Elena Delfina Ricci

Fondazione ASIA Onlus

Objective: Recent reports of excessive weight gain in people living with HIV (PWH) have raised increasing concerns on the possible increase of diabetes mellitus (DM) risk in course of integrase inhibitor (INSTIs) treatment. In this study, we aimed at describing DM incidence in course of antiretroviral therapy (ART) and identifying the factors asso...

In the last years, many antiretroviral drugs (ART) have been developed with increased efficacy. Nowadays, the main reasons for treatment switches are adverse events, proactive strategy or simplification. We conducted a retrospective cohort study to investigate the reason for treatment interruption in the last 20 years. We merged data of eight cohor...

Background: Since the 1970s, several studies found that sperm concentration (SC) and total sperm count (TSC) constantly worsened over time, mainly in high-income countries. Objectives: To evaluate whether the decreasing trend in sperm count is continuing in Western European countries and USA, we performed a systematic review and meta-regression...

Objectives The development of novel antiviral agents active against Hepatitis Delta Virus (HDV) might change the natural history of chronic infection, reducing the risk for end-stage liver disease. People living with HIV (PWH) are at risk for bloodborne pathogens infection, but limited data on epidemiology of HDV infection is available in this sett...

We conducted a systematic review and meta-analyses of the prevalence of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) and the frequency of its phenotypes in Europe and the USA, also focusing on temporal trends of the condition, to compare the PCOS prevalence among populations with a similar level of diagnostic resources availability and attitudes toward health...

Objectives: To evaluate the prevalence of carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) and plaques in a cohort of people living with HIV (PLWH), the role of cardiovascular risk factors, the impact of the antiretroviral regimens and the difference between naïve and experienced patients in the onset of carotid lesions. Methods: This project was initiated...

The aim of the present study was to evaluate CD4/CD8 dynamics in patients on dolutegravir (DTG)-based two-drug regimens (2DRs) and compare them with DTG-containing triple-drug regimens (3DRs). A prospective observational study was performed in the context of the SCOLTA cohort. Experienced PWH with HIV-RNA < 50 copies/mL were included if they were o...

Background In persons living with HIV (PLWH), the burden of non-communicable chronic diseases increased over time, because of aging associated with chronic inflammation, systemic immune activation, and long-term exposure to the combination antiretroviral therapy (ART). Methods To explore the association of chronological age, age at first ART, and...

Periodontal disease (PD) has been shown to increase the risk of preterm birth, preeclampsia and low birth weight. These observations have suggested that PD may also affect the early phase of pregnancy, including conception. The present study aimed to evaluate whether an association exists between oral health status and the chance of clinical pregna...

Objectives To evaluate the prevalence of carotid intima-media thickness and plaques in a cohort of persons living with HIV, the role of cardiovascular risk factors, the impact of the antiretroviral regimens, and the difference between naïve and experienced patients in the onset of carotid lesions. Methods This project was initiated in 2019 and inv...

Several studies, reviews and meta-analyses have documented that D-mannose use lowers the risk of recurrent urinary tract infections (UTI), but its role in the treatment of UTI/cystitis-related symptoms is unclear. In particular, no systematic review has analyzed the role of treatment with D-mannose in acute UTI/cystitis. In this paper, we systemati...

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the frequency of central nervous system adverse events (CNS-AE) on dolutegravir (DTG) and non-DTG containing ART, and their reversibility, in the observational prospective SCOLTA cohort. Factors associated with CNS-AE were estimated using a Cox proportional-hazards model. 4939 people living with HIV (PLWH) w...

Introduction: Sexual violence against young girls is a pervasive multifaceted phenomenon which embraces several different forced sexual acts, including attempted and/or completed rape, sexual coercion and harassment, and sexual contact with force or threat of force. The aim of this study is to evaluate the characteristics of sexual violence in ado...

