Depression in HIV-Infected Compared to Their Seronegative Partners in Serodiscordant Couples in Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso)

Introduction: Depression is common in HIV/AIDS. We aim to investigate the frequency and the grade of this mental disorder in partners and determine its influence on sexual dysfunctions in serodiscordant couples in Ouagadougou. Patients/Method: This cross-sectional study was monitored from 1 January to 31 June 2010 in the internal medicine department of CHUYO, Ouagadougou. HIV-infected patients and their seronegative partners who gave their consent were included. Depression was diagnosed using the Beck Depression Inventory 13 items (BDI-13). Results: Eighty heterosexual and monogamous serodiscordant couples were studied. 31 (38.7%) HIV-infected and 23 (28.7%) seronegative partners were affected by depression;p = 0.18. The score of depression was 3.5 ± 2.1 in HIV-infected and 3.3 ± 1.6 in seronegative partners;p = 0.85. Depression was diagnosed in both partners in 13 couples (16.2%) and in only one partner in 28 couples (35%). Depression was diagnosed at least for one partner in 40 (51.3%) couples where sexual dysfunctions affected partner (s) and in 1 (50%) couple where no sexual dysfunction was reported. Conclusion: Psychological assessment is needed for a better management of HIV/AIDS in serodiscordant couples.

Heterosexual transmission of HIV and related risk factors among serodiscordant couples in Henan province, China

Background HIV transmission between discordant couples has become an important source of new infections in China.To describe the seroconversion rate among serodiscordant couples and to identify salient behavioral and clinical risk factors including ART that affect heterosexual HIV transmission risk among couples in rural China.Methods Longitudinal follow-up of an open cohort of HIV serodiscordant couples took place between 2007 and 2011 in Zhumadian,a city in southern Henan province in China,where blood plasma selling in 1990s led to a regional HIV epidemic.Annual follow-up included separate face-to-face interviews of husbands and wives,and HIV antibody testing for non-index partners.Cox proportional-hazard modeling was used to assess the relationship between HIV seroconversion and covariates of interest.Results By the end of 2011,4499 HIV serodiscordant couples had been enrolled in at least two follow-up interviews; 100 non-index partners seroconverted during the entire observation period for an incidence rate of 0.82 per 100 person-years （95% CI：0.66-0.99）.The incidence rates by the end of 2008,2009,and 2010 were 2.14,1.51,and 0.90 per 100 personyears respectively.Always using condoms in the past year of sex,gender of the index partner,frequency of sex,and ART exposure were all significant predictors of HIV seroconversion in the negative spouse.ART was highly protective against seroconversion whether the index partner was actively receiving treatment at the last follow-up （RR=0.05,95% CI,0.01-0.16） or if the index partner had ever received ART （RR=0.01,95% CI,0.00,0.12）.The risk of seroconversion in the nonindex spouse also decreased the longer the duration of the index partner＇s exposure to ART.Conclusions ART exposure and always using condom were highly protective against HIV semconversion in the negative spouse.HIV incidence in serodiscordant couples has been decreasing over time,associated with ART treatment time within 7 years in the index partner.Gender of the index spouse and frequency of sex were also important predictors.Treatment as part of a combination prevention package may be a feasible method of HIV control in this population.

Clinical efficacy of a combination of Percoll continuous density gradient and swim-up techniques for semen processing in HIV-1 serodiscordant couples

To evaluate the clinical efficacy of a procedure comprising a combination of Percoll continuous density gradient and modified swim-up techniques for the removal of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 （HIV-1） from the semen of HIV-1 infected males, a total of 129 couples with an HIV-1 positive male partner and an HIV-1 negative female partner （serodiscordant couples） who were treated at Keio University Hospital between January 2002 and April 2012 were examined. A total of 183 ejaculates from 129 HIV-1 infected males were processed. After swim-up, we successfully collected motile sperms at a recovery rate as high as 100.0% in cases of normozoospermia （126/126 ejaculates）, oligozoospermia （6/6）, and asthenozoospermia （36/36）. The recovery rate of oligoasthenozoospermia was 86.7% （13/15）. In processed semen only four ejaculates （4/181：2.2%） showed viral nucleotide sequences consistent with those in the blood of the infected males. After using these sperms, no horizontal infections of the female patients and no vertical infections of the newborns were observed. Furthermore, no obvious adverse effects were observed in the offspring. This protocol allowed us to collect HIV-1 negative motile sperms at a high rate, even in male factor cases. We concluded that our protocol is clinically effective both for decreasing HIV-1 infections and for yielding a healthy child.