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Query: UMLS:C0001175 (AIDS)
 120,706 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Human T lymphotropic viruses (HTLVs) have a limited spread in the general populations of Western countries. Consequently, the transfusional risk for HTLV is consider to be low in Italy and the screening for anti-HTLV-I/II antibodies has not yet been introduced. In 1992, 1087 blood donors attending a transfusional center in northern Italy underwent anti-HTLV-I/II screening carried out by means of two different ELISA tests. Eleven individuals who were negative at the first test were borderline at the second, eight of them showing reactivity to Western blot (WB). Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for the detection of HTLV DNA, subsequently performed on the peripheral blood mononuclear cells of these 11 subjects