Characteristics of men who have casual sex with men among Chinese university students: A cross-sectional study

OBJECTIVES

The characteristics of men who have sex with men (either exclusively or with both men and women; MSM) who engaged in casual sex among Chinese male university students have not been compared with the characteristics of men who have sex with only women (MSW). This information is important for tailoring targeted behavioral interventions to prevent human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/sexually transmitted infection (STI) transmission in this subgroup of MSM.

METHODS

Data were derived from a large cross-sectional electronic questionnaire survey conducted at 13 universities in Zhejiang Province, China, in 2018. Bivariate analyses were used to compare demographic, HIV-related psychosocial, and behavioral characteristics between MSM and MSW students who engaged in casual sex during the previous year. Proportion differences between the two groups and their 95% confidence intervals were analyzed.

RESULTS

Among the 583 sexually active male students who engaged in casual sex during the previous year, 128 and 455 were MSM and MSW, respectively. Compared with MSW students, larger proportions of MSM students reported knowing that male-to-male sexual behavior was the main mode of HIV transmission among Chinese students (62.5% vs. 45.5%), consenting to commercial sex (67.2% vs. 53.4%), wanting to know the HIV serostatus of partners before casual sex (65.8% vs. 51.3%), feeling at risk of HIV infection (40.5% vs. 11.8%), high condom-decision scale scores (55.3% vs. 42.6%), engaging in sex with ≥ 5 casual sex partners (44.6% vs. 25.9%), searching for casual partners online (89.2% vs. 51.3%), consuming alcohol before casual sex (64.8% vs. 45.0%), engaging in sex with regular partners (83.1% vs. 67.0%), engaging in commercial sex (54.2% vs. 26.4%), and visiting a clinic for voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) (16.4% vs. 8.4%). However, compared with MSW students, smaller proportions of MSM students reported knowing that consistent condom use could prevent HIV transmission (80.5% vs. 95.2%) and that VCT should be actively sought after risky sexual behavior (78.9% vs. 93.8%), using condoms sometimes/often (26.4% vs. 44.3%), and consistently using condoms (28.9% vs. 40.1%) while engaging in sex with casual partners.

CONCLUSIONS

MSM students who engaged in casual sex were at a greater risk of HIV/STI transmission, compared with MSW students. Comprehensive interventions to address the risks of unprotected male-to-male sex, searching for casual sex partners online, and non-use of HIV testing services are needed to reduce the burden of HIV/STI transmission among this subgroup of MSM.

Novel phenotypes of coronavirus disease: a temperature-based trajectory model

BACKGROUND

Coronavirus disease has heterogeneous clinical features; however, the reasons for the heterogeneity are poorly understood. This study aimed to identify clinical phenotypes according to patients' temperature trajectory.

METHOD

A retrospective review was conducted in five tertiary hospitals in Hubei Province from November 2019 to March 2020. We explored potential temperature-based trajectory phenotypes and assessed patients' clinical outcomes, inflammatory response, and response to immunotherapy according to phenotypes.

RESULTS

A total of 1580 patients were included. Four temperature-based trajectory phenotypes were identified: normothermic (Phenotype 1); fever, rapid defervescence (Phenotype 2); gradual fever onset (Phenotype 3); and fever, slow defervescence (Phenotype 4). Compared with Phenotypes 1 and 2, Phenotypes 3 and 4 had a significantly higher C-reactive protein level and neutrophil count and a significantly lower lymphocyte count. After adjusting for confounders, Phenotypes 3 and 4 had higher in-hospital mortality (adjusted odds ratio and 95% confidence interval 2.1, 1.1-4.0; and 3.3, 1.4-8.2, respectively), while Phenotype 2 had similar mortality, compared with Phenotype 1. Corticosteroid use was associated with significantly higher in-hospital mortality in Phenotypes 1 and 2, but not in Phenotypes 3 or 4 (p for interaction < 0.01). A similar trend was observed for gamma-globulin.

CONCLUSIONS

Patients with different temperature-trajectory phenotypes had different inflammatory responses, clinical outcomes, and responses to corticosteroid therapy.

Bioinspired Synthesis of Ce1-x O2:x%Cu2+ Nanobelts for CO Oxidation and Organic Dye Degradation

Ce_1-x O₂:x%Cu²⁺ nanobelts were bioinspired, designed, and fabricated using commercial filter papers as scaffolds by adding Cu(NO₃)₂ in the original sol solution of CeO₂ nanobelts, which display excellent catalyst properties for CO oxidation and photocatalytic activity for organic dyes. Compared with pure CeO₂, CuO belts were synthesized using the same method and the corresponding Ce_0.5O₂:50%Cu²⁺ bulk materials were synthesized without filter paper as scaffolds; the synthesized Ce_1-x O₂:x%Cu²⁺ nanobelts, especially Ce_0.5O₂:50%Cu²⁺ nanobelts, can decrease the reaction temperature of CO to CO₂ at 100 °C with the conversion rate of 100%, much lower than the formerly reported kinds of Ce_1-x O₂:x%Cu²⁺ catalysts. Meanwhile, the synthesized Ce_1-x O₂:x%Cu²⁺ nanobelts also display better photocatalytic activity for organic dyes. All of these results provide useful information for the potential applications of the synthesized Ce_1-x O₂:x%Cu²⁺ nanobelts in catalyst fields.

Upregulation of Fecal Epithelial Heparanase mRNA Is Associated with Increased Ulcerative Colitis Activity and Cancerization Risk

BACKGROUND

Heparanase (HPSE) is considered to play an important role in the occurrence, development and carcinogenesis of ulcerative colitis (UC). There are no reports about the detection of HPSE mRNA in feces to predict UC activity and cancerization risk.

AIMS

To explore the feasibility and effectiveness of fecal epithelial HPSE mRNA in monitoring patients' UC activity and predicting cancer risk.

METHODS

The clinical part of the study enrolled 20 patients with UC and 20 controls. Meanwhile, a UC-induced carcinogenesis mouse model was established using a combination treatment of dimethylhydrazine and dextran sulfate sodium. Tissue expression of HPSE protein was detected by immunohistochemistry. RT-qPCR was used to detect the expression of HPSE mRNA in colonic mucosa and feces.

RESULTS

In the human study, the relative expressions of HPSE mRNA in colonic mucosa and feces were positively correlated with the Mayo score (P < 0.05), and with a significant correlation between feces and colonic mucosa (P < 0.05). In the mouse model, the relative expressions of HPSE mRNA in colonic mucosa and feces in the ulcerative colitis-associated colorectal cancer group was significantly higher than that of the UC group and the normal control group (P < 0.05), and with a significant correlation between feces and colonic mucosa (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

The relative level of HPSE mRNA was positively correlated with UC activity and cancerization. The relative level of HPSE mRNA in feces was correlated with that in colonic mucosa. The detection of HPSE mRNA in feces can be used as a new marker for disease monitoring and cancer risk prediction of UC.

Uremic toxin indoxyl sulfate promotes proinflammatory macrophage activation by regulation of β-catenin and YAP pathways

Evidence has been shown that indoxyl sulfate (IS) could impair kidney and cardiac functions. Moreover, macrophage polarization played important roles in chronic kidney disease and cardiovascular disease. IS acts as a nephron-vascular toxin, whereas its effect on macrophage polarization during inflammation is still not fully elucidated. In this study, we aimed to investigate the effect of IS on macrophage polarization during lipopolysaccharide (LPS) challenge. THP-1 monocytes were incubated with phorbol 12-myristate-13-acetate (PMA) to differentiate into macrophages, and then incubated with LPS and IS for 24 h. ELISA was used to detect the levels of TNFα, IL-6, IL-1β in THP-1-derived macrophages. Western blot assay was used to detect the levels of arginase1 and iNOS in THP-1-derived macrophages. Percentages of HLA-DR-positive cells (M1 macrophages) and CD206-positive cells (M2 macrophages) were detected by flow cytometry. IS markedly increased the production of the pro-inflammatory factors TNFα, IL-6, IL-1β in LPS-stimulated THP-1-derived macrophages. In addition, IS induced M1 macrophage polarization in response to LPS, as evidenced by the increased expression of iNOS and the increased proportion of HLA-DR+ macrophages. Moreover, IS downregulated the level of β-catenin, and upregulated the level of YAP in LPS-stimulated macrophages. Activating β-catenin signaling or inhibiting YAP signaling suppressed the IS-induced inflammatory response in LPS-stimulated macrophages by inhibiting M1 polarization. IS induced M1 macrophage polarization in LPS-stimulated macrophages via inhibiting β-catenin and activating YAP signaling. In addition, this study provided evidences that activation of β-catenin or inhibition of YAP could alleviate IS-induced inflammatory response in LPS-stimulated macrophages. This finding may contribute to the understanding of immune dysfunction observed in chronic kidney disease and cardiovascular disease.