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Beyond the barrier: Female Genital Schistosomiasis as a potential risk factor for HIV-1 acquisition.

ABSTRACT: Female genital schistosomiasis (FGS) results from egg-deposition in the female reproductive tract primarily by the waterborne parasite Schistosoma (S.) haematobium, and less commonly by Schistosoma (S.) mansoni. FGS affects an estimated 20-56 million women worldwide, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa. There is cross-sectional evidence of increased HIV-1 prevalence in schistosomiasis-infected women, but a causal relationship between FGS and either HIV-1 acquisition or transmission has not been fully established. Beyond the pathognomonic breach in the cervicovaginal barrier caused by FGS, this narrative review explores potential mechanisms for a synergistic relationship between S. haematobium infection, FGS, and HIV-1 acquisition through vaginal inflammation and target cell recruitment.

SUBMITTER: Sturt AS

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7429987 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Beyond the barrier: Female Genital Schistosomiasis as a potential risk factor for HIV-1 acquisition.

Sturt A S AS Webb E L EL Francis S C SC Hayes R J RJ Bustinduy A L AL

Acta tropica 20200513

Female genital schistosomiasis (FGS) results from egg-deposition in the female reproductive tract primarily by the waterborne parasite Schistosoma (S.) haematobium, and less commonly by Schistosoma (S.) mansoni. FGS affects an estimated 20-56 million women worldwide, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa. There is cross-sectional evidence of increased HIV-1 prevalence in schistosomiasis-infected women, but a causal relationship between FGS and either HIV-1 acquisition or transmission has not been fully e ...[more]

PMID: 32416076

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Project description:Background: Female genital schistosomiasis (FGS) is a neglected and disabling gynaecological disorder that is difficult to diagnose and is part of the wider spectrum of urogenital disease caused by the waterborne parasite Schistosoma haematobium. Over 90% of human schistosomiasis cases are found in sub-Saharan Africa with 3.8 million people infected with schistosomes in Zambia. Reported FGS prevalence ranges from 33-75% of those with urinary schistosomiasis in endemic areas, suggesting a potentially high FGS burden in Zambia alone. The Bilharzia and HIV (BILHIV) study evaluated home self-sampling genital collection methods for the diagnosis of FGS. Methods: Eligible participants included non-pregnant, sexually active women aged 18-31 who were previously recruited for the HPTN 071 (PopART) trial in Livingstone, Zambia. Household demographic and symptom questionnaires were administered by community workers. Participants were offered vaginal and cervical self-swabs and a urine cup. Cervicovaginal lavage (CVL) was performed in clinic by midwives. Information was collected from participants on the acceptability and feasibility of genital self-sampling. Results: From January-August 2018, 603 women were enrolled, and 87.3% (527/603) completed clinic follow up. A high proportion of participants indicated that self-collection of specimens was "easy" or "very easy" on a 5-point Likert scale. A high proportion of women would be willing to self-collect all three specimens again in future: vaginal swab 96.7% (583/603), cervical swab 96.5% (582/603), and urine 96.2% (580/603). Overall, 90.0% (543/603) preferred to self-collect samples at home, compared with sampling in the clinic Home-based self-sampling was preferred over provider-based sampling in the clinic due to greater privacy 65.0% (353/543), convenience 51.4% (279/543) and lack of needed transportation 17.7% (96/543). Conclusions: Home based genital self-sampling for FGS diagnosis is highly acceptable. This scalable method may inform future efforts for community-based diagnosis of FGS.

Project description:IntroductionGlobally, schistosomes infect approximately 200 million people, with 90% of infections in sub-Saharan Africa. Schistosomiasis is hypothesized to increase HIV-1 acquisition risk, and multiple cross-sectional studies reported strong associations. We evaluated this hypothesis within four large prospective cohorts.MethodsWe conducted nested case-control analyses within three longitudinal cohorts of heterosexual HIV-1 serodiscordant couples and one female sex worker (FSW) cohort from Kenya and Uganda. The serodiscordant couples studies were conducted between 2004 and 2012 while the FSW cohort analysis included participant follow-up from 1993 to 2014. Cases HIV-1 seroconverted during prospective follow-up; three controls were selected per case. The presence of circulating anodic antigen in archived serum, collected prior to HIV-1 seroconversion, identified participants with active schistosomiasis; immunoblots determined the schistosome species. Data from serodiscordant couples cohorts were pooled, while the FSW cohort was analysed separately to permit appropriate confounder adjustment.ResultsWe included 245 HIV-1 seroconverters and 713 controls from the serodiscordant couples cohorts and 330 HIV-1 seroconverters and 962 controls from the FSW cohort. The prevalence of active schistosomiasis was 20% among serodiscordant couples and 22% among FSWs. We found no association between schistosomiasis and HIV-1 acquisition risk among males (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) = 0.99, 95% CI 0.59 to 1.67) or females (aOR = 1.21, 95% CI 0.64 to 2.30) in serodiscordant couples. Similarly, in the FSW cohort we detected no association (adjusted incidence rate ratio (aIRR) = 1.11, 95% CI 0.83 to 1.50). Exploring schistosome species-specific effects, there was no statistically significant association between HIV-1 acquisition risk and Schistosoma mansoni (serodiscordant couples: aOR = 0.90, 95% CI 0.56 to 1.44; FSW: aIRR = 0.83, 95% CI 0.53 to 1.20) or Schistosoma haematobium (serodiscordant couples: aOR = 1.06, 95% CI 0.46 to 2.40; FSW: aIRR = 1.64, 95% CI 0.93 to 2.87) infection.ConclusionsSchistosomiasis was not a strong risk factor for HIV-1 acquisition in these four prospective studies. S. mansoni was responsible for the majority of schistosomiasis in these cohorts, and our results do not support the hypothesis that S. mansoni infection is associated with increased HIV-1 acquisition risk. S. haematobium infection was associated with a point estimate of elevated HIV-1 risk in the FSW cohort that was not statistically significant, and there was no trend towards a positive association in the serodiscordant couples cohorts.

Dataset Information

Beyond the barrier: Female Genital Schistosomiasis as a potential risk factor for HIV-1 acquisition.

Publications

Beyond the barrier: Female Genital Schistosomiasis as a potential risk factor for HIV-1 acquisition.

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