HIV epidemic development in Russia poses serious threat to national welfare and thus makes educating health care professionals in HIV/AIDS issues a priority. Developing and elaborating of relevant educational programs, organizing the process of eduction, devising and implementing of novel educational approaches are possible only on the basis of further research into the organizational, clinical, pathogenetic, epidemiological and preventive aspects of HIV infection and AIDS. That is what has made reasons for the expansion and intensive development of HIV medicine as a unique speciality in the system of higher and advanced medical education. Besides HIV infection, socially important infections include chronic viral hepatites, sexually transmitted diseases, and tuberculosis. The newly formed Socially Important Infections Chair is intended for providing a complex of educational programs to specialists in different fields of health care. The interdisciplinary approach to the development of a human resource specialising in socially important infections implies the reasonability and expediency of implementation of all officially adopted forms of education, including the evaluation and introduction of novel educational technologies, integration of education and research, internship at worksites, and remote and mixed forms of learning.

Hepatocellular carcinoma is one of the most common malignant tumors with a high rate mortality of patients without adequate therapy. Thus, early diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma is crucial for improving the quality of life and the survival rate for patients. Measuring the concentration of O-fetoprotein and liver ultrasound are commonly used in the early diagnosis of liver cancer. However, the sensitivity and specificity of measuring O-fetoprotein in liver cancer screening is not always satisfactory. Achievements of biochemistry, molecular genetics and systems biology in the integrative analysis of tumors and their environment led to the identification of new molecular markers of hepatocellular carcinoma, which may be promising tools to improve the existing algorithms of diagnosis and treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma.

The probability of liver cirrhosis and the time course of its progression in chronic viral hepatitis C (VHC) depend on many factors. Studies of liver sinusal cell interactions rarely address resident macrophages (Kupffer cells) in the chronic viral hepatitis context. Besides inflammation, processes initiated by Kupffer cells include liver parenchima fibrosing caused by stellate cells activation. In the present study, certain pathomorphological features of Kupffer cells are recorded and a correlation between the number of the cells and the counts of monocytes in peripheral blood is found in chronic VHC patients.

The outcomes of perinatal exposure to HIV in neonates born to HIV infected mothers were reviewed retrospectively to characterize perinatal HIV transmission risk factors and their effects on the possibility of HIV transmission to neonates. It was found that the routes of HIV contracting by mothers did not significantly influence perinatal HIV transmission. HIV detection in mothers immediately upon delivery was associated with a higher risk of HIV contracting by their babies compared with the cases of an earlier HIV detection, probably, because of the earlier onsets of chemopreventive interventions in the latter cases. Chemoprevention started at the 36th week of gestation or later was found to provide no benefits with regard to the reduced risk of perinatal HIV transmission compared with the cases of no chemoprevention throughout gestation. Breastfeeding was found to be associated with a significantly increased risk of HIV transmission. These findings made the basis to suggest criteria of the high risk of adverse outcomes of perinatal contact with HIV depending on the organisation of regular medical check-ups of pregnant women and provided evidence of the advantageousness of the earlier choice and onset of chemoprevention using triple therapy. The efficacies of complete and different variants of incomplete regimens of chemoprevention are compared in the present report.

Varicella zoster infection (VZI) in HIV patients is a socially important condition, which is still poorly studied. In the present study, VZI case histories were examined for 141 HIV patients treated at S.P. Botkin Clinical Hospital in 2012. In most cases (92%), the disease took the form of zona serpiginosa. Complications were detected in 27% of cases, ophthalmological manifestations being predominant. A significant association between complicated VZI and low CD4+ cell counts was found

Patients with schizophrenia and HIV-infection are characterized by severe behavioral disorders and anosognosia of physical suffering. The following risk factors for HIV infection among patients with schizophrenia have been revealed: an adverse social environment, psychopathic pattern of behavior, affective disorders, concomitant syndromes of substance abuse. HIV infection influences the entire clinical structure of schizophrenia psychopathology: after HIV contagation the frequency and intensity of mood disorders and neurosis disorders reduced, the frequency of hallucinations and delusions increased, psychopathological defect increased, cognitive impairment was more frequently registered.