Background Infertility involves 15% of couples in Italy and approximately 10-12% worldwide.Focusing on female fertility, it can underline multiple causes, among them the diet has a great influence. Methods We investigated whether the consumption of some fatty acids affects four outcomes of the assisted reproduction techniques. From September 2014 t...

Several studies suggested that male's diet affects fertility. This cross-sectional analysis from a prospective cohort study aims to explore the relation between antioxidants intake and sperm parameters in sub-fertile couples referring to a Fertility center. Socio-demographic characteristics, health history, lifestyle habits, and diet information we...

Objectives The aim of this study was to assess the incidence of being overweight and metabolic syndrome (MS) among people living with HIV (PHIV) in three different cross-sectional studies conducted over three different periods: 2005, 2011 and 2015. Methods This was a multi-centre, nationwide study. Data were collected in three studies from the CIS...

This study evaluates the frequency and causes of dolutegravir (DTG) discontinuation along 5 years of follow-up, in both antiretroviral treatment (ART)-naive and experienced people living with HIV (PLWH). This is a prospective multi-center cohort study enrolling PLWH on DTG from July 2014 until November 2020. DTG-durability was investigated using th...

Objective To summarise the available evidence on frequency of ovarian cyst development during mammalian target of rapamycin inhibitors (mTORi) treatment. Methods PubMed/Medline and EMBASE databases were searched, from 1990 up to March 2020, using the following keywords: ‘tacrolimus’, ‘sirolimus’, ‘temsirolimus’, ‘everolimus’, ‘deforolimus’, ‘mTOR’...

Nicola Squillace,1 Elena Ricci,2 Elisa Colella,1 Paolo Bonfanti1 1Infectious Diseases Unit ASST-Monza, San Gerardo Hospital-University of Milano-Bicocca, Monza, Italy; 2Fondazione ASIA Onlus, Milan, ItalyCorrespondence: Nicola SquillaceInfectious Diseases Unit ASST-Monza, San Gerardo Hospital-University of Milano-Bicocca, via G.B. Pergolesi 33, Mon...

Introduction: In people living with HIV (PLWH), immune activation and inflammation levels are high even when viral suppression is maintained, potentially contributing to several comorbidities, and hampering the immune response to infections such as the recent SARS-CoV2 disease 2019 (COVID-19). Areas covered: Immune activation and inflammation pl...

Purpose: Irritable bowel disease and endometriosis are two common diseases characterized by chronic inflammation state and recurrent abdominal pain. As a consequence of sharing of symptoms and chronic inflammation, endometriosis and IBS may coexist and be misdiagnosed and this leads to delays in diagnosis, mismanagement, and unnecessary testing. I...

Objective: We aimed to investigate the effect of switching from tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) to tenofovir alafenamide (TAF) on the hepatic safety and metabolic profile. Methods: Consecutive HIV patients, enrolled in the Surveillance Cohort Long-term Toxicity Antiretrovirals/Antivirals (SCOLTA) project, switching from TDF to TAF were inclu...

Objective We investigated whether lifestyle affects assisted reproduction technology (ART) outcomes. Design Cohort study. Setting Italian fertility unit. Participants From September 2014 to December 2016, women from couples presenting for evaluation and eligible for ART were invited to participate. Information on alcohol intake, current smoking...

: This study reports on hospital admission and outcomes of 69 HIV-infected subjects who were diagnosed with SARS-CoV-2 infection between February and May 2020, in a network of Italian centers. Patients' characteristics and median days between symptoms and diagnosis were similar by hospital admission, whereas admitted patients were had lower nadir C...

Objective: Few data exist about the effect of dolutegravir (DTG) on bone mineral density (BMD) in real life. The aim of this study was to determine rates of change in BMD over time in people living with HIV (PLWH) treated with DTG. Design: The SCOLTA project is a multicenter observational study enrolling HIV-infected people who start newly comme...

