Impact of a patient education program on adherence to HIV medication: a randomized clinical trial

Patients' knowledge of their HIV condition and its treatment, which has been recognized as a factor that influences adherence to antiretroviral therapy, can be improved through educational programs. This prospective, randomized, controlled trial compared an experimental group that participated in an educational program and a control group with standard care. The study evaluated the impact of an educational intervention on adherence to antiretroviral therapy, patients' knowledge, quality of life, and therapeutic response in patients treated with highly active antiretroviral therapy. Three hundred twenty-six patients were analyzed at inclusion. A higher level of adherence was associated with patients who were older, had higher incomes, and did not smoke. CD4 cell count and plasma viral load were correlated with adherence at entry. The educational intervention had an impact on adherence and knowledge in the experimental group at 6 months, which was maintained at 12 and 18 months. A delayed increase in adherence was observed in the control group at 12 months. No significant impact on quality of life was observed over time. The patients' health status improved in 56% of the experimental group subjects and 50% of the control subjects. However, no significant impact was shown on CD4 cell count and plasma viral load. This study shows that an educational intervention improves adherence to antiretroviral regimens and health status and suggests that it should be initiated early in therapy.     

Identification of a type 1 diabetes-associated CD4 promoter haplotype with high constitutive activity

CD4 is a candidate gene in autoimmune diseases, including Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM), because the CD4 receptor is crucial for appropriate antigen responses of CD4(+) T cells. We previously found linkage between a CD4-1188(TTTTC)(5-14) promoter polymorphism and T1DM. In the present study, we screened the human CD4 promoter for mutations and identified three frequent single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs): CD4-181C/G, CD4-521C/G and CD4-1050T/C. The SNPs are in strong linkage disequilibrium (LD) and association with the CD4-1188(TTTTC)(5-14) alleles, and we observed nine CD4 promoter haplotypes, of which four are frequent. We genotyped the SNPs in 253 Danish T1DM families (1129 individuals) and found evidence for linkage and association of a CD4 (A4(-1188)T(-1050)G(-521)C(-181)) haplotype to T1DM. In reporter studies, we show that (1) the T1DM-associated CD4 haplotype encodes high constitutive promoter activity and (2) the CD4-181G variant encodes higher stimulated promoter activity than the CD4-181C variant. This difference is in part neutralized in the frequently occurring CD4 promoter haplotypes by the more upstream genetic variants. Thus, we report functional impact of a novel CD4-181C/G SNP on stimulated CD4 promoter activity and the identification of a novel CD4 haplotype with high constitutive promoter activity that is linked and associated with T1DM.     

Exploring cancer register data to find risk factors for recurrence of breast cancer – application of Canonical Correlation Analysis

Background  

A common approach in exploring register data is to find relationships between outcomes and predictors by using multiple regression analysis (MRA). If there is more than one outcome variable, the analysis must then be repeated, and the results combined in some arbitrary fashion. In contrast, Canonical Correlation Analysis (CCA) has the ability to analyze multiple outcomes at the same time.     

Point-of-care prothrombin time measurement for professional and patient self-testing use. A multicenter clinical experience. Oral Anticoagulation Monitoring Study Group

We enrolled 386 subjects in a multicenter study of a point-of-care (POC) prothrombin time (PT) testing device. POC tests were performed by health care professionals using venous and finger-stick specimens and by patients using finger-stick specimens. Venous blood also was analyzed in the local hospital laboratory and a national reference laboratory. Accurate POC results were obtained by professionals using both types of specimens. Patients' results were equivalent to those of professionals. The identification of the patient's therapeutic status based on the International Normalized Ratio (INR) was equivalent for POC and local hospital laboratory PT results; 75% of local laboratory results and 77% of POC results were within 0.4 INR of reference laboratory results, while 93% of either system (POC or local laboratory) were within 0.7 INR. Patients overwhelmingly reported satisfaction with the self-test, including the finger stick and device operation. The INR from the POC device is clinically equivalent to the laboratory INR for assessment of anticoagulation status and management decisions in professional and self-testing environments. Patients can learn to perform accurate PT testing, and POC PT testing is feasible in patients' homes.     

Longitudinal analysis of B cell repertoire and antibody gene rearrangements during early HIV infection

In chronically HIV infected individuals, a number of functional B cell abnormalities have been described. However, the immediate changes that occur in the B cell compartment following viral exposure and how they affect the long-term course of infection are not well understood. We report the longitudinal analysis of B cell repertoires during early infection in untreated and treated individuals receiving highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). Analysis was based on IgG heavy chain gene utilization and CDR3 length measurement and relationship with CD4/CD8 counts, viral load, and total serum IgG, and anti-HIV antibodies levels. Repertoires were assessed at baseline and at weeks 2, 4, 12, 24, and 72 after initiation of therapy. The findings indicate a stable peripheral B cell repertoire during the first 72 weeks following infection, particularly in the HAART treated patients. A modest association between B cell repertoire integrity and viremia levels as well as treatment was detected.     

Pre- and postnatal depression and coping: a comparative approach

BACKGROUND: The assessment of perinatal depressions and coping style. Methods: With depression scales (EPDS, GHQ.12) and Carver's BriefCope, the authors compared the prevalence rates of pre and postnatal depression in a cohort of 277 French women. RESULTS: Their work revealed very high levels of prenatal depression (almost 20%) and less important but nonetheless sizeable rates (11%) of postnatal depression, making such perinatal depressions a major public health concern. The coping styles proposed in Carver's public health BriefCope questionnaire make it possible to significantly differentiate during these two periods between depressive women and their non-depressed counterparts. CONCLUSIONS: This enables us to underline factors of risk and protection suggesting the importance of setting up compensatory and preventive systems and evaluating their pertinence in the framework of future research.