Literature on the effectiveness and side effects of drug therapy for hepatitis C is reviewed. An option for increasing the effectiveness of conventional drug therapy is provided by a novel complex therapeutic modality VRAD (Virus Removal and ErAidication by DFPP) used in Japan since 2008. A combination of DFPP with PEG-Inf preparations and Ribavirin as a therapy for genotype 1 HCV infection including cases of HIV coinfection was evaluated in 2011-2013 at Saint-Petersburg AIDS Center. The results of using such therapy for HCV/HIV coinfection are reported for the first time.

The article describes a technique of brain MRI postprocessing to assess brain atrophy changes in patients with multiple sclerosis. The technique is based on the integrated use of different software tools for automatic segmentation of normal brain structures. Comparative results of brain structure evaluation using FreeSurfer and FSL software packages are presented. Using a structured report to show the main results of postprocessing is proposed. The report can be used for segmentation visual quality control and for dynamic comparison of individual morphometry results. The use of an auxiliary in-house software which defines sequence and startup parameters for the used programs in a group of patients and automatically creates structured reports is proposed.

The results of STaR and SPIRIT trials of the STR antiretroviral drug combination RPV/FTC/TDF are discussed. STaR trial has convincingly demonstrated that the virological and immunological outcomes of two 2NRT+NNRTI ART regimens, RPV/FTC/TDF and EFV/FTC/TDF, which are administered by fixed STR doses, are equivalent. STR use of RPV/FTC/TDF was associated with decreases in the rates of ART discontinuation for adverse events, of detected CNS problems, and of skin rash development and with minimal changes in blood lipids. SPIRIP trial showed that, upon turning to STR RPV/FTC/TDF from a 2NRTI+PI/r regimen, ART effectiveness is preserved and lipid metabolism significantly improves. Based on these findings, STR using RPV/FTC/TDF is rated as a first-line therapy for HIV patients having baseline HIV RNA counts less that 105/mL, and also may be an option for simplification of ART and for correction and prevention of metabolic disorders associated with ART.

In patients with combined HIV/Type 1 HCV infection who were not treated for HVC or failed to respond to double ART, the standard therapeutic approach is triple ART, which includes viral protease inhibitors (PI + PEG-Ifn + RBV). The drug of choice in such regimens is the second generation PI Simeprevir because of its high potency, good safety profile, and convenient administration schedule (one 150 mg capsule once daily). Upon the presence of several positive prognostic factors (CC IL28C genotype, baseline HCV RNA counts <400 000 mL^-1, and overt liver fibrosis) in naive patients with Type 1 HCB, therapy may be started using a traditional regimen, which includes PEG-Ifn and ribavirin. If rapid virological response is achieved, such regimen my be continued to the end of treatment. If there is no RVS, a PI inhibitor should be added. When concurrent therapies for HCV and HIV are needed, it is reasonable to start with HAART with account of possible drug interactions between HCV PI and ART drugs.

One of the key groups in terms of HIV are men who have sex with men. The paper presents a three-stage study data of this group of men.

The effectiveness of standard schemes of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) among prisoners with HIV in Tajikistan has been studied. A steady decline in viral load and improvement of immunological parameters during the HAART has been found.

Russian legislation has been analyzed as it relates to health care interventions aimed at preventing mother-to-child HIV transmission without consent given either by the women concerned or her legal representative in the cases when the women rejects submitting her newborn baby for HIV testing and treating with ART. It is concluded that legal regulations of health care interventions to be exercised in situations that pose a threat to patient's life or upon diseases that endanger other people cannot be directly applied to such newborn babies because it is impossible to claim with confidence that a baby is HIV infected when the baby's mother has refused HIV testing, since the baby would not be deceased at once if no ART were provided.