Research Question Is there an association between diet and poor ovarian response to controlled hyperstimulation in women with normal biomarkers of ovarian reserve? Design Women eligible for IVF at an Academic Fertility Center were invited to participate to this prospective cross-sectional study. Main inclusion criteria were: age 18-39 years, BMI 1...

The potential link between endometriosis and Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) has been investigated over the last twenty years. Endometriosis shares with IBD features and symptoms so to become a significant diagnostic challenge, resulting in a delayed or indeterminate diagnosis. We conducted a systematic review to summarize the available data in li...

In recent decades, increasing attention has been paid to the influence of diet on reproductive health. Carbohydrates in diet affect glucose metabolism and multiple evidences showed the key role of insulin sensitivity in regulating female fertility. We designed a prospective cohort study to investigate the relation between dietary carbohydrate intak...

BACKGROUND An unexpected excess in weight gain has recently been reported in course of dolutegravir (DTG) treatment. Aim of the present study is to investigate whether weight gain differs among different DTG-containing regimens. METHODS Adult naïve and experienced people with HIV (PWH) initiating DTG–based ART between July 2014 and December 2019 i...

Background: Tobacco use is a leading cause of preventable diseases and death for all individuals, even more so for people living with HIV (PLWH), due to their status of chronic inflammation. To date, in Italy no study was performed to compare smoking habits in PLWH and the general population. We aimed to investigate smoking habits in PLWH, as comp...

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Il progetto SCOLTA (Surveillance Cohort Long-term Toxicity Antiretrovirals) è un sistema di sorveglianza online degli eventi avversi dei farmaci antiretrovirali di recente commercializzazione. È uno studio di farmacovigilanza prospettico, multicentrico, che prevede una coorte di pazienti per ciascun nuovo farmaco. In questa analisi, sono stati incl...

Diet has been suggested as a factor affecting sperm quality, both in healthy and infertile men. To study whether specific food groups and fatty acids (FA) intake were associated with sperm parameters of men from couples referring to an Italian Fertility Clinic, we conducted a cross‐sectional analysis. A semen sample was collected and analysed befor...

Objective: Assessment of the feasibility and effectiveness of a brief intervention for smoking cessation in people living with HIV (PLWH). Setting: Multicenter cohort prospective study involving PLWH from ten Italian Infectious Disease Centers. Methods: During routine HIV care, clinicians delivered 5As brief intervention (Ask, Advise, Assess,...

In a nationwide Italian sample of people living with HIV (PLWH), the prevalence of smoking, nicotine dependence, propensity to stop smoking, and cardiovascular profile were investigated. The nicotine dependence by Fagerström test and the propensity to stop according to the stages of change were evaluated. Associations between smoking habits and pat...

Background: Study aim was to evaluate the safety and durability of darunavir/cobicistat (DRV/c) in a real life setting. Methods: Multicentre prospective cohort study performed in the context of SCOLTA (Surveillance Cohort Long-Term Toxicity Antiretrovirals). Patients were evaluated at baseline, week 24 and 48. Changes were evaluated using the pa...

The aim of the study is to propose a multidimensional second-level diagnostic assessment to allow follow-up in the event physicians observe the presence of risk factors and/or active comorbidities in HIV-infected patients. To develop our proposal, we chose the Delphi method that has been used for about 30 years in the healthcare field. The CISAI Gr...

Background. Detrimental lifestyle habits have been indicated as potential causes of reduced fertility. Recently, studies have suggested an association between healthy diets and increased live birth rates after assisted reproduction techniques (ART). However, the issue remains under debate, and evidence is still accumulating. Objective. To study the...

Background Among people living with HIV (PLWH), the prevalence of non-HIV related co-morbidities is increasing. Aim of the present study is to describe co-morbidity and multi-morbidity, their clustering mode and the potential disease-disease interactions in a cohort of Italian HIV patients. Methods Cross-sectional analysis conducted by the Coordin...

