SummaryAlbatrosses (Diomedeidae) and large petrels (Macronectes and Procellaria spp.) are among the world’s most rapidly declining birds. Some of the most endangered species, Amsterdam Albatross Diomedea amsterdamensis, Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross Thalassarche carteri and Sooty Albatross Phoebetria fusca, are at risk from recurrent avian cholera outbreaks. Yet little is known about the overall impact of disease in this group. We compiled all available information on pathogens described in albatrosses and large petrel species listed under the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels (ACAP) (n = 31). Available reports (n = 53) comprise nearly 60% of ACAP species (18/31). However, only 38% of them focus on threatened species (20/53), and 43% solely report macroparasite findings (23/53). Black-browed Albatross Thalassarche melanophrys (Near Threatened) and Southern Giant Petrel Macronectes giganteus (Least Concern) are the two species with higher number of publications (29/53, 55% of all papers). Conversely, seven species on the IUCN Red List have three papers or less each. Most existing research has resulted from disease or mortality investigations and baseline studies (28 and 32%, respectively). Pathogens reported in the subset of ACAP species, included bacteria in seven species (39%), viruses in five (28%), protozoa in four (22%), helminths in nine (50%), ectoparasites in 13 (72%) and fungi in one species (5%). Avian cholera, caused by the bacterium Pasteurella multocida, appears as the most severe threat to ACAP species. Infections by poxvirus are the most common viral finding, yet entail lower population level impact. Few serosurveys report pathogen exposure in these species, but add valuable baseline information. There are numerous obvious gaps in species and geographical coverage and likely under-reporting due to remoteness, accessibility and sporadic monitoring. This insufficient knowledge may be hampering effective protection and management of populations at risk. Attention to species currently affected by avian cholera is of utmost priority.

We have set up a rapid assay for measuring the activity of the von Willebrand factor ristocetin cofactor (VWF : RCo) using an automated coagulometer (ACL 9000; Instrumentation Laboratory, Lexington, Massachusetts, USA) and commercially available lyophilized platelet reagents (Dade-Behring, Marburg, Germany). Since VWF : RCo tested with the coagulometer (ACL-VWF : RCo) did not require loading, calculation of von Willebrand factor (VWF) activity or pretreatment of samples (calibration standard and tested plasmas), we thought it might be useful for rapid, automatic screening of VWF activity. To assess the precision and the potency of this ACL-VWF : RCo, we tested the assay in this laboratory's internal normal and abnormal controls, in a group of 67 healthy individuals and in 28 patients with different types of von Willebrand disease (VWD). We compared the ACL-VWF : RCo findings with those of the standard agglutination test (Agg-VWF : RCo), normalizing both assays against VWF antigen (VWF : Ag) measured by 'automatic' and standard enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay 'in-house' methods, to calculate the VWF : RCo/VWF Ag ratios. The within-assay and between-assay repeatability of the automatic ACL-VWF : RCo gave coefficients of variation < 5%, and reproducibility in normal and abnormal laboratory controls gave coefficients of variation of 7.9 and 9.3%, respectively. In VWD patients the results were equivalent to those of the standard Agg-VWF : RCo assay but, because of the good sensitivity, the ACL-VWF : RCo was more accurate in evaluating the VWF : RCo and establishing the VWF : RCo/VWF : Ag ratios in VWD patients with low VWF levels. Moreover, this ACL-VWF : RCo is faster than Agg-VWF : RCo, providing results of calibration curves and of 10 patient samples within 15 min. We can conclude that this automatic ACL-VWF : RCo gives a reliable and useful measure of VWF activity and can be proposed as a screening test for rapid diagnosis of VWD even in patients with low VWF levels in plasma.

The study confirms the role of depression in influencing the immune response in HIV-seropositive subjects and suggests that antiretroviral therapies may not be able to hamper the depression-related NK cell changes even using the most potent regimens such as Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy (HAART).

ObjectivesMaraviroc has been shown to be effective in patients harbouring CCR5-tropic HIV-1. While this CCR5 antagonist has initially been used in salvage therapy, its excellent safety profile makes it ideal for antiretroviral treatment simplification strategies in patients with suppressed plasma viraemia. The aim of this study was to compare HIV-1 tropism as detected in baseline plasma RNA and peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) DNA prior to first-line therapy and to analyse tropism evolution while on successful treatment.MethodsHIV-1 tropism was determined using triplicate genotypic testing combined with geno2pheno[coreceptor] analysis at a 10% false positive rate in 42 patients. Paired pre-treatment plasma RNA and PBMC DNA and two subsequent PBMC DNA samples (the first obtained after reaching undetectable plasma HIV-1 RNA and the second after at least 2 years of suppression of plasma viraemia) were evaluated.ResultsCoreceptor tropism was completely concordant in paired pre-treatment RNA and DNA, with 26.2% of HIV-1 sequences predicted to be non-CCR5-tropic. During follow-up, coreceptor tropism switches were detected in 4 (9.5%) patients without any preferential direction. Although false positive rate discrepancies within triplicates were common, the rate of discordance of coreceptor tropism assignment among triplicate results in this mostly CCR5-tropic dataset was only 2.1%, questioning the added value of triplicate testing compared with single testing.ConclusionsHIV-1 coreceptor tropism changes during virologically successful first-line treatment are infrequent. HIV-1 DNA analysis may thus support the choice of a CCR5 antagonist in treatment switch strategies; however, maraviroc treatment outcome data are required to confirm this option.