Objective:To assess the performances of Cobas 6000 e601 and EVOLIS BioRad in the detection of HIV,HBV and HCV in blood donors in Libreville (Gabon).Methods:A cross-sectional investigation was conducted in July 2017 in a total of 2 000 blood donors recruited at the National Blood transfusion Center,Libreville Gabon.Among them,363 donors were selected to compare the performances of COBAS 6000 e601 (electro-chemiluminescence) and EVOLIS BioRad in detecting HIV,HBV and HCV using Cohen's kappa coefficient.Results:Both methods yielded similar results for the detection of HIV and HBsAg.A very good agreement of 93.39％ and an excellent agreement of 98.90％ were obtained for the detection of HIV and HbsAg,with kappa values of 0.80 and 0.98,respectively.The observed agreement of 91.86％ was found for the detection of HCV,which gave a fair agreement between the two methods with kappa =0.33.Conclusions:The two evaluation methods showed a similar performance in the detection of HIV,HBV.However,given the high rate of intra and inter-genotypes recombination known for HIV and HBV,more robust techniques of detection such as polymerase chain reaction should be used to prevent post-transfusion contaminations.

Objective: To study the involvement of variations in 4 genes associated with susceptibility and/or protection against HIV-1 in serodiscordant couples in Burkina Faso, namely, genes encoding HLA-B57, interferon regulatory factor 1 (IRF1), dendritic cell-specific ICAM3-grabbing nonintegrin (DC-SIGN) and CCR5 delta 32 (CCR5δ32). Methods: Two DC-SIGN and two IRF1 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) as well as HLA-B57*01 and CCR5δ 32 alleles were genotyped in 51 serodiscordant couples in Burkina Faso. DC-SIGN, IRF1 and HLA-B57*01 genotyping was carried out by real time PCR using TaqMan assays (Applied Biosystems, USA and Sacace Biotechnologies, Italy). CCR5δ 32 deletion was investigated by PCR. Results: The two SNPs of DC-SIGN promoter showed a significant genotypic difference in serodiscordant couples. After multivariate analysis, only the association between DC-SIGN rs2287886 and HIV-1 remained significant (P<0.01). No association was found between IRF1 SNPs and HIV-1 infection. CCR5δ 32 wild type allele was found in 100% of serodiscordant couples. A high frequency of HLA-B57*01 allele was found in the HIV-positive (78%) compared with HIV-negative group (51%), however this difference was no longer significant after the correction of the sex confounding effect in the logistic regression model. Conclusions: Our study suggests a protective role of a variation of DC-SIGN promoter and genetic resistance to HIV-1 in serodiscordant couples in Burkina Faso.

Objective To assess the performances of Cobas 6000 e601 and EVOLIS BioRad in the detection of HIV, HBV and HCV in blood donors in Libreville (Gabon). Methods A cross-sectional investigation was conducted in July 2017 in a total of 2 000 blood donors recruited at the National Blood transfusion Center, Libreville Gabon. Among them, 363 donors were selected to compare the performances of COBAS 6000 e601 (electro-chemiluminescence) and EVOLIS BioRad in detecting HIV, HBV and HCV using Cohen's kappa coefficient. Results Both methods yielded similar results for the detection of HIV and HBsAg. A very good agreement of 93.39% and an excellent agreement of 98.90% were obtained for the detection of HIV and HbsAg, with kappa values of 0.80 and 0.98, respectively. The observed agreement of 91.86% was found for the detection of HCV, which gave a fair agreement between the two methods with kappa = 0.33. Conclusions The two evaluation methods showed a similar performance in the detection of HIV, HBV. However, given the high rate of intra and inter-genotypes recombination known for HIV and HBV, more robust techniques of detection such as polymerase chain reaction should be used to prevent post-transfusion contaminations.

Objective To explore the possible association between polymorphisms in CD1 genes and both asymptomatic and mild Plasmodium falciparum infection. Methods Two clusters of 85 school children, from the village of Dienga (Gabon) were investigated. The first group was analysed for the prevalence and the multiplicity of asymptomatic P. falciparum infection, whereas the second group was screened for the frequency of malarial attacks. Results Our findings showed that homozygosity for the CD1E*02 allele was associated with a low frequency of malarial attacks. Furthermore, a strong association between CD1E*02 homozygotes and the resistance to multiple malarial attacks was identified. The CD1A*01 allele showed a weak association with a small number of malarial attacks. Conclusion Our results suggest a possible role of CD1E polymorphisms in malaria protection among school children and that CD1e molecules are involved in anti-malarial immunity.

OBJECTIVETo investigate 4 combinations of mutations responsible for glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency in a rural community of Burkina Faso, a malaria endemic country.

METHODSTwo hundred individuals in a rural community were genotyped for the mutations A376G, G202A, A542T, G680T and T968C using TaqMan single nucleotide polymorphism assays and polymerase chain reaction followed by restriction fragment length polymorphism.

RESULTSThe prevalence of the G6PD deficiency was 9.5% in the study population. It was significantly higher in men compared to women (14.3% vs 6.0%, P=0.049). The 202A/376G G6PD A- was the only deficient variant detected. Plasmodium falciparum asymptomatic parasitaemia was significantly higher among the G6PD-non-deficient persons compared to the G6PD-deficient (P<0.001). The asymptomatic parasitaemia was also significantly higher among G6PD non-deficient compared to G6PD-heterozygous females (P<0.001).

CONCLUSIONSThis study showed that the G6PD A- variant associated with protection against asymptomatic malaria in Burkina Faso is probably the most common deficient variant.