Objectives: This retrospective study evaluates the effect of maraviroc, the first CCR5 receptor antagonist, on non-AIDS-related comorbidity incidence and its impact on inflammatory and lipid parameters. Methods: Seventy-four HIV patients on maraviroc treatment were compared with 312 patients never exposed to maraviroc (matched for sex, age and C...

Introduction: Metabolic disorders are common amongst HIV-infected patients. Data from real-life setting on the impact of DTG/ABC/3TC in virologically suppressed HIV-infected patients are scarce. Methods: We investigated the modification of metabolic profile including fasting glucose, lipid profile and markers of insulin resistance (IR) in experienc...

The advent of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) has significantly reduced the incidence of AIDS events, including AIDS-defining malignancies. Nevertheless, several cohort studies conducted in the post-HAART period have reported an increasing risk of non-AIDS-defining cancers (NADC). Overall, the potential mechanisms leading to an increa...

Riassunto Dall’introduzione della HAART, l’attesa di vita dei pazienti con HIV è diventata simile a quella della popolazione generale. L’attenzione quindi si è spostata dalla cura dell’infezione in sé alla gestione complessiva del paziente che invecchia, in presenza di comorbidità e interazioni tra i farmaci. Una complicazione aggiuntiva nelle donn...

Abstract A switch from tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) to tenofovir alafenamide (TAF) was associated with a deep impact on lipid profile. We aimed at investigating the effect of lipid variation on calculation of coronary heart disease (CHD risk) and adverse events occurring on treatment with TAF/emtricitabine/elvitegravir/cobicistat (FTC/EVG/CO...

Background Several diet patterns have been suggested as involved in processes of spermatogenesis and thus in male subfertility. To study the relation between Mediterranean diet and abnormal sperm parameters in men of subfertile couples, we performed a cross‐sectional analysis of baseline data from a prospective cohort study. Methods Patients were...

The objective of the present study was to investigate the frequency and the risk factors for restless legs syndrome (RLS) during pregnancy in an Italian population rarely studied, in epidemiological studies on the syndrome. A total of 648 women (median age: 35 years; interquartile range: 32–38), who delivered on randomly selected days at the obstet...

A switch from tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) to tenofovir alafenamide (TAF) was associated with a better renal and bone profile. Some studies reported liver toxicity due to TDF[1, 2]. We aimed at investigating the effect of switching TDF to TAF on lipid, renal and hepatic safety profile.

Background: Dolutegravir (DTG) has been used in dual therapy (DT) strategies clinical practice. However, real life data comparing different DTG-based DT strategies are lacking. Methods: The SCOLTA Project is a prospective, observational, multicenter study created to assess the incidence of adverse events in patients receiving new antiretroviral dru...

In response to the letter of Pace and Multani, in general, we cannot disagree with their considerations about the use of odds ratios, risk ratios, and rate ratios. [...]

Caffeine intake, a frequent lifestyle exposure, has a number of biological effects. We designed a cohort study to investigate the relation between lifestyle and assisted reproduction technique (ART) outcomes. From September 2014 to December 2016, 339 subfertile couples referring to an Italian fertility clinic and eligible for ART procedures were en...

Objectives: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is the major cause of cryoglobulinemia. Direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) have markedly changed the therapeutic outcomes in the treatment of patients with HCV. We evaluate the efficacy, safety, immunological, and clinical response of different DAA regimens in HCV-cryoglobulinemia. Patients and methods: Ninety-th...

Background: Dyslipidemia represents a significant non-infectious comorbidity among people living with HIV. The aim of this study is to evaluate the impact on lipid profile of switches from an efavirenz (EFV) or protease inhibitor/ritonavir (PI/r)-based regimen to a rilpivirine (RPV) or a once-daily integrase inhibitor-based regimen. Methods: We...

Background The association between alcohol intake and male reproductive function is still controversial. In the frame of a prospective cohort study, designed to investigate the relation between life style and fertility, we performed a cross‐sectional analysis of semen quality. Methods Men of subfertile couples, referring to an Italian Infertility...

