Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: EC:2.7.10.2 (focal adhesion kinase)
 44,029 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Cryptococcus neoformans is an important opportunist pathogen in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. Cryptococcal meningitis (CM) 3rd after primary HIV neuropathy an Toxoplasma gondii among infectious neurological diseases in AIDS patients. Extrapulmonary infection due to C. neoformans has occurred in up to 13% of patients. 86% of the Cryptococcus spp isolates in the US, Canada, and Japan are serotype A. Thousands of infection due to var neoformans have been reported in AIDS patients but only 3 cases of var gattii. Cryptococcal pneumonia meningitis appears in 63-84% of AIDS patients with symptoms of fever, headache, meningism, and photophobia. 17-37% of AIDS patients with Cm die during therapy, and only 18-30% live over 12 months. Treatment in patients without immunodeficiency deficit is with a combination of .3 mg/kg/day of amphotericin B and 150 mg/kg/day of flucytosine for 4 weeks. A dose of .5-.8 mg/kg/day amphotericin was most effective although renal toxicity occurred in 80% of patients. Fluconazole has been used since 1987: cerebrospinal fluid concentrations reached 60-80% in serum. Treatment in 8 of 14 patients receiving 400 mg/day fluconazole failed while it did not in 6 patients treated with .7 mg/kg/day of amphotericin for 7 days and flucytosine 100 mg/kg/day. 200 mg/bid itraconazole was given to 32 patients with cryptococcosis (24 CM cases and 26 AIDS victims) and 65% of CM patients improved clinically with negative cultures. The relapse of 2 of 106 patients taking 200 mg/day fluconazole and 13 of 77 patients taking 1 mg/kg/week amphotericin B occurred in maintenance therapy. CM was suppressed in 10 of 15 patients with 400 mg/kg itrazonazole. Prophylactic use of azole drugs in AIDS does not protect completely from CM although it reduced systemic fungal infections such as cryptococcosis.
Int J STD AIDS
PMID:Cryptococcal infection in AIDS. 161 62

We examined the effects of travel on the health of a group of HIV-infected adults (n = 89) cared for in a public hospital HIV clinic. In a period of 2 years, 45% travelled to a median of 3 US destinations for at least one week and 20% travelled to at least one international destination for a mean duration of 20 days. At the time of completion of the survey, the majority of these patients were severely immunosuppressed (median CD4+ count, 120/mm3). A physician was consulted concerning travel before 53% of the trips, but only one person consulted a travel medicine expert. All but one patient (98%) who was receiving medical therapy carried sufficient supplies of medication; 95% estimated their compliance with medication at 75% or better. None of the travellers to developing countries received gamma globulin, but one received yellow fever vaccine. Fifteen travellers (43%) became ill either during their trip or immediately thereafter; 3 required hospitalization. While most illnesses were not severe, 4 patients developed potentially life-threatening infections including coccidioidomycosis, cryptococcosis, PCP, and bacterial pneumonia. This survey provides information by which the clinician can anticipate the health care needs of HIV-infected patients who travel. HIV-infected patients should be more aware of the necessity for medical counsel prior to travel.
Int J STD AIDS 1997 Jan
PMID:Travels with HIV: the compliance and health of HIV-infected adults who travel. 904 81

We present 2 cases of systemic cryptococcosis with cutaneous involvement in patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Both patients were male, intravenous drug abusers, 31 and 35 years old, with severe immunodepression and a CD4+ lymphocyte count of 10/ml and 1/ml, respectively. They both had papular lesions reminiscent of molluscum contagiosum and in one patient with concomitant systemic leishmaniasis, there were spores of Cryptococcus neoformans coexisting with the leishmanias in the cutaneous lesions, constituting the first reported case of this particular association. Both patients responded well to amphotericin B followed by fluconazole.
Int J STD AIDS 2000 Jul
PMID:Cutaneous cryptococcosis in two patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. 1091 92

Seven AIDS patients with disseminated cryptococcosis who had had immune reconstitution following highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) had discontinued their secondary antifungal prophylaxis to prevent relapse of Cryptococcus neoformans infection. The median CD4+ count was 236 cells/ micro L (range, 117-404 cells/ micro L; mean, 247 cells/ micro L) and the plasma viral loads were undetectable in five patients at discontinuation of antifungal prophylaxis. No relapse of cryptococcosis was detected in these patients after a median observation duration of nine months (range, 5.5-4.1 months, mean, 14.6 months) following discontinuation. Our data and review of the literature suggest that discontinuation of fluconazole prophylaxis is safe in patients with reconstitution of immunity following#10; initiation of HAART.
Int J STD AIDS 2002 Oct
PMID:Successful discontinuation of fluconazole as secondary prophylaxis for cryptococcosis in AIDS patients responding to highly active antiretroviral therapy. 1239 41

The HIV epidemic is emerging rapidly in Vietnam. We studied the prevalence of opportunistic infections by performing clinical and microbiological investigations in 100 hospitalized HIV-infected adults in Ho Cho Minh City, Vietnam. The median CD4 count was 20 cells/mm(3) and in-hospital mortality was 28%. The most frequent diagnoses were oral candidiasis (54), tuberculosis (37), wasting syndrome (34), lower respiratory tract infection (13), cryptococcosis (9), and penicilliosis (7). Bacterial (other than tuberculosis) and parasitic infections were uncommon. Regional differences should be considered when deciding which diagnostic procedures and prophylactic measures to implement. In Vietnam, routine mycobacterial blood cultures do not provide greater yield than chest radiography and sputum and lymph node aspirate smears. Prophylactic trimethoprim/sulphamethoxazole against Pneumocystis jiroveci pneumonia may confer little benefit, and high rates of isoniazid resistance may affect the efficacy and feasibility of tuberculosis chemoprophylaxis. However, the usefulness of itraconazole prophylaxis for cryptococcosis and penicilliosis merits further consideration.
Int J STD AIDS 2004 Nov
PMID:Opportunistic infections in hospitalized HIV-infected adults in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam: a cross-sectional study. 1553 64

Fever of unknown origin (FUO) is a common presentation for patients with advanced human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). We prospectively followed 72 patients, consecutively admitted to a Thai regional hospital with FUO and HIV infection to identify aetiologies and mortality in the era of available antiretroviral therapy (ART). Aetiologies of FUO were identified in 67 patients (93%), of whom 61(85%) had an infectious aetiology. The most common infectious aetiologies were Mycobacterium tuberculosis (n=30; 42%), Cryptococcus neoformans (n=17; 24%), Pneumocystis jiroveci (n=9; 13%), Toxoplasma gondii (n=5; 7%), and salmonella bacteraemia (n=5; 7%). Nineteen patients (26%) had co-infection with two or more pathogens. The median CD4 count was 120 cells/mm(3) (range, 1-581 cells/mm(3)), and the all-cause mortality was 22% (n=16). By multivariate analysis, inadequate antimicrobial treatment was the sole predictor of mortality (aOR=4.9; 95% CI=1.2-21.9; P=0.02). Overall, 58 of 72 patients (81%) had an opportunistic infection suggesting that guideline use of ART and prophylactic strategies remain unmet needs that will benefit individuals and populations with HIV/AIDS in Thailand.
Int J STD AIDS 2008 Apr
PMID:Fever of unknown origin in patients with HIV infection in Thailand: an observational study and review of the literature. 1848 40

Previously, we reported that Galactoxylomannan (GalXM) activates the extrinsic and intrinsic apoptotic pathways through an interaction with the glycoreceptors on T cells. In this study we establish the role of the glycoreceptor CD45 in GalXM-induced T cell apoptosis, using CD45(+/+) and CD45(-/-) cell lines, derived from BW5147 murine T cell lymphoma. Our results show that whereas CD45 expression is not required for GalXM association by the cells, it is essential for apoptosis induction. In CD45(+/+) cells, CD45 triggering by GalXM reduces the activation of Lck, ZAP70 and Erk1/2. Conversely, in CD45(-/-) cells, Lck was hyperphosphorylated and did not show any modulation after GalXM stimulation. On the whole, our findings provide evidence that the negative regulation of Lck activation occurs via CD45 engagement. This appears to be related to the capacity of GalXM to antagonize T cell activation and induce T cell death. Overall this mechanism may be responsible for the immune paralysis that follows GalXM administration and could explain the powerful immunosuppression that accompanies cryptococcosis.
 ...
PMID:Role of CD45 signaling pathway in galactoxylomannan-induced T cell damage. 2085 69

Cryptococcus remains an important opportunistic infection in HIV patients despite considerable declines in prevalence during the highly active antiretroviral therapy era. This is particularly apparent in sub-Saharan Africa, where Cryptococcus continues to cause significant mortality and morbidity. This review discusses the microbiology, epidemiology, pathogenesis and clinical presentation of cryptococcal infections in HIV patients. Additionally, a detailed approach to the management of cryptococcosis is provided.
Int J STD AIDS 2010 Oct
PMID:An update on Cryptococcus among HIV-infected patients. 2113 45

We report the case of an HIV-infected patient who has been followed for 20 years, and despite presenting with AIDS (due to three episodes of cryptococcosis plus one of Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia) who during subsequent years missed, refused or took with limited compliance all recommended medications, including combination antiretroviral therapy, and primary and secondary antimicrobial chemoprophylaxis against opportunistic infections. The unexpected clinical and laboratory stabilization of our patient paralleled a progressive increase in his peripheral CD4+ T-lymphocyte count (range 410-825 cells/mL) and a relatively controlled HIV viraemia (5970-44,000 HIV-RNA copies/mL). Such a recovery of sufficient immune competency after experiencing four episodes of severe AIDS-associated opportunistic infections, without reliable antiretroviral and antimicrobial support raises several questions.
Int J STD AIDS 2012 Mar
PMID:Long-term stabilized immunological-virological parameters of HIV infection in an AIDS presenter followed for 20 years, with irregular or no antiretroviral therapy. 2258 97

We describe a case of cryptococcal meningitis in a patient known to have HIV who presented initially with ocular cryptococcosis. This case highlights to clinicians the need to be aware of this association and to carry out relevant investigations so as to treat these patients appropriately.
Int J STD AIDS 2012 May
PMID:Ocular cryptococcosis as a presenting manifestation of cryptococcal meningitis in a patient with HIV. 2264


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