PLoS One

Introduction Evidence on childbearing desire and reproductive behaviors in women living with HIV on antiretroviral therapy (ART) is scarce, particularly in West Africa. We investigated the prevalence and associated factors of childbearing desire in HIV-infected women in care in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire and explored whether such desires were translated into behaviors related to contraceptive use and communication with health personnel. Methods A cross-sectional survey was conducted in two HIV-care facilities in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire in 2015. Eligible women were non-pregnant, non-menopausal, aged 18–49 years and diagnosed as HIV-infected. The outcomes were childbearing desire, prevalence of modern contraceptive use, unmet needs for family planning and intention of the last pregnancy since HIV diagnosis. Women wishing to conceive immediately were asked whether they had discussed their desire with HIV healthcare workers. Logistic regression models were used to assess the associations between the outcomes and women’s characteristics. Results Of 1,631 women, 80% declared having childbearing desire. No association was found between women’s childbearing desire and ART status or its duration. In multivariate models, younger age, being in a stable relationship and having no or only one child were significantly associated with increased childbearing desire. Of the women wishing to conceive immediately (n = 713), only 43% reported having had fertility-related dialogue with healthcare provider. Among sexually active women wanting to avoid or delay pregnancy (n = 650), unmet needs for family planning was 40%. Regarding the last pregnancy since HIV diagnosis, one in three women reported not having wanted a baby at that time. Conclusions Pregnancy desire in women living with HIV in Abidjan was extremely high. Integration of safe conception strategies as well as improvement of contraceptive uptake among women in need of family planning are of utmost importance to ensure optimal conception and to avoid transmission of HIV to the male partner or to the forthcoming child

Int J Cancer

As human papillomavirus (HPV) immunisation and HPV-based cervical cancer (CC) screening programmes expand across sub-Saharan Africa, we investigated the potential impact of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) status on high-risk (HR)-HPV distribution among women with CC in Cote d'Ivoire. From July 2018 to June 2020, paraffin-embedded CC specimens diagnosed in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire were systematically collected and tested for HR-HPV DNA. Type-specific HR-HPV prevalence was compared according to HIV status. Of the 170 CC specimens analysed (median age 52 years, interquartile range: [43.0-60.0]), 43 (25.3%) were from women living with HIV (WLHIV) with a median CD4 count of 526 [373-833] cells/mm(3) and 86% were on antiretroviral therapy (ART). The overall HR-HPV prevalence was 89.4% [95% CI: 84.7-94.1]. All were single HR-HPV infections with no differences according to HIV status (P = .8). Among HR-HPV-positive CC specimens, the most prevalent HR-HPV types were HPV16 (57.2%), HPV18 (19.7%), HPV45 (8.6%) and HPV35 (4.6%), with no significant differences according to HIV status. Altogether, infection with HPV16/18 accounted for 71.1% [95% CI: 55.9-86.2] of CC cases in WLHIV vs 78.9% [95% CI: 71.3-86.5] in women without HIV (P = .3). The study confirms the major role of HPV16/18 in CC in Cote d'Ivoire and should support a regional scale-up of HPV16/18 vaccination programmes regardless of HIV status. However, vaccines targeting additional HR-HPV types, including HPV45 and HPV35, could further decrease future CC incidence in Cote d'Ivoire, both for WLHIV and women without HIV

Secondary metabolites from astragalus lycius and their cytotoxic activities

Eight known secondary metabolites were isolated from the methanolic extract of the whole plant of Astragalus lycius Boiss. They were identified as 5,5'-dihydroxy-3'-methoxy-isoflavone-7-O-β-D-glucoside (1), genistin (2), sissotrin (3), 5,4'-dimethoxy-isoflavone-7-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (4), (7S,8R)-5-methoxydehydrodiconiferyl alcohol-4-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (5), 4-O-lariciresinol-glucoside (6), 2-phenylethyl-β-D-glucopyranoside (7) and β-sitosterol-3-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (8) by spectroscopic methods including 1H- and 13C-NMR and HR-MS experiments, and by comparison with literature values. Compounds 1-7 are reported for the first time from Astragalus taxa. All of the compounds were tested for their cytotoxic activities against a number of cancer cell lines. Among them, only 6 exhibited significant activity against human colon carcinoma (HT-29) at 2.69 μM concentration.TUBITAK (109T425); Ege University Research Foundation (2009 Fen 090); EBILTEM (2010/BIL/008

Secondary Metabolites from Astragalus lycius and Their Cytotoxic Activities

WOS: 000390975600018PubMed ID: 30508348Eight known secondary metabolites were isolated from the methanolic extract of the whole plant of Astragalus lycius Boiss. They were identified as 5,5'-dihydroxy-3'-methoxy-isoflavone-7-O-beta-D-glucoside (1), genistin (2), sissotrin (3), 5,4'-dimethoxy-isoflavone-7-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside (4), (7S,8R)-5-methoxydehydrodiconiferyl alcohol-4-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside (5), 4-O-lariciresinol-glucoside (6), 2-phenylethyl-beta-D-glucopyranoside (7) and beta-isitosterol-3-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside (8) by spectroscopic methods including H-1- and C-13-NMR and HR-MS experiments, and by comparison with literature values. Compounds 1-7 are reported for the first time from Astragalus taxa. All of the compounds were tested for their cytotoxic activities against a number of cancer cell lines. Among them, only 6 exhibited significant activity against human colon carcinoma (HT-29) at 2.69 mu M concentration.TUBITAKTurkiye Bilimsel ve Teknolojik Arastirma Kurumu (TUBITAK) [109T425]; Ege University Research FoundationEge University [2009 Fen 090]; EBILTEMEge University [2010/BIL/008]The authors are grateful to TUBITAK (109T425), Ege University Research Foundation (2009 Fen 090) and EBILTEM (2010/BIL/008) for the financial support, and also we are grateful to Dr. Kemal S. Korkmaz for letting us to carry out the cytotoxicity assays in his laboratory (KK Cancer Biology Lab)