Dudzik, Beatrix

Abstract Background Hepatitis B virus (HBV) vaccine seroprotection rates with conventional aluminum adjuvanted recombinant HBV vaccines, Engerix-B (HepB-alum) vaccine, among people with HIV (PWH) are varied. Heplisav-B (HepB-CpG) vaccine, a novel adjuvanted recombinant HBV vaccine, has shown higher seroprotection rates in immunocompetent patients but is not well studied in PWH. There are no published studies comparing seroprotection rates between HepB-alum and HepB-CpG in PWH. This study aims to evaluate and compare the seroprotection incidence of HepB-alum vs HepB-CpG in PWH at least 18 years of age. Methods This retrospective, observational cohort study included adults diagnosed with HIV who received a complete series of HepB-alum or HepB-CpG at a community health center in Phoenix, Arizona. Patients had a hepatitis B surface antibody <10 IU/L at the time of the first vaccine dose. The primary outcome was a comparison of seroconversion incidence between HepB-CpG and HepB-alum. Secondary outcomes included identifying factors associated with likelihood of response to HBV vaccination. Results A total of 120 patients were included in this study, 59 in the HepB-alum cohort and 61 in the HepB-CpG cohort. In the HepB-alum cohort, 57.6% achieved seroconversion, compared with 93.4% in the HepB-CpG cohort (P < .001). Those without diabetes were more likely to have response to a vaccine. Conclusions Among PWH at a single community health center, HepB-CpG provided a statistically higher incidence of seroprotection against HBV compared with HepB-alum.

Abstract Background Hepatitis B virus (HBV) vaccine seroprotection rates with conventional aluminum adjuvanted recombinant HBV vaccines (HepB-alum) among people with HIV (PWH) are varied. HepB-CpG, a novel adjuvanted recombinant HBV vaccine, has shown higher seroprotection rates in immunocompetent patients but is not well studied in PWH. There are no published studies comparing seroprotection rates between HepB-alum and HepB-CpG in PWH. The purpose of this study was to evaluate and compare the seroprotection incidence of HepB-CpG versus HepB-alum in adults at least 18 years of age with HIV. Methods This retrospective, observational, cohort study screened for inclusion adults diagnosed with HIV who received a 3-dose series of HepB-alum or a 2-dose series of HepB-CpG between January 1, 2015 through December 31, 2021 at a community health center in Phoenix, Arizona. Patients who had a confirmed diagnosis of HIV and a hepatitis B surface antibody < 10 IU/L at the time of the first vaccine dose were included until an adequate sample size was achieved. The primary outcome was to compare seroconversion incidence of HepB-CpG and HepB-alum in PWH. Secondary outcomes included identifying factors associated with an increased likelihood of response to HBV vaccination. Seroconversion incidence data was analyzed using Fisher’s exact test using BlueSky Statistics. Results A total of 121 patients were included in this study, 59 in the HepB-alum cohort and 61 in the HepB-CpG cohort. In the HepB-alum cohort, 57.6% (34/59) achieved seroconversion, compared to 93.4% (57/61) in the HepB-CpG group (p < 0.001). Univariate comparisons of comorbidities among the vaccine cohorts found no significant differences in sex, body mass index, diabetic status, kidney/liver disease, CD4 count, HIV viral load, or active/prior history of substance use. Conclusion Among PWH at a single community health center, HepB-CpG provided a statistically higher incidence of seroprotection against HBV compared to HepB-alum. The higher seroprotection rate for HepB-CpG versus HepB-alum patients is not due to differences in group demographics or reported comorbidities. Disclosures Carlos Hartmann, MD, Viiv Pharmaceuticals: Speaker.

Ceramides have been implicated in a number of disease processes. However, current means of evaluation with flow infusion analysis (FIA) have been limited primarily due to poor sensitivity within our high-resolution mass spectrometry lipidomics analytical platform. To circumvent this deficiency, we investigated the potential of chloride adducts as an alternative method to improve sensitivity with electrospray ionization. Chloride adducts of ceramides and ceramide subfamilies provided 2- to 50-fold increases in sensitivity both with analytical standards and biological samples. Chloride adducts of a number of other lipids with reactive hydroxy groups were also enhanced. For example, monogalactosyl diacylglycerols (MGDGs), extracted from frontal lobe cortical gray and subcortical white matter of cognitively intact subjects, were not detected as ammonium adducts but were readily detected as chloride adducts. Hydroxy lipids demonstrate a high level of specificity in that phosphoglycerols and phosphoinositols do not form chloride adducts. In the case of choline glycerophospholipids, the fatty acid substituents of these lipids could be monitored by MS2 of the chloride adducts. Monitoring the chloride adducts of a number of key lipids offers enhanced sensitivity and specificity with FIA. In the case of glycerophosphocholines, the chloride adducts also allow determination of fatty acid substituents. The chloride adducts of lipids possessing electrophilic hydrogens of hydroxyl groups provide significant increases in sensitivity. In the case of glycerophosphocholines, chloride attachment to the quaternary ammonium group generates a dominant anion, which provides the identities of the fatty acid substituents under MS2 conditions.

Abstract This study uses five well‐documented cranial nonmetric traits (glabella, mastoid process, mental eminence, supraorbital margin, and nuchal crest) and one additional trait (zygomatic extension) to develop a validated decision tree for sex assessment. The decision tree was built and cross‐validated on a sample of 293 U.S. White individuals from the William M. Bass Donated Skeletal Collection. Ordinal scores from the six traits were analyzed using the partition modeling option in JMP Pro 12. A holdout sample of 50 skulls was used to test the model. The most accurate decision tree includes three variables: glabella, zygomatic extension, and mastoid process. This decision tree yielded 93.5% accuracy on the training sample, 94% on the cross‐validated sample, and 96% on a holdout validation sample. Linear weighted kappa statistics indicate acceptable agreement among observers for these variables. Mental eminence should be avoided, and definitions and figures should be referenced carefully to score nonmetric traits.