Myron S. Cohen

Bio: Myron S. Cohen is an academic researcher from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The author has contributed to research in topics: Population & Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). The author has an hindex of 103, co-authored 549 publications receiving 46021 citations. Previous affiliations of Myron S. Cohen include University of Massachusetts Medical School & Scripps Health.

Granulocyte Function in Patients Receiving Lithium Carbonate

Abstract: Phagocytic cells provide protection against a wide variety of microbial pathogens. A depletion of polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNs) below a critical number (Bodey et al., 1966) and/or abnormality in their cellular function (Quie, 1975) is associated with serious infection. Therefore, agents capable of enhancing phagocyte number and function are of importance. The lithium ion (Li+) induces leukocytosis (Shopsin et al., 1971) and may diminish the neutropenia associated with cancer chemotherapy (Greco and Brereton, 1977; Charron et al., 1977; Stein et al., 1977). While such effects appear desirable, it is equally important that the functions of these phagocytic cells are preserved in their contribution to the host defense system. In this paper we shall report our investigation into the microbicidal ability of neutrophils obtained from patients receiving lithium carbonate (Li2CO3), and the in vitro effects of lithium chloride (LiCl) on several PMN functions.

Variations in HIV Risk by Young Women's Age and Partner Age Disparity in Rural South Africa (HPTN 068).

Abstract: Background Nearly all population-level research showing positive associations between age-disparate partnerships and HIV acquisition among adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) has classified age disparity as ≥5 or ≥10 years. We describe variations in 1-year risk of HIV infection after exposure to sexual partner(s) of continuous age disparities. Methods Longitudinal data from the HPTN 068 randomized trial in South Africa were used to estimate 1-year risk of HIV infection at various age pairings. The parametric g-formula was used to estimate risk at up to 5 annual time points, stratified by maximum partner age difference, maximum partner age, and AGYW age. Results AGYW reported an older partner in 86% of 5351 age pairings. The 1-year risk of HIV infection rapidly increased with maximum partner age difference among girls ages 13-14 years, from 0·01 with a same-age partner, to 0·21 with a partner 10 years older, and 0·24 with a partner 15 years older. A gradual increase occurred among AGYW ages 15-16 years, up to 0·13 with a partner 15 years older, and 0·09 among AGYW 17-18 years with partners 8-11 years older. Risk of HIV infection among AGYW ages 19-21 years remained relatively constant across maximum partner age differences. Conclusions Age differences between AGYW and their sexual partners have a greater effect on HIV-risk infection in younger compared with older AGYW. Considering both the age of an AGYW and her sexual partners provides granular insight into identifying key groups for HIV transmission prevention efforts.

Model-Based Predictions of HIV Incidence Among African Women Using HIV Risk Behaviors and Community-Level Data on Male HIV Prevalence and Viral Suppression.

Abstract: Background Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) with tenofovir disoproxil fumarate and emtricitabine has proven highly effective in preventing HIV acquisition and is therefore offered to all participants in the control group as part of the standard of care package in many new HIV prevention studies. We propose a methodology for predicting HIV incidence in a hypothetical "placebo arm" for open-label studies or clinical trials with active control among African women. We apply the method to an open-label PrEP study, HIV Prevention Trials Network 082, which tested strategies to improve PrEP adherence in young African women all of whom were offered PrEP. Methods Our model predicted HIV infection risk for female study cohorts in sub-Saharan Africa using baseline behavioral risk factors and contemporary HIV prevalence and viral suppression in the local male population. The model was calibrated to HIV incidence in the Vaginal and Oral Interventions to Control the Epidemic study. Results Our model reproduced the annual HIV incidence of 3.2%-4.8% observed over 1 year of follow-up in the placebo groups of 4 completed clinical studies. We predicted an annual HIV incidence of 3.7% (95% confidence interval: 3.2 to 4.2) among HIV Prevention Trials Network 082 participants in the absence of PrEP and other risk reduction interventions. Conclusions We demonstrated the potential of the proposed methodology to provide HIV incidence predictions based on assessment of individual risk behaviors and community and time-specific HIV exposure risk using HIV treatment and viral suppression data. These estimates may serve as comparators in HIV prevention trials without a placebo group.

Recent key advances in human immunodeficiency virus medicine and implications for China

Abstract: In this article we summarize several recent major developments in human immunodeficiency virus treatment, prevention, outcome, and social policy change. Updated international guidelines endorse more aggressive treatment strategies and safer antiretroviral drugs. New antiretroviral options are being tested. Important lessons were learned in the areas of human immunodeficiency virus vaccines and microbicide gels from clinical studies, and additional trials in prevention, especially pre-exposure prophylaxis, are nearing completion. Insight into the role of the virus in the pathogenesis of diseases traditionally thought to be unrelated to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome has become a driving force for earlier and universal therapy. Lastly, we review important achievements of and future challenges facing China as she steps into her eighth year of the National Free Antiretroviral Treatment Program.

Subordinate Effect of -21M HLA-B Dimorphism on NK Cell Repertoire Diversity and Function in HIV-1 Infected Individuals of African Origin.

Abstract: Natural Killer (NK) cells play an important role in antiviral defense and their potent effector function identifies them as key candidates for immunotherapeutic interventions in chronic viral infections. Their remarkable functional agility is achieved by virtue of a wide array of germline-encoded inhibitory and activating receptors ensuring a self-tolerant and tunable repertoire. NK cell diversity is generated by a combination of factors including genetic determinants and infections/environmental factors, which together shape the NK cell pool and functional potential. Recently a genetic polymorphism at position -21 of HLA-B, which influences the supply of HLA-E binding peptides and availability of HLA-E for recognition by the inhibitory NK cell receptor NKG2A, was shown to have a marked influence on NK cell functionality in healthy human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) seronegative Caucasian individuals. In this study, -21 methionine (M)-expressing alleles supplying HLA-E binding peptides were largely poor ligands for inhibitory killer immunoglobulin-like receptors (KIRs), and a bias to NKG2A-mediated education of functionally-potent NK cells was observed. Here, we investigated the effect of this polymorphism on the phenotype and functional capacity of peripheral blood NK cells in a cohort of 36 African individuals with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1)/HCMV co-infection. A similarly profound influence of dimorphism at position -21 of HLA-B on NK cells was not evident in these subjects. They predominantly expressed African specific HLA-B and -C alleles that contribute a distinct supply of NKG2A and KIR ligands, and these genetic differences were compounded by the marked effect of HIV-1/HCMV co-infection on NK cell differentiation. Together, these factors resulted in a lack of correlation of the HLA-B -21 polymorphism with surface abundance of HLA-E and loss of the NK cell functional advantage in subjects with -21M HLA-B alleles. Instead, our data suggest that during HIV/HCMV co-infection exposure of NK cells to an environment that displays altered HLA-E ligands drives adaptive NKG2C+ NK cell expansions influencing effector responses. Increased efforts to understand how NK cells are functionally calibrated to self-HLA during chronic viral infections will pave the way to developing targeted therapeutic interventions to overcome the current barriers to enhancing immune-based antiviral control.

Prevention of HIV-1 Infection with Early Antiretroviral Therapy

Abstract: Background Antiretroviral therapy that reduces viral replication could limit the transmission of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) in serodiscordant couples. Methods In nine countries, we...

Infectious Diseases Society of America/American Thoracic Society Consensus Guidelines on the Management of Community-Acquired Pneumonia in Adults

Abstract: Lionel A. Mandell, Richard G. Wunderink, Antonio Anzueto, John G. Bartlett, G. Douglas Campbell, Nathan C. Dean, Scott F. Dowell, Thomas M. File, Jr. Daniel M. Musher, Michael S. Niederman, Antonio Torres, and Cynthia G. Whitney McMaster University Medical School, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada; Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois; University of Texas Health Science Center and South Texas Veterans Health Care System, San Antonio, and Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center and Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas; Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland; Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine, University of Mississippi School of Medicine, Jackson; Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, LDS Hospital, and University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia; Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine, Rootstown, and Summa Health System, Akron, Ohio; State University of New York at Stony Brook, Stony Brook, and Department of Medicine, Winthrop University Hospital, Mineola, New York; and Cap de Servei de Pneumologia i Allergia Respiratoria, Institut Clinic del Torax, Hospital Clinic de Barcelona, Facultat de Medicina, Universitat de Barcelona, Institut d’Investigacions Biomediques August Pi i Sunyer, CIBER CB06/06/0028, Barcelona, Spain.

Role of free radicals and catalytic metal ions in human disease: an overview.

Abstract: Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the role of free radicals and catalytic metal ions in human disease. The importance of transition metal ions in mediating oxidant damage naturally leads to the question as to what forms of such ions might be available to catalyze radical reactions in vivo . The chapter discusses the metabolism of transition metals, such as iron and copper. It also discusses the chelation therapy that is an approach to site-specific antioxidant protection. The detection and measurement of lipid peroxidation is the evidence most frequently cited to support the involvement of free radical reactions in toxicology and in human disease. A wide range of techniques is available to measure the rate of this process, but none is applicable to all circumstances. The two most popular are the measurement of diene conjugation and the thiobarbituric acid (TBA) test, but they are both subject to pitfalls, especially when applied to human samples. The chapter also discusses the essential principles of the peroxidation process. When discussing lipid peroxidation, it is essential to use clear terminology for the sequence of events involved; an imprecise use of terms such as initiation has caused considerable confusion in the literature. In a completely peroxide-free lipid system, first chain initiation of a peroxidation sequence in a membrane or polyunsaturated fatty acid refers to the attack of any species that has sufficient reactivity to abstract a hydrogen atom from a methylene group.

Regression Diagnostics: Identifying Influential Data and Sources of Collinearity

Abstract: 1. Introduction and Overview. 2. Detecting Influential Observations and Outliers. 3. Detecting and Assessing Collinearity. 4. Applications and Remedies. 5. Research Issues and Directions for Extensions. Bibliography. Author Index. Subject Index.

Sexually transmitted diseases treatment guidelines.

Abstract: The MMWR series of publications is published by the Office of Surveillance, Epidemiology, and Laboratory Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Atlanta, GA 30333.