People with HIV are disproportionately co-infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) and experience accelerated liver-related mortality. Direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) yield high sustained virologic response (SVR) rates, but uptake is suboptimal. This study characterizes the DAA-era HCV treatment cascade and barriers among US men and women with or at risk for HIV.

We constructed HCV treatment cascades using data from The Women’s Interagency HIV Study (women, six visits, 2015-2018, n=2,447) and Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study (men, one visit, 2015-2018, n=2,221). Cascades included treatment-eligible individuals (i.e., HCV RNA+ or reported DAAs). Surveys captured self-reported clinical (e.g., CD4), patient (e.g., missed visits), system (e.g., appointment access), and financial/insurance barriers.

323 women and 92 men were treatment-eligible. Most women/men had HIV (77%/70%); 69%/63% were Black. HIV+ women were more likely to attain cascade outcomes than HIV- women (39% vs. 23% initiated, 21% vs. 12% SVR); similar discrepancies were noted for men. Black men and substance users were treated less often. Women initiating treatment (vs. not) reported fewer patient (14%/33%) barriers. Among men not treated, clinical barriers were prevalent (53%).

HIV care may facilitate HCV treatment linkage and barrier navigation. HIV- individuals, Black men, and substance users may need additional support.

HIV care may facilitate HCV treatment linkage and barrier navigation. HIV- individuals, Black men, and substance users may need additional support.Cerebral white matter pathology is a common CNS manifestation of Fabry disease, visualized as white matter hyperintensities on MRI in 42-81% of patients. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) MRI is a sensitive technique to quantify microstructural damage within the white matter with potential value as a disease biomarker. We evaluated the pattern of DTI abnormalities in Fabry disease, and their correlations with cognitive impairment, mood, anxiety, disease severity and plasma lyso-Gb3 levels in 31 patients with genetically proven Fabry disease and 19 age-matched healthy control subjects. We obtained average values of fractional anisotropy and mean diffusivity within the white matter and performed voxelwise analysis with tract-based spatial statistics. Using a standardized neuropsychological test battery, we assessed processing speed, executive function, anxiety, depression and disease severity. The mean age (% male) was 44.1 (45%) for patients with Fabry disease and 37.4 (53%) for the healthy control group. In pati 0.008]. Within patients, average white matter fractional anisotropy and white matter lesion volume showed statistically significant correlations with Digit Symbol Coding Test score (r = 0.558, P = 0.001; and r = -0.633, P ≤ 0.001, respectively). Average white matter fractional anisotropy correlated with the overall Mainz Severity Score Index (r = -0.661, P ≤ 0.001), while average white matter mean diffusivity showed a strong correlation with plasma lyso-Gb3 levels (r = 0.559, P = 0.001). Our findings using DTI confirm widespread areas of microstructural white matter disruption in Fabry disease, extending beyond white matter hyperintensities seen on conventional MRI. Moreover, diffusion measures show strong correlations with cognition (processing speed), clinical disease severity and a putative plasma biomarker of disease activity, making them promising quantitative biomarkers for monitoring Fabry disease severity and progression.Tumor mutation burden (TMB) is an essential biomarker to predict immunotherapy response. TMB measurement was mainly evaluated by whole-exome sequencing (WES), which was costly and difficult to be widely applied. In the present study, we aimed to establish and validate a miRNA signature to predict TMB level in endometrial cancer using The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. MiRNA expression and somatic mutation profiles of uterine corpus endometrial carcinoma (UCEC) were downloaded from TCGA database. Total 518 patients with UCEC were randomly classified into training set (n=311) and validation set (n=207). Thirty-five differentially expressed miRNAs between high-TMB and low-TMB group were identified in training set. Least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) method was performed to select out 26 miRNAs to establish the optimal signature. The accuracy of the miRNA signature for predicting TMB level was 0.833 for training set, 0.749 for validation set and 0.799 for total set. Moreover, the miRNA signature had significant correlation with immune checkpoints related genes (PD-1, PD-L1, CTLA-4) and mismatch repair related genes (BRCA1, BRCA2, MLH1, MSH6) expression. In conclusion, this miRNA signature could predict TMB level in endometrial cancer and might have some merits in providing guidance for immunotherapy in endometrial cancer.Health literacy plays an important role in personal and community health. Since university is a turning point when young adults begin to take responsibility for their own health, understanding university students’ health literacy levels is crucial. To this end, we aimed to explore health literacy and its associated factors among Palestinian university students. API-2 cost We conducted a cross-sectional study at Birzeit University in the Ramallah district. We recruited 472 students using convenience sampling at six on-campus cafeterias. The 44-item Arabic version of the Health Literacy Questionnaire was used to measure students’ health literacy levels, while a locally developed distress scale was used to measure students’ distress levels. We stratified the multiple regression model for the health literacy score by gender. Students’ average total health literacy score was 135.3 (SD 20.9), with male students scoring significantly higher than female students. A higher health literacy score was significantly associated with having a father with a higher level of education, a higher frequency of medical checkups, higher self-reported health status, and consulting a higher number of sources for health-related information. High distress levels were associated with lower levels of health literacy, especially among female students. This study provides the first evidence on Palestinian university students’ health literacy levels. Tailored health education and promotion are required for students with low parental education and moderate to high distress. Future research is required to explain the gender differences in health literacy and distress among university students.