Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: EC:3.4.16.2 (PCP)
 3,761 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Pneumocystis carinii is a common cause of pneumonia in individuals who are immunosuppressed by HIV infection. Use of molecular biological techniques show that P. carinii is a fungus and that infection in man is not a zoonosis. Invasive tests such as sputum induction or bronchoscopy are used to make the diagnosis of P. carinii pneumonia. Life long primary prophylaxis is given to HIV positive individuals with CD4+ lymphocyte counts < 0.20 x 10(9)/L or a CD4: total lymphocyte ratio of < 1.5, constitutional symptoms, or with other AIDS defining diseases. Secondary prophylaxis is given after a first episode to prevent a recurrence. First choice for primary and secondary prophylaxis is oral co-trimoxazole 960 mg od or three times a week. In patients who are intolerant to co-trimoxazole, nebulised pentamidine or dapsone (with or without pyrimethamine) are second and third choices. In a patient with acute PCP disease, severity should be assessed using clinical, radiographic and blood gas criteria as those with moderate or severe disease will benefit from adjuvant glucocorticoids. Co-trimoxazole (120 mg/kg/day in divided doses for 21 days) is first choice therapy for PCP of all degrees of severity. In patients who fail to respond to co-trimoxazole or who are intolerant to it, second line treatment is iv pentamidine in those with severe disease and oral dapsone with trimethoprim, oral clindamycin with primaquine or iv pentamidine in those with mild or moderately severe disease.
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PMID:Pneumocystis carinii infection: current treatment and prevention. 881 28

Pneumocystis was discovered nearly a century ago. It causes fatal pneumonia in immunocompromised individuals, especially in AIDS patients. Knowledge of the different species remained rudimentary until the mid-eighties when DNA analysis revealed its extensive diversity. In fact, it is no longer considered as a zoonosis. Pneumocystis organisms derived from different hosts have very different DNA sequences, indicating multiple species. Due to the genetic and functional disparities, the organism that causes human PCP is now named Pneumocystis jirovecii/Frenkel, 1999. We continue to call Pneumocystis carinii the species found in rats. This will allow for a single international language and avoid confusion. Changing the organism's name does not preclude the use of the well-known acronym PCP because it can also be read "PneumoCystis Pneumonia." The DNA sequences and genotypage have shown that variations exist among samples of P. jiroveci. Molecular biology is helpful in the study of the mechanisms of transmission, which can only occur in the same host and the different resistances as well as providing a better understanding of the relationship between host and pathogen. P. jirovecii pneumonia in immunosuppressed patients was previously thought to result from the reactivation of a latent infection acquired in early childhood. However, today, it is believed to result from a new infection from an exogenous source.
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PMID:[Pneumocystis jirovecii: what does this mean?]. 2116 41