Purpose: The aim of the present study was to compare 2 clinical assessment tools, the Modified Barthel Index (currently administered to patients admitted into inpatient rehabilitation units after elective hip or knee arthroplasty) with the World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule (WHODAS) 2.0 scale, in order to identify which tool i...

An increase of the body mass index (BMI) in course of antiretroviral therapy (ART) might constitute an adjunctive cardiovascular risk factor in people living with HIV (PLWHIV). Few data are available on the impact of new cobicistat-boosted protease inhibitors (PI) on BMI. In this study, we aim at evaluating the BMI change in ART-experienced PLWHIV...

Rilpivirine is associated with a good efficacy and safety profile. However, data from real-life settings are scarce. Methods We investigated the durability, safety and efficacy of Rilpivirine-based antiretroviral therapy in a prospective, observational, multicenter study. Results We enrolled 499 HIV-infected patients, 360 (72.1%) males, mean age...

Riassunto Prove valide dei rischi e benefici di un intervento sono essenziali per migliorare la qualità delle cure, definire le linee guida, informare le politiche sanitarie. Gli studi clinici controllati randomizzati (RCT) e le metanalisi di RCT sono considerate il gold standard nel fornire le prove di efficacia di un intervento. Gli RCT sono spes...

This is a multicenter cross-sectional study where we aimed to detect the rate of osteopenia/osteoporosis in an HIV female population (WLWHIV) by means of “heel quantitative ultrasound” (QUS) measurement. We enrolled 273 patients, mean age 48.1 years, 36% menopausal, 96% on combination antiretroviral therapy (cART). Calcaneal measure of bone mass in...

Semen quality and male fertility are declining worldwide. As it was observed that physiologic and pathologic processes of spermatogenesis can be influenced by diet, the relation between dietary habits and semen parameters has been the focus of much interest. To review the human observational studies on this issue, we performed a systematic literatu...

The published data about alcohol consumption and uterine myoma are scanty and controversial: some studies found positive association whereas other studies showed no association.To conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis to determine whether alcohol is a risk factor for myoma.A MEDLINE/EMBASE search was carried out, supplemented by manual sear...

Queries Embase/Medline_May2017. (XLSX)

PRISMA 2009 checklist. (PDF)

Weight gain and body mass index (BMI) increase are central issues in patients living with HIV who need to minimize the risk of metabolic disease. Information collected through the SCOLTA cohort revealed significant 1-year BMI increase in patients treated with dolutegravir (P = .004), raltegravir (P = .0004), elvitegravir (P = .004), darunavir (P =...

Some studies have suggested that tobacco smoking may affect the risk of endometriosis, but published data are controversial. We conducted a case control study on the association between smoking and endometriosis risk Cases of endometriosis included 90 women (median age 35, range 19-49) with incident, i.e. laparoscopically diagnosed within the year...

Introduction In order to obtain information about the relationship between sleep disturbances and sperm parameters, we analyzed data from a study conducted in a Italian Fertility Clinic, in men of couples seeking help for infertility. Patients and methods Male partners with or without a medical history of reproductive organ diseases (cryptorchidis...

Background: Alcohol consumption, a common habit worldwide, may affect estrogen levels. A relation between alcohol intake and endometriosis risk has been suggested. Materials and Methods: Case-control study including 80 infertile women with histologically confirmed endometriosis and 90 women, admitted for a wide spectrum of acute conditions unrelate...

Background: Worldwide, prisoners are at high risk of suicide. Reducing the number of suicides in jails and prisons is an international priority. Several risk factors for suicide attempts, such as historical, prison-related, psychosocial and clinical factors, have been found in prisoners. We assessed whether demographic, conviction-related and neur...

Background Semen quality, a predictor of male fertility, has been suggested to be declining worldwide. Among other life style factors, male caffeine/coffee consumption was hypothesized to influence semen parameters, but also sperm DNA integrity. To summarize available evidence, a systematic review of observational studies on the relation between co...