Chronic Delivery of Antibody Fragments Using Immunoisolated Cell Implants as a Passive Vaccination Tool

BACKGROUND: Monoclonal antibodies and antibody fragments are powerful biotherapeutics for various debilitating diseases. However, high production costs, functional limitations such as inadequate pharmacokinetics and tissue accessibility are the current principal disadvantages for broadening their use in clinic. METHODOLOGY AND PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We report a novel method for the long-term delivery of antibody fragments. We designed an allogenous immunoisolated implant consisting of polymer encapsulated myoblasts engineered to chronically release scFv antibodies targeted against the N-terminus of the Aβ peptide. Following a 6-month intracerebral therapy we observed a significant reduction of the production and aggregation of the Aβ peptide in the APP23 transgenic mouse model of Alzheimer's disease. In addition, functional assessment showed prevention of behavioral deficits related to anxiety and memory traits. CONCLUSIONS AND SIGNIFICANCE: The chronic local release of antibodies using immunoisolated polymer cell implants represents an alternative passive vaccination strategy in Alzheimer's disease. This novel technique could potentially benefit other diseases presently treated by local and systemic antibody administration

Substance Use During Imprisonment in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

Substance use disorders are among the most common health problems of people involved in the criminal justice system. Scaling up addiction services in prisons is a global public health and human rights challenge especially in poorly resourced countries. The aim of the present study was to systematically review the prevalence of substance use in prison populations in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). We searched for studies reporting prevalence rates of nicotine, alcohol, illicit drug and injection drug use during imprisonment in unselected samples of imprisoned people in LMIC. Data were meta-analyzed and sources of heterogeneity examined by meta-regression. The prevalence of nicotine use during imprisonment ranged from 5% to 87% with a random-effects pooled estimate of 56% (95% CI: 45, 66) with significant geographical heterogeneity. Alcohol use varied from 1% to 76%. The pooled prevalence was 16% (95% CI: 9, 25). A quarter of the people who are imprisoned (25%, 95% CI: 17, 33; range: 0, 78) used illicit drugs during imprisonment. The prevalence of injection drug use varied from 0% to 26% with a pooled estimate of 1.6% (95% CI: 0.8, 3.0). Secondary analyses investigated lifetime substance use. The high prevalence of smoking in prison suggests that policies around smoking need careful review. Furthermore, the findings underscore the importance of timely, scalable and available treatments for alcohol and illegal drugs in people involved with the criminal justice system

AIDS Res Hum Retroviruses

INTRODUCTION: The population of aging adults living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is growing worldwide and evidence suggests that frailty occurs prematurely among them. In turn, frailty has been associated with cognitive decline. It is unknown, however, if people with both frailty and HIV-infection have higher risk of cognitive impairment compared with non-frail HIV-infected persons. Therefore, the main objective of this study was to determine the association between the phenotype of frailty and HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND) among adults aged 50 years or older living with HIV/AIDS. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 206 adults living with HIV receiving care in a university-affiliated tertiary care hospital in Mexico City. Frailty was defined as per the Fried criteria. The presence of HAND was established according to the Antinori criteria: HIV-associated asymptomatic neurocognitive impairment (ANI), HIV-associated mild neurocognitive disorder (MND), or cognitively non-impaired. Multinomial logistic regression models were used to test the independent association between frailty and HAND adjusting for potential confounders. RESULTS: Mean age of participants was 60.5 +/- 6.3 years and 84.9% were male. Prevalence of HAND and frailty phenotype was 66.0% and 2.9 %, respectively. The unadjusted analysis showed that both prefrail and frail statuses were associated with MND but not with ANI. However, after adjustment, the association with MND remained significant only among prefrail participants and no longer for frail persons (RR = 5.7, 95% CI 1.09 to 29.82; p = .039 and RR = 18.3, 95% CI 0.93 to 362.6; p = .056, respectively). DISCUSSION: Prefrailty is associated with symptomatic neurocognitive disorders in older adults living with HIV. The spectrum of the frailty phenotype in this already vulnerable population should serve as an indicator of concomitant cognitive decline

Horsemeat: Increasing Quality and Nutritional Value

The characteristics of meat obtained from horses and donkeys are discussed in this chapter. Higher nutritional value, particularly the low-fat content, and higher proportion of health-related fatty acids are the main characteristics that support the role of equine meat as potential substitute of bovine meat. The current productive system is considered as main factor to influence equine meat quality

Horsemeat: Increasing Quality and Nutritional Value

The characteristics of meat obtained from horses and donkeys are discussed in this chapter. Higher nutritional value, particularly the low-fat content, and higher proportion of health-related fatty acids are the main characteristics that support the role of equine meat as potential substitute of bovine meat. The current productive system is considered as main factor to influence equine meat quality