The effectiveness of radiofrequency scanning technology in preventing retained surgical items: An integrative review.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To synthesise evidence on the effectiveness of radiofrequency (RF) scanning technology as an adjunct to manual counting protocols in preventing retained surgical items (RSIs) in the operating room. BACKGROUND: Despite the implementation of rigorous manual counting protocols, RSIs remain one of the most common reported sentinel events in operating theatres that lead to adverse patient outcomes. DESIGN: An integrative review. METHODS: This review was guided by the Whittemore and Knafl (2005) framework. A literature search using CINAHL, MEDLINE, ProQuest, PubMed, and Scopus with key search terms related to RSIs and RF was applied to select English articles from January 2011 till August 2021. The Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) Critical Appraisal Checklist was utilised for study quality assessment while reporting of review was guided using the PRISMA checklist. RESULTS: A total of 15 peer-reviewed articles were included, enabling the knowledge on the RF scanning technology to be grouped into four themes, namely: detection accuracy of RF scanning technology, real-time detection of surgical items using RF identification, the impact of the RF scanning technology for detecting RSIs on patient safety, and cost-analysis of integrating the RF scanning technology in operating theatres. CONCLUSION: Radiofrequency scanning technology is effective in preventing RSIs with significant cost-savings. Perioperative leaders should develop a multidisciplinary process to evaluate and select the most appropriate RF scanning technology as part of their patient safety programs. However, future studies with a larger sample size and robust research design, such as randomised controlled trial, should be considered to enhance the generalisability and rigour of evidence. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: This review contributes to perioperative personnel's education/training of staff on using RF scanning technology to prevent RSIs. The cost-effectiveness analysis enables the healthcare leaders to decide on the selection of appropriate RF technology.

Identification of CD4-Binding Site Dependent Plasma Neutralizing Antibodies in an HIV-1 Infected Indian Individual.

Dissecting antibody specificities in the plasma of HIV-1 infected individuals that develop broadly neutralizing antibodies (bNAbs) is likely to provide useful information for refining target epitopes for vaccine design. Several studies have reported CD4-binding site (CD4bs) antibodies as neutralization determinants in the plasma of subtype B-infected individuals; however there is little information on the prevalence of CD4bs specificities in HIV-infected individuals in India. Here, we report on the presence of CD4bs antibodies and their contribution to virus neutralization in the plasma from a cohort of HIV-1 infected Indian individuals. Plasma from 11 of the 140 HIV-1 infected individuals (7.9%) studied here exhibited cross-neutralization activity against a panel of subtype B and C viruses. Analyses of these 11 plasma samples for the presence of CD4bs antibodies using two CD4bs-selective probes (antigenically resurfaced HXB2gp120 core protein RSC3 and hyperglycosylated JRFLgp120 mutant ΔN2mCHO) revealed that five (AIIMS 617, 619, 627, 642, 660) contained RSC3-reactive plasma antibodies and only one (AIIMS 660) contained ΔN2mCHO-reactive antibodies. Plasma antibody depletion and competition experiments confirmed that the neutralizing activity in the AIIMS 660 plasma was dependent on CD4bs antibodies. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to report specifically on the presence of CD4bs antibodies in the plasma of a cohort of HIV-1 infected Indian donors. The identification of CD4bs dependent neutralizing antibodies in an HIV-1 infected Indian donor is a salient finding of this study and is supportive of ongoing efforts to induce similar antibodies by immunization.

Envelope diversity, characteristics of V3 region and predicted co-receptor usage of human immunodeficiency viruses infecting north Indians.

Subtypes of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 circulating in 21 north Indian patients were characterized based on the partial sequence of the gp120 envelope protein. A majority of viruses (85.7%, 18/21) were subtype C, while 14.3% (3/21) were subtype A. Sequence analysis revealed that the V3 region was highly conserved compared with V4 and V5. The predicted use of co-receptors indicated exclusive usage of R5, except for two subtype A viruses (AIIMS279 and AIIMS281). Our results demonstrate conservation within the V3 loop of subtype C viruses, and suggest the emergence of non-clade C viruses in the north Indian population.

Production and characterization of human anti-V3 monoclonal antibodies from the cells of HIV-1 infected Indian donors.

BACKGROUND: Analysis of human monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) developed from HIV-1 infected donors have enormously contributed to the identification of neutralization sensitive epitopes on the HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein. The third variable region (V3) is a crucial target on gp120, primarily due to its involvement in co-receptor (CXCR4 or CCR5) binding and presence of epitopes recognized by broadly neutralizing antibodies. METHODS: Thirty-three HIV-1 seropositive drug naive patients (18 males and 15 females) within the age range of 20-57 years (median = 33 years) were recruited in this study for mAb production. The mAbs were selected from EBV transformed cultures with conformationally constrained Cholera-toxin-B containing V3C (V3C-CTB) fusion protein. We tested the mAbs for their binding with HIV-1 derived proteins and peptides by ELISA and for neutralization against HIV-1 viruses by TZM-bl assays. RESULTS: We isolated three anti-V3 mAbs, 277, 903 and 904 from the cells of different individuals. The ELISA binding revealed a subtype-C and subtype-A specific binding of antibody 277 and 903 while mAb 904 exhibited cross reactivity also with subtype-B V3. Epitope mapping of mAbs with overlapping V3 peptides showed exclusive binding to V3 crown. The antibodies displayed high and low neutralizing activity against 2/5 tier 1 and 1/6 tier 2 viruses respectively. Overall, we observed a resistance of the tier 2 viruses to neutralization by the anti-V3 mAbs, despite the exposure of the epitopes recognized by these antibodies on two representative native viruses (Du156.12 and JRFL), suggesting that the affinity of mAb might equally be crucial for neutralization, as the epitope recognition. CONCLUSIONS: Our study suggests that the anti-V3 antibodies derived from subtype-C infected Indian patients display neutralization potential against tier 1 viruses while such activity may be limited against more resistant tier 2 viruses. Defining the fine epitope specificities of these mAbs and further experimental manipulations will be helpful in identification of epitopes, unique to clade C or shared with non-clade C viruses, in context of V3 region.