High Diazotrophic Diversity but Low N2 Fixation Activity in the Northern Benguela Upwelling System Confirming the Enigma of Nitrogen Fixation in Oxygen Minimum Zone Waters

Oxygen minimum zones (OMZs) have been suggested as a suitable niche for the oxygen-sensitive process of biological fixation of dinitrogen (N2) gas. However, most N2 fixation rates reported from such waters are low. This low N2 fixation activity has been proposed to result from the unusual community of N2 fixers, in which cyanobacteria were typically underrepresented. The Northern Benguela Upwelling System (North BUS) is part of one of the most productive marine ecosystems and hosts a well-developed OMZ. Although previous observations indicated low to absent N2 fixation rates, the community composition of diazotrophs needed to understand the North BUS has not been described. Here, we present a first detailed analysis of the diazotrophic diversity in the North BUS OMZ and the Angola tropical zone (ATZ), based on genetic data and isotope speciation. Consistent with a previous study, we detected a slight N deficit in the OMZ, but isotope data did not indicate any active or past N2 fixation. The diazotroph community in the North BUS was dominated by non-cyanobacterial microbes clustering with members of gamma-proteobacteria, as is typical for other OMZ regions. However, we found a strikingly high diversity of Cluster III diazotrophs not yet described in other OMZs. In contrast to previous observations, we could also identify cyanobacteria of the clades Trichodesmium sp., UCYN-A and Cyanothece sp., in surface waters connected to or above the OMZ, which were potentially active as shown by the presence of genes and transcripts of the key functional marker gene for N2 fixation, nifH. While the detection of diazotrophs and the absence of active N2 fixation (based on isotopic speciation) are consistent with other OMZ observations, the detected regional variation in the diversity and presence of cyanobacteria indicate that we still are far from understanding the role of diazotrophs in OMZs, which, however, is relevant for understanding the N cycle in OMZ waters, as well for predicting the future development of OMZ biogeochemistry in a changing ocean

COVID-19 in hospitalized HIV-positive and HIV-negative patients : A matched study

CatedresObjectives: We compared the characteristics and clinical outcomes of hospitalized individuals with COVID-19 with [people with HIV (PWH)] and without (non-PWH) HIV co-infection in Spain during the first wave of the pandemic. Methods: This was a retrospective matched cohort study. People with HIV were identified by reviewing clinical records and laboratory registries of 10 922 patients in active-follow-up within the Spanish HIV Research Network (CoRIS) up to 30 June 2020. Each hospitalized PWH was matched with five non-PWH of the same age and sex randomly selected from COVID-19@Spain, a multicentre cohort of 4035 patients hospitalized with confirmed COVID-19. The main outcome was all-cause in-hospital mortality. Results: Forty-five PWH with PCR-confirmed COVID-19 were identified in CoRIS, 21 of whom were hospitalized. A total of 105 age/sex-matched controls were selected from the COVID-19@Spain cohort. The median age in both groups was 53 (Q1-Q3, 46-56) years, and 90.5% were men. In PWH, 19.1% were injecting drug users, 95.2% were on antiretroviral therapy, 94.4% had HIV-RNA < 50 copies/mL, and the median (Q1-Q3) CD4 count was 595 (349-798) cells/μL. No statistically significant differences were found between PWH and non-PWH in number of comorbidities, presenting signs and symptoms, laboratory parameters, radiology findings and severity scores on admission. Corticosteroids were administered to 33.3% and 27.4% of PWH and non-PWH, respectively (P = 0.580). Deaths during admission were documented in two (9.5%) PWH and 12 (11.4%) non-PWH (P = 0.800). Conclusions: Our findings suggest that well-controlled HIV infection does not modify the clinical presentation or worsen clinical outcomes of COVID-19 hospitalization

How do women living with HIV experience menopause? Menopausal symptoms, anxiety and depression according to reproductive age in a multicenter cohort

CatedresBackground: To estimate the prevalence and severity of menopausal symptoms and anxiety/depression and to assess the differences according to menopausal status among women living with HIV aged 45-60 years from the cohort of Spanish HIV/AIDS Research Network (CoRIS). Methods: Women were interviewed by phone between September 2017 and December 2018 to determine whether they had experienced menopausal symptoms and anxiety/depression. The Menopause Rating Scale was used to evaluate the prevalence and severity of symptoms related to menopause in three subscales: somatic, psychologic and urogenital; and the 4-item Patient Health Questionnaire was used for anxiety/depression. Logistic regression models were used to estimate odds ratios (ORs) of association between menopausal status, and other potential risk factors, the presence and severity of somatic, psychological and urogenital symptoms and of anxiety/depression. Results: Of 251 women included, 137 (54.6%) were post-, 70 (27.9%) peri- and 44 (17.5%) pre-menopausal, respectively. Median age of onset menopause was 48 years (IQR 45-50). The proportions of pre-, peri- and post-menopausal women who had experienced any menopausal symptoms were 45.5%, 60.0% and 66.4%, respectively. Both peri- and post-menopause were associated with a higher likelihood of having somatic symptoms (aOR 3.01; 95% CI 1.38-6.55 and 2.63; 1.44-4.81, respectively), while post-menopause increased the likelihood of having psychological (2.16; 1.13-4.14) and urogenital symptoms (2.54; 1.42-4.85). By other hand, post-menopausal women had a statistically significant five-fold increase in the likelihood of presenting severe urogenital symptoms than pre-menopausal women (4.90; 1.74-13.84). No significant differences by menopausal status were found for anxiety/depression. Joint/muscle problems, exhaustion and sleeping disorders were the most commonly reported symptoms among all women. Differences in the prevalences of vaginal dryness (p = 0.002), joint/muscle complaints (p = 0.032), and sweating/flush (p = 0.032) were found among the three groups. Conclusions: Women living with HIV experienced a wide variety of menopausal symptoms, some of them initiated before women had any menstrual irregularity. We found a higher likelihood of somatic symptoms in peri- and post-menopausal women, while a higher likelihood of psychological and urogenital symptoms was found in post-menopausal women. Most somatic symptoms were of low or moderate severity, probably due to the good clinical and immunological situation of these women