Relationship of ethnicity and CD4 Count with glucose metabolism among HIV patients on Highly-Active Antiretroviral Therapy (HAART)

BACKGROUND: HIV patients on HAART are prone to metabolic abnormalities, including insulin resistance, lipodystrophy and diabetes. This study purports to investigate the relationship of ethnicity and CD4+ T cell count attained after stable highly-active antiretroviral treatment (HAART) with glucose metabolism in hyperrtriglyceridemic HIV patients without a history of diabetes. METHODS: Demographic, anthropometric, clinical, endocrinologic, energy expenditure and metabolic measures were obtained in 199 multiethnic, healthy but hypertriglyceridemic HIV-infected patients [46% Hispanic, 17% African-American, 37% Non-Hispanic White (NHW)] on stable HAART without a history of diabetes. The relationship of glucose and insulin responses to ethnicity, CD4 strata (low (<300/cc) or moderate-to-high (≥ 300/cc)), and their interaction was determined. RESULTS: African-Americans had significantly greater impairment of glucose tolerance (P < 0.05) and HbA1c levels (P < .001) than either Hispanics or NHWs. In multivariate models, after adjusting for confounders (age, sex, HIV/HAART duration, smoking, obesity, glucose, insulin and lipids), African-Americans and Hispanics had significantly higher HbA1c and 2-hour glucose levels than NHW’s. Demonstrating a significant interaction between ethnicity and CD4 count (P = 0.023), African Americans with CD4 <300/cc and Hispanics with CD4 ≥300/cc had the most impaired glucose response following oral glucose challenge. CONCLUSIONS: Among hypertriglyceridemic HIV patients on HAART, African-Americans and Hispanics are at increased risk of developing diabetes. Ethnicity also interacts with CD4+ T cell count attained on stable HAART to affect post-challenge glycemic response

Use of Agro-Industrial Waste in the Removal of Phenanthrene and Pyrene by Microbial Consortia in Soil

The addition of co-substrates as adjuvants to the bioremediation process enables almost complete removal of the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) in the soil. The aim of this work was to associate biostimulation and bioaugmentation, represented respectively by the addition of residues from the processing of three oilseeds, and by the addition of consortia formed by Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Burkholderia cepacia strains, in the removal of phenanthrene and pyrene from a soil contaminated by a lubricating oil mixture containing approximately 50 mg/kg PAH. Three consortia were prepared from antimicrobial activity tests and each was stimulated with cotton, peanut or sesame cakes (20 and 40 mg/kg). The biodegradation tests were carried out on polyethylene reactors filled with 200 g of sandy soil. After 60 days incubation at room temperature, between 65 and 80% of the phenanthrene and pyrene was removed with preferential degradation of the three consortia by pyrene. In all cases, the most successful condition was obtained when the cake contents were added, independent of amount of contaminant content (40 or 80 mL/kg), emphasizing the importance of the use of co-substrate and reuse of agro-industrial wastes in bioremediation. Phytotoxicity assays demonstrated that Zea mays was the best indicator of soil fertility after treatment. © 2017, Springer Science+Business Media B.V