Ruth Mwatelah

University of Manitoba | UMN · Department of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases

Objective: To infer the timing of HIV acquisition in relation to self-reported events in the sexual life course of adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) who self-identify as female sex workers (FSW) in Mombasa, Kenya. Design: Next-generation viral sequencing of samples of AGYW living with HIV in the Transitions study, a cross-sectional bio-beh...

Regulatory T cells (Tregs) play important roles in tissue homeostasis, but few studies have investigated tissue Tregs in the context of genital inflammation, HIV target cell density, and vaginal microbiota in humans. In women from Nairobi (n=64), the proportion of CD4+ CD25+ CD127low Tregs in the endocervix correlated with those in blood (r=0.31, p...

Regulatory T cells (Tregs) play important roles in tissue homeostasis, but few studies have investigated tissue Tregs in the context of genital inflammation, HIV target cell density, and vaginal microbiota in humans. In women from Nairobi (n=64), the proportion of CD4+ CD25+ CD127low Tregs in the endocervix correlated with those in blood (r=0.31, p...

Objective: Both HIV infection and identifying as MSM have been linked to altered rectal microbiota composition, but few studies have studied sexual behavioural associations with rectal microbiota within MSM. In addition, most rectal microbiota studies in MSM have been limited geographically to Europe and North America, and replication of findings...

Background: While non-optimal vaginal bacteria and inflammation have been associated with increased HIV risk, the upstream drivers of these phenotypes are poorly defined in young African women. Setting: Mombasa, Kenya. Methods: We characterized vaginal microbiome and cytokine profiles of sexually active young women aged 14-24 years (n=168) in...

Introduction: Globally, sexually transmitted infections (STI) affect >300 million people annually, and are a major cause of sexual and reproductive health complications in women. In this commentary, we describe how STIs interact with the immune and non-immune cells, both within and below the cervicovaginal mucosal barrier, to cause inflammation, w...

Background Bacterial STIs increase mucosal inflammation and HIV acquisition risk. However, most data are limited to symptomatic STIs, and more data are required regarding the prevalence and correlates of asymptomatic bacterial STIs among high-risk young women, and how these vary by exposure to sex work. Methods We estimated the prevalence of 6 STI...

The gastrointestinal (GI) mucosa is central to HIV pathogenesis, and the integrin α4β7 promotes the homing of immune cells to this site, including those that serve as viral targets. Data from simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) animal models suggest that α4β7 blockade provides prophylactic and therapeutic benefits. We show that pre-HIV infection fr...

Introduction Treatment failure is a key challenge in the management of HIV-1 infection. We examined the association of nevirapine blood levels with virologic treatment outcome and adherence among Kenyan patients on antiretroviral therapy (ART). Methods A cross-sectional study involving 58 subjects receiving nevirapine as part of ART regimen. Clinic...

Background: Injection drug use is steadily rising in Kenya. We assessed the prevalence of both human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections among injecting heroin users (IHUs) at the Kenyan Coast. Methods: A total of 186 IHUs (mean age, 33 years) from the Omari rehabilitation center program in Malindi were c...

There is a continuous need to genetically characterize the HIV strains in circulation in order to assess interventions and inform vaccine discovery. We partially sequenced the envelope C2V3 gene from a total of 59 Kenyan patients on highly active antiretroviral treatment (HAART) and determined HIV subtypes using both the JPHMM subtyping tool and th...

Universal access to highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) is still elusive in most developing nations. We asked whether peer support influenced adherence and treatment outcome and if a single viral load (VL) could define treatment failure in a resource-limited setting. A multicenter longitudinal and cross-sectional survey of VL, CD4 T cells,...

There is continuous need to track genetic profiles HIV strains circulating in different geographic settings to hasten vaccine discovery and inform public health and intervention policies. We partially sequenced the reverse transcriptase region of HIV-1 pol gene from a total of 54 Kenyan patients aged 18-56 years who continued highly active antiretr...