Establishment of a novel CCR5 and CXCR4 expressing CD4(+ )cell line which is highly sensitive to HIV and suitable for high-throughput evaluation of CCR5 and CXCR4 antagonists

BACKGROUND: CCR5 and CXCR4 are the two main coreceptors essential for HIV entry. Therefore, these chemokine receptors have become important targets in the search for anti-HIV agents. Here, we describe the establishment of a novel CD4(+ )cell line, U87.CD4.CCR5.CXCR4, stably expressing both CCR5 and CXCR4 at the cell surface. RESULTS: In these cells, intracellular calcium signalling through both receptors can be measured in a single experiment upon the sequential addition of CXCR4- and CCR5-directed chemokines. The U87.CD4.CCR5.CXCR4 cell line reliably supported HIV-1 infection of diverse laboratory-adapted strains and primary isolates with varying coreceptor usage (R5, X4 and R5/X4) and allows to investigate the antiviral efficacy of combined CCR5 and CXCR4 blockade. The antiviral effects recorded in these cells with the CCR5 antagonist SCH-C and the CXCR4 antagonist AMD3100 were similar to those noted in the single CCR5- or CXCR4-transfected U87.CD4 cells. Furthermore, the combination of both inhibitors blocked the infection of all evaluated HIV-1 strains and isolates. CONCLUSIONS: Thus, the U87.CD4.CCR5.CXCR4 cell line should be useful in the evaluation of CCR5 and CXCR4 antagonists with therapeutic potential and combinations thereof

Swing:Een kwalitatief onderzoek naar seksuele gezondheid bij swingers

Swingen is een alternatieve relatievorm waarbij partners seksuele contacten hebben met derde partners. Met als doel een aanbod voor counseling en -testing op maat te ontwikkelen voor swingers, peilden we naar verschillende aspecten van hun seksleven. We interviewden veertig mannelijke en vrouwelijke swingers van verschillende leeftijden en met gevarieerde gewoontes van swingen (privéfeestjes en horecagelegenheden). Tijdens de interviews peilden we naar preventieve strategieën voor hiv en seksueel overdraagbare aandoeningen (soa’s), hun hiv/soa testgedrag, hun seksuele grenzen en seksuele tevredenheid. Verschillende swingers ervaren een maatschappelijk taboe op swingen. Desondanks bleken ze toch bereid om dit taboe te doorbreken en met een interview in te stemmen. De meeste swingers vinden het belangrijk om hun specifieke situatie (met mogelijke risico’s voor seksuele gezondheid) met gezondheidsprofessionals (huisarts, psycholoog of seksuoloog) en niet-professionals (familie en vrienden) te bespreken. Als maatregelen om zichzelf (en anderen) te beschermen tegen soa’s noemen de meeste geïnterviewde swingers het gebruik van een condoom en soa-testen. Seksuele grenzen worden erg verschillend gepresenteerd. Sommigen bewaken strikt hun grenzen, anderen zoeken deze net op om ze te kunnen verleggen. Over het algemeen zijn de geïnterviewde swingers tevreden over hun seksleven. Ze voelen zich gewapend om op een open manier seksualiteit met hun partner te bespreken, wat bijdraagt aan hun tevredenheid

Does the bilingual advantage in cognitive control exist and if so, what are its modulating factors? A systematic review

Recently, doubts were raised about the existence of the bilingual advantage in cognitive control. The aim of the present review was to investigate the bilingual advantage and its modulating factors. We searched the Medline, ScienceDirect, Scopus, and ERIC databases for all original data and reviewed studies on bilingualism and cognitive control, with a cut-off date of 31 October 2018, thereby following the guidelines of the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analysis (PRISMA) protocol. The results of the 46 original studies show that indeed, the majority, 54.3%, reported beneficial effects of bilingualism on cognitive control tasks; however, 28.3% found mixed results and 17.4% found evidence against its existence. Methodological differences seem to explain these mixed results: Particularly, the varying selection of the bilingual participants, the use of nonstandardized tests, and the fact that individual differences were often neglected and that longitudinal designs were rare. Therefore, a serious risk for bias exists in both directions (i.e., in favor of and against the bilingual advantage). To conclude, we found some evidence for a bilingual advantage in cognitive control; however, if significant progress is to be made, better study designs, bigger data, and more longitudinal studies are needed

A systematic review on the possible relationship between bilingualism, cognitive decline, and the onset of dementia

A systematic review was conducted to investigate whether bilingualism has a protective effect against cognitive decline in aging and can protect against dementia. We searched the Medline, ScienceDirect, Scopus, and ERIC databases with a cut-off date of 31 March 2019, thereby following the guidelines of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis (PRISMA) protocol. Our search resulted in 34 eligible studies. Mixed results were found with respect to the protective effect of bilingualism against cognitive decline. Several studies showed a protective effect whereas other studies failed to find it. Moreover, evidence for a delay of the onset of dementia of between 4 and 5.5 years in bilingual individuals compared to monolinguals was found in several studies, but not in all. Methodological differences in the set-up of the studies seem to explain these mixed results. Lifelong bilingualism is a complex individual process, and many factors seem to influence this and need to be further investigated. This can be best achieved through large longitudinal studies with objective behavioral and neuroimaging measurements. In conclusion, although some evidence was found for a cognitive reserve-enhancing effect of lifelong bilingualism and protection against dementia, to date, no firm conclusions can be drawn

Zoom ins: Cindy Wright and Katrien Vermeire

Centrum voor Logica, filosofie van de wetenschappen en taalfilosofie (OE) Kunstwetenschap (OE)status: publishe

Zoom ins: het werk van Cindy Wright en Katrien Vermeire: een dubbelinterview

status: publishe