The Classification of the Persistent Infection Risk for Human Papillomavirus among HIV-Negative Men Who Have Sex with Men: Trajectory Model Analysis

Objective. To classify the infection risk of human papillomavirus (HPV) among human immunodeficiency virus- (HIV-) negative men who have sex with men (MSM) using group-based trajectory modeling (GBTM). Methods. This study collected data on demographic and sexual behavior characteristics by questionnaires at semiannual visits from March 1st, 2016 to December 31th, 2017. Researchers collected anal exfoliated cells to finish HPV testing and blood samples to finish HIV testing at baseline and follow-up visits. Accumulative infection numbers of different types of HPV as the primary outcome and the follow-up visits as the independent predicator to build a GBTM model. Results. There were 500 potentially eligible HIV-negative participants at baseline, 361 (72.2%) of whom were included in this study after screening. Three trajectory groups were identified as the best-fitted GBTM model. Trajectory 1, defined as decreased group (DG) accounted for 44.6% (161/361) of the sample, showed a declining pattern with visits. Trajectory 2, defined as flat group (FG) accounted for 49.6% (179/361) of the sample, showed a flat pattern with visits. Trajectory 3, regarded as the increased group (IG) accounted for 5.8% (21/361) of the sample, showed an uptrend. Compared to the DG, risk factors for the FG included receptive anal intercourse (AOR, 2.24; 95% CI, 1.36-3.71), occasional condom use in anal sex during the past six months (AOR, 1.90; 95% CI, 1.16-3.14), experience of transactional sex with males in the past year (AOR, 3.60; 95% CI, 1.12-11.54), and substance use (AOR, 1.81; 95% CI, 1.08-3.04). Risk factors for the IG included receptive anal intercourse (AOR, 2.81; 95% CI, 1.04-7.70), occasional condom use in anal sex during the past six months (AOR, 3.93; 95% CI, 1.40-11.01), and history of other STIs (AOR, 5.72; 95% CI, 1.40-23.46). Conclusion. The MSM data in this study showed three distinct developmental trajectories (DG, FG, and IG) of HPV infection among HIV-negative MSM, with receptive anal intercourse and occasional condom use in anal sex during the past six months being the risk factors associated with FG and IG

Effects of Message Framing on Cancer Prevention and Detection Behaviors, Intentions, and Attitudes: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

BackgroundWith the increasing health care burden of cancer, public health organizations are increasingly emphasizing the importance of calling people to engage in long-term prevention and periodical detection. How to best deliver behavioral recommendations and health outcomes in messaging is an important issue. ObjectiveThis study aims to disaggregate the effects of gain-framed and loss-framed messages on cancer prevention and detection behaviors and intentions and attitudes, which has the potential to inform cancer control programs. MethodsA search of three electronic databases (Web of Science, Scopus, and PubMed) was conducted for studies published between January 2000 and December 2020. After a good agreement achieved on a sample by two authors, the article selection (κ=0.8356), quality assessment (κ=0.8137), and data extraction (κ=0.9804) were mainly performed by one author. The standardized mean difference (attitude and intention) and the odds ratio (behaviors) were calculated to evaluate the effectiveness of message framing (gain-framed message and loss-framed message). Calculations were conducted, and figures were produced by Review Manager 5.3. ResultsThe title and abstract of 168 unique citations were scanned, of which 53 were included for a full-text review. A total of 24 randomized controlled trials were included, predominantly examining message framing on cancer prevention and detection behavior change interventions. There were 9 studies that used attitude to predict message framing effect and 16 studies that used intention, whereas 6 studies used behavior to examine the message framing effect directly. The use of loss-framed messages improved cancer detection behavior (OR 0.76, 95% CI 0.64-0.90; P=.001), and the results from subgroup analysis indicated that the effect would be weak with time. No effect of framing was found when effectiveness was assessed by attitudes (prevention: SMD=0.02, 95% CI –0.13 to 0.17; P=.79; detection: SMD=–0.05, 95% CI –0.15 to 0.05; P=.32) or intentions (prevention: SMD=–0.05, 95% CI –0.19 to 0.09; P=.48; detection: SMD=0.02, 95% CI –0.26 to 0.29; P=.92) among studies encouraging cancer prevention and cancer detection. ConclusionsResearch has shown that it is almost impossible to change people's attitudes or intentions about cancer prevention and detection with a gain-framed or loss-framed message. However, loss-framed messages have achieved preliminary success in persuading people to adopt cancer detection behaviors. Future studies could improve the intervention design to achieve better intervention effectiveness

Characterization of a Novel Fe²⁺ Activated Non-Blue Laccase from <i>Methylobacterium extorquens</i>

Herein, a novel laccase gene, Melac13220, was amplified from Methylobacterium extorquens and successfully expressed in Escherichia coli with a molecular weight of approximately 50 kDa. The purified Melac13220 had no absorption peak at 610 nm and remained silent within electron paramagnetic resonance spectra, suggesting that Melac13220 belongs to the non-blue laccase group. Both inductively coupled plasma spectroscopy/optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) and isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) indicated that one molecule of Melac13220 can interact with two iron ions. Furthermore, the optimal temperature of Melac13220 was 65 °C. It also showed a high thermolability, and its half-life at 65 °C was 80 min. Melac13220 showed a very good acid environment tolerance; its optimal pH was 1.5. Cu2+ and Co2+ can slightly increase enzyme activity, whereas Fe2+ could increase Melac13220′s activity five-fold. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) indicated that Fe2+ could also stabilize Melac13220. Unlike most laccases, Melac13220 can efficiently decolorize Congo Red and Indigo Carmine dyes even in the absence of a redox mediator. Thus, the non-blue laccase from Methylobacterium extorquens shows potential application value and may be valuable for environmental protection, especially in the degradation of dyes at low pH

Site-Specific Covalent Immobilization of <i>Methylobacterium extorquens</i> Non-Blue Laccse Melac13220 on Fe₃O₄ Nanoparticles by Aldehyde Tag

In the present study, the non-blue laccase Melac13220 from Methylobacterium extorquens was immobilized using three methods to overcome problems related to the stability and reusability of the free enzyme: entrapment of the enzyme with sodium alginate, crosslinking of the enzyme with glutaraldehyde and chitosan-, and site-specific covalent immobilization of the enzyme on Fe3O4 nanoparticles by an aldehyde tag. The site-specific covalent immobilization method showed the highest immobilization efficiency and vitality recovery. The optimum temperature of Melac13220 was increased from 65 °C to 80 °C. Immobilized Melac13220 showed significant tolerance to some organic solvents and maintained approximately 80% activity after 10 cycles of use. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) indicated that the melting temperature of the enzyme was increased (from 57 °C to 79 °C). Immobilization of Melac13220 also led to improvement in dye decolorization such that Congo Red was completely decolorized within 10 h. The immobilized enzyme can be easily prepared without purification, demonstrating the advantages of using the aldehyde tag strategy and providing a reference for the practical application of different immobilized laccase methods in the industrial field

Prevalence and risk factors of anal human papillomavirus infection among HIV-negative men who have sex with men in Urumqi city of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China.

Infection with human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most common sexually transmitted infection among men who have sex with men (MSM). Study on prevalence and risk factors of anal HPV infection among HIV-negative MSM in Northwestern China was rare.We performed a cross-sectional study of HPV prevalence using anal swab specimens among HIV-negative MSM in Urumqi city of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China between April 1st and October 30th in 2016. Prevalence of any anal HPV infection, high-risk and low-risk HPV infection was estimated. Risk factors associated with any anal HPV infection was analyzed using univariate and multivariate logistic regression models.Among 538 potential participants, 500(92.9%) were recruited in this study. The genotyping results of anal HPV infection were available for all. Of them, 259 (51.8%), 190 (38.0%) and 141(28.2%) were positive for at least one of the targeted 37 HPV genotypes, high-risk HPV genotypes, and any low-risk HPV genotypes. The most prevalent anal HPV genotype was HPV 6(11.8%), followed by HPV 16(11.2%), HPV 11(10.8%), HPV 51(7.0%) and HPV 18(5.4%).Among those infected with at least one of the targeted 37 anal HPV genotypes, 75(29.0%), 155(59.8%) and 191(73.7%) were infected with 2-valent, quadrivalent and 9-valent HPV vaccine-covered genotypes. Receptive anal intercourse in the past year was the only predictor of any anal HPV infection in multivariate logistic regression model.Prevalence of any anal HPV infection and high-risk HPV infection among HIV-negative MSM in Urumqi city of Xinjiang is high. The majority of genotypes detected in our study were covered by quadrivalent and 9-valent HPV vaccines. Regular anal exams and early HPV vaccination among MSM may be considered in future HPV prevention programs in Xinjiang, China

Upregulation of LAG3 modulates the immune imbalance of CD4+ T-cell subsets and exacerbates disease progression in patients with alveolar echinococcosis and a mouse model.

Infection with the cestode Echinococcus multilocularis (E. multilocularis) causes alveolar echinococcosis (AE), a tumor-like disease predominantly affecting the liver but able to spread to any organ. T cells develop functional defects during chronic E. multilocularis infection, mostly due to upregulation of inhibitory receptors such as T-cell immunoreceptor with immunoglobulin and immunoreceptor tyrosine-based inhibitory motif domains (TIGIT) and programmed death-1 (PD-1). However, the role of lymphocyte activation gene-3 (LAG3), an inhibitory receptor, in AE infection remains to be determined. Here, we discovered that high expression of LAG3 was mainly found in CD4+ T cells and induced regulatory T cells (iTregs) in close liver tissue (CLT) from AE patients. In a mouse model of E. multilocularis infection, LAG3 expression was predominantly found in T helper 2 (Th2) and Treg subsets, which secreted significantly more IL-4 and IL-10, resulting in host immune tolerance and disease progression at a late stage. Furthermore, LAG3 deficiency was found to drive the development of effector memory CD4+ T cells and enhance the type 1 CD4+ T-cell immune response, thus inhibiting metacestode growth in vivo. In addition, CD4+ T cells from LAG3-deficient mice produced more IFN-γ and less IL-4 when stimulated by E. multilocularis protoscoleces (EmP) antigen in vitro. Finally, adoptive transfer experiments showed that LAG3-knockout (KO) CD4+ T cells were more likely to develop into Th1 cells and less likely to develop into Tregs in recipient mice. Our work reveals that high expression of LAG3 accelerates AE disease progression by modulating the immune imbalance of CD4+ T-cell subsets. These findings may provide a novel immunotherapeutic strategy against E. multilocularis infection

Characteristics of 500 study participants and univariate analysis of association between variables and any anal HPV infection [n (%)].

<p>Characteristics of 500 study participants and univariate analysis of association between variables and any anal HPV infection [n (%)].</p

Multivariate analysis of risk factors for any HPV infection.

<p>Multivariate analysis of risk factors for any HPV infection.</p

HPV detection and genotyping among 500 HIV-negative MSM.

<p>HPV detection and genotyping among 500 HIV-negative MSM.</p