR 1.29 [1.11–1.50], p<1×10⁻³), and rare Y-linked duplications by 88% (OR 1.88 [1.13–3.13], p<0.03). By contrasting the properties of our case-specific CNVs with those of CNV callsets from cases of autism, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and intellectual disability, we propose that the CNV burden in spermatogenic impairment is distinct from the burden of large, dominant mutations described for neurodevelopmental disorders. We identified two patients with deletions of DMRT1, a gene on chromosome 9p24.3 orthologous to the putative sex determination locus of the avian ZW chromosome system. In an independent sample of Han Chinese men, we identified 3 more DMRT1 deletions in 979 cases of idiopathic azoospermia and none in 1,734 controls, and found none in an additional 4,519 controls from public databases. The combined results indicate that DMRT1 loss-of-function mutations are a risk factor and potential genetic cause of human spermatogenic failure (frequency of 0.38% in 1306 cases and 0% in 7,754 controls, p = 6.2×10⁻⁵). Our study identifies other recurrent CNVs as potential causes of idiopathic azoospermia and generates hypotheses for directing future studies on the genetic basis of male infertility and IVF outcomes.     

Tunable Nanoporous Network Polymer Nanocomposites having Size‐Selective Ion Transfer for Dye‐Sensitized Solar Cells

Nanoporous network polymer nanocomposites with tunable pore size for size‐dependent selective ion transport are successfully prepared via the surface‐induced cross‐linking polymerization of methyl methacrylate (MMA) and 1,6‐hexanediol diacrylate (HDDA) on the surfaces of nanocrystalline TiO₂ particles. The morphologies of the porous network polymer layer and nanopores were investigated by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE‐SEM), and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) experiments. The porous layer size‐selectively screened the ions that contacted the nanocrystalline TiO₂ particles, as demonstrated by ion conductivity measurements, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), and transient absorption spectroscopy (TAS).     

Serine Protease EspP from Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia Coli Is Sufficient to Induce Shiga Toxin Macropinocytosis in Intestinal Epithelium

Life-threatening intestinal and systemic effects of the Shiga toxins produced by enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) require toxin uptake and transcytosis across intestinal epithelial cells. We have recently demonstrated that EHEC infection of intestinal epithelial cells stimulates toxin macropinocytosis, an actin-dependent endocytic pathway. Host actin rearrangement necessary for EHEC attachment to enterocytes is mediated by the type 3 secretion system which functions as a molecular syringe to translocate bacterial effector proteins directly into host cells. Actin-dependent EHEC attachment also requires the outer membrane protein intimin, a major EHEC adhesin. Here, we investigate the role of type 3 secretion in actin turnover occurring during toxin macropinocytosis. Toxin macropinocytosis is independent of EHEC type 3 secretion and intimin attachment. EHEC soluble factors are sufficient to stimulate macropinocytosis and deliver toxin into enterocytes in vitro and in vivo; intact bacteria are not required. Intimin-negative enteroaggregative Escherichia coli (EAEC) O104:H4 robustly stimulate Shiga toxin macropinocytosis into intestinal epithelial cells. The apical macropinosomes formed in intestinal epithelial cells move through the cells and release their cargo at these cells’ basolateral sides. Further analysis of EHEC secreted proteins shows that a serine protease EspP alone is able to stimulate host actin remodeling and toxin macropinocytosis. The observation that soluble factors, possibly serine proteases including EspP, from each of two genetically distinct toxin-producing strains, can stimulate Shiga toxin macropinocytosis and transcellular transcytosis alters current ideas concerning mechanisms whereby Shiga toxin interacts with human enterocytes. Mechanisms important for this macropinocytic pathway could suggest new potential therapeutic targets for Shiga toxin-induced disease.     

Diet and Prey Selection of Dholes in Evergreen and Deciduous Forests of Southeast Asia

Endangered dholes (Cuon alpinus) are restricted to small and declining populations in Southeast Asia, and little is known about how their ecology differs within the region. We used DNA-confirmed scats and prey surveys to determine the seasonal diet and prey selection of dholes in 2 different landscapes that dominate Southeast Asia: closed evergreen forests in hilly terrain in northern Laos, and open deciduous forests in relatively flat terrain in eastern Cambodia. On both sites, muntjac (Muntiacus spp.; 20–28 kg) was the dominant prey item and was selectively consumed over other ungulates in all seasons. Our findings differ from previous conclusions, based largely on studies from India, that the preferred prey weight range of dholes was either 40–60 kg or 130–190 kg. Other important prey were sambar (Rusa unicolor) in Laos, and wild pig (Sus scrofa) and banteng (Bos javanicus) in Cambodia. Seasonal differences in overall diet occurred in Laos, but not Cambodia, primarily because of an increase in livestock consumption. The mean number of dhole scats in group defecation sites was higher in Cambodia (5.9 ± 0.5 [SE]) than Laos (2.4 ± 0.2), suggesting pack sizes were larger in Cambodia. Our results suggest that regardless of land cover type, prey diversity, or pack size, the management of muntjac will be important for conserving dhole populations in Southeast Asia. In Laos, we recommend that local villagers remove livestock from the protected area during the hot-dry season to reduce livestock predation by dholes. © 2020 The Authors. The Journal of Wildlife Management published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of The Wildlife Society.