Bacteria associated with periodontal disease are also increased in health.

BACKGROUND: The objective of this cross-sectional clinical study was to analyze the differences in the microbiome in gingival sulci of adult patients in the presence or absence of chronic periodontitis. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Patients with or without periodontal disease were included in this cross-sectional study. Subgingival biofilm samples were collected and analyzed by 16S massive pyrosequencing. Functional analyses were also performed. RESULTS: A total of 15 phyla, 154 genera and 351 species were detected globally. Differences between disease and non-disease samples were observed in all taxonomical levels which suggest functional profile changes in the community. It was found that the main species associated with non-disease samples were reduced in disease but not completely suppressed. Analysis of the functional potential of the biofilms revealed a significantly higher activity related to endocytosis and phosphatidylinositol signaling in the disease group but lower cell adhesion molecules. CONCLUSIONS: Specific differences between health and disease suggest functional profile changes in the community, although bacteria associated with periodontal disease are also increased in health. Transcriptome studies should be conducted to confirm and deepen metabolic dysfunctions.

Continued propagation of the CRF19_cpx variant among HIV-positive MSM patients in Spain.

Objectives: The HIV-1 CRF19_cpx genetic form has been recently associated with greater pathogenicity. We used CoRIS, a national cohort of 31 reference hospitals in Spain, to investigate the current epidemiological situation of this variant in Spain. Patients and methods: We analysed 4734 naive HIV-1-positive patients diagnosed during the 2007-15 period with an available pol gene sequence in the CoRIS resistance database. HIV-1 CRF19_cpx was ascribed through REGA3.0 and confirmed by a phylogenetic analysis. We analysed the presence of the transmission clusters of HIV-1 CRF19_cpx by maximum likelihood [with the randomized accelerated maximum likelihood (RAxML) program] and the time to the most recent common ancestor using Bayesian inference (BEAST, v. 1.7.5). Results: Nineteen patients were infected with CRF19_cpx: all were male, they had a mean age of 42.9 years (95% CI: 36.4-52.5 years), the majority were MSM [n = 18 (95%)] and of Spanish nationality [n = 16 (84.2%)] and they had high CD4+ T cell counts (∼415 cells/mm3). Fifteen patients were grouped into four different transmission clusters: two clusters (two patients each) grouped the patients from Valencia and another cluster grouped one patient from Madrid and another from Seville. We found a larger cluster that grouped nine patients from southern Spain (Malaga and Seville), of which six presented mutation G190A. We estimated the origin of all the transmission clusters to take place between 2009 and 2010. Conclusions: We demonstrate that this variant has spread in Spain in recent years among young HIV-positive MSM and we note a recent expansion in southern Spain in patients who carry mutation G190A. We alert healthcare managers to enhance preventive measures to prevent the continuous spread of HIV-1 CRF19_cpx.

The cobas® HCV GT is a new tool that accurately identifies Hepatitis C virus genotypes for clinical practice.

OBJECTIVE: We aimed to evaluate the correct assignment of HCV genotype/subtypes 1a and 1b by cobas® HCV genotyping (GT) assay (Roche Molecular Diagnostics) compared with nonstructural protein 5B (NS5B) sequencing. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Clinical samples from 153 patients submitted for HCV genotyping were studied. After genotyping with the cobas® HCV GT, sequencing of a 387 bp fragment in the NS5B gene and phylogenetic analysis was employed to compare genotyping results. Major discrepancies were defined as differences in the assigned genotype by cobas® HCV GT and NS5B sequencing (including genotype 1 subtypes 1a and 1b misclassification). RESULTS: Overall agreement between the cobas® HCV GT and NS5B sequencing was 98%; all the 1a, 1b, 2, 3 and 4 genotypes identified by cobas® HCV GT were concordant with NS5B sequencing. Three samples tested "indetermined" by cobas® HCV GT assay and were genotyped as 1a, 3a, and 4d by NS5B sequencing. CONCLUSSION: These results indicate that the cobas® HCV GT assay correctly identifies HCV genotypes, and points out the importance of additional methods based on DNA sequencing for resolving indeterminate results.