The novel neuropeptide cocaine-amphetamine-regulated transcript (CART) is expressed in several hypothalamic regions and has recently been shown to be involved in the central control of food intake. To characterize the hypothalamic CART neurons and understand the physiological functions they might serve, we undertook an in situ hybridization and immunohistochemical study to examine distribution ...

A better understanding of changes in HIV-1 population genetics with combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) is critical for designing eradication strategies. We therefore analyzed HIV-1 genetic variation and divergence in patients' plasma before cART, during suppression on cART, and after viral rebound. Single-genome sequences of plasma HIV-1 RNA were obtained from HIV-1 infected patients pri...

Cocaine- and amphetamine-regulated transcript (CART) has stimulatory effects on the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis through direct effects on hypophysiotropic CRH neurons. Recently CART-containing axons have been demonstrated to densely innervate the hypophysiotropic CRH neurons. Based on the sources of the CART-immunoreactive (IR) innervation of the paraventricular nucleus, the putative or...

Cocaine- and amphetamine-regulated transcript (CART) is an anorexigenic peptide widely expressed in the central, peripheral, and enteric nervous systems. CART is also expressed in endocrine cells, including beta-cells during rat development and delta-cells of adult rats. We examined the effect of CART 55-102 on islet hormone secretion, using INS-1(832/13) cells and isolated rat islets. In addit...

Background The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Zambian Ministry of Health set out new guidelines on combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) in 2013 expanding the eligibility criteria for patients with HIV. Objectives The primary objective were to determine when cART was initiated in HIV-positive outpatients according to clinical and immunological criteria, and to identify what propo...

BACKGROUND We explored the impact of transient cART started during the primary HIV-infection (PHI) on the long-term immunologic and virologic response on cART resumption, by comparison with treatment initiation during the chronic phase of HIV infection (CHI). METHODS We analyzed data on 1450 patients enrolled during PHI in the ANRS PRIMO cohort between 1996 and 2013. "Treatment resumption" wa...

The increase in the variety of websites, ranging from information-intensive portal, through social media, to shopping website, has afforded consumers unprecedented opportunity to make informed purchase decisions. Anecdotal evidence indicates that consumers do spend considerable amount of effort visiting various online outlets, such as the social media websites, prior to committing to a purchase...

BACKGROUND The benefits of continuing antiretroviral therapy are questionable in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) type 1-infected patients with profound immunodeficiency and multiple treatment failure due to viral resistance. METHODS From the French Hospital Database on HIV, we selected 12,765 patients with a CD4(+) cell count <200 cells/mm(3) who received a combination antiretroviral thera...

Cocaine- and amphetamine-regulated transcript (CART) is a new anorectic peptide found in the brain and periphery. It is closely associated with leptin, an anorectic agent saturably transported across the blood-brain barrier (BBB). Using multiple time-regression analysis, we found that CART has a rapid rate of entry into brain from blood. However, there was no self-inhibition with CART, even whe...