INTRODUCTION Cardiovascular diseases are increasing in aging HIV-positive patients (HIV+). Impact of traditional cardiovascular risk factors, HIV-specific parameters and antiretroviral therapy (ART) on the incidence of cardiovascular events (CVE) and on the mortality rate are investigated in different HIV+ cohorts. METHODS The HIV HEART (HIVH) study is an ongoing prospective observational coh...

We compared the indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA) with Western blot (Wb) as a confirmatory method to detect antibodies anti retrovirus (HIV-1 and HTLV-I/II). Positive and negative HIV-1 and HTLV-I/II serum samples from different risk populations were studied. Sensitivity, specificity, positive, negative predictive and kappa index values were assayed, to assess the IFA efficiency versus Wb...

This study evaluated the usefulness of the anti-HBc, hepatitis C virus antibodies (anti-HCV), human T cell lymphotropic virus I and II antibodies (anti-HTLV I/II), serologic tests for syphilis, and surface antigen of hepatitis B virus (HBsAg) as surrogate markers for the risk for HIV infection in 80,284 serum samples from blood donors from the Blood Bank of "Hospital Universitário Regional Nort...

Identification of the components of protective immunity are crucial for the development of effective prophylactic and therapeutic vaccine strategies. Analysis of HIV-specific responses in exposed but uninfected individuals might thus provide a unique resource to elucidate the components and correlates of protective immunity to HIV. In the present study we analyzed HIV-specific cytotoxic and hel...

OBJECTIVE Studies have reported an increased prevalence of HIV infection among psychiatric patients. Inaccurate HIV knowledge is included as a factor in the increased risk of HIV infection in the mentally ill, but few studies have looked specifically at this factor. The aims of the study were to determine the knowledge of HIV and its transmission among adult psychiatric patients at Weskoppies H...

The majority of HIV-1 elite controllers (EC) restrict HIV-1 replication through highly functional HIV-1-specific T cell responses, but mechanisms supporting the evolution of effective HIV-1-specific T cell immunity in these patients remain undefined. Cytosolic immune recognition of HIV-1 in conventional dendritic cells (cDC) can facilitate priming and expansion of HIV-1-specific T cells; howeve...

It is commonly believed that HIV testing is essential for disease prevention. Indeed, spending on counseling and testing accounts for over half of the total expenditures on HIV prevention in some African countries. Despite this, there is evidence that even when testing is available most people do not take advantage of it, and there is virtually no persuasive evidence on the behavioral response ...