The study supports the hypothesis that an infectious factor related to sexual behaviour could be involved in the occurrence of prostate cancer. A role for hormonal factors related to sexual activity cannot be ruled out.

No abstract

Bluetongue virus (BTV) and African horse sickness virus (AHSV) are vector-borne viruses belonging to the Orbivirus genus, which are transmitted between hosts primarily by biting midges of the genus Culicoides. With recent BTV and AHSV outbreaks causing epidemics and important economy losses, there is a pressing need for efficacious drugs to treat and control the spread of these infections. The polyanionic aromatic compound aurintricarboxylic acid (ATA) has been shown to have a broad-spectrum antiviral activity. Here, we evaluated ATA as a potential antiviral compound against Orbivirus infections in both mammalian and insect cells. Notably, ATA was able to prevent the replication of BTV and AHSV in both cell types in a time- and concentration-dependent manner. In addition, we evaluated the effect of ATA in vivo using a mouse model of infection. ATA did not protect mice against a lethal challenge with BTV or AHSV, most probably due to the in vivo effect of ATA on immune system regulation. Overall, these results demonstrate that ATA has inhibitory activity against Orbivirus replication in vitro, but further in vivo analysis will be required before considering it as a potential therapy for future clinical evaluation.

Cardiovascular disease is the main cause of death in Cuba, yet the prevalence of novel risk factors is not known. To examine the prevalence of risk factors of traditional and novel cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) among an urban Cuban population, a cross-sectional pilot survey was undertaken in Havana city, Cuba. Ninety-seven adults aged 45-60 years registered to receive medical care at a policlinic. The prevalences of rates of CVD risk factors were: hypertension (≥140/90 mmHg) (53.6%), hypercholesterolaemia (total cholesterol >5.2 mmol/L) (47.0%), low high-density lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterol (<1.03 mmol/L) (64.3%); diabetes (self-reported) (24.6%); metabolic syndrome (ATP III criteria) (58.2%); overweight and obesity (body mass index ≥25 kg/m2) (78.0%); current smoking (39.3%); elevated level of C-reactive protein (3 15 μmol/L) (11.1%). The total carotenoid status was independently associa-ted with waist-circumference and risk of diabetes and metabolic syndrome. In this small unrepresentative sample of people aged 40-65 years from Havana city, there was a high prevalence of traditional and novel CVD risk factors. The total serum carotenoid status appeared to be associated with an increased prevalence of CVD risk factors.

The COVID-19 pandemic and associated lockdown measures have been associated with substantial disruptions to health care services, including screening for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and management of people living with HIV (PLWH). Methods: Data from 3265 patients were examined in a retrospective cohort study. We compared outpatient follow-up for PLWH, the number of new patients, treatment adherence, hospitalizations, and deaths during the “pandemic period” (March 2020 to February 2021) to the “pre-pandemic period” (the equivalent timeframe in 2019) and the “post-pandemic period” (March to September 2021). Results: During the pandemic period, the number of new patients seen at the HIV clinic (116), as well as the requested viral load tests (2414), decreased significantly compared to the pre-pandemic (204 and 2831, respectively) and post-pandemic periods (146 and 2640, respectively)(p&lt;0.01 for all the comparisons). However, across the three study periods, the number of drug refills (1385, 1330, 1411, respectively), the number of patients with undetectable viral loads (85%, 90%, 93%, respectively), and the number of hospital admissions among PLWH remained constant. Conclusions: Despite the COVID-19 pandemic impact, our findings show stability in the retention of clinical care, adherence to treatment, and viral suppression of PLWH, with no significant impact on hospitalization rates and all-cause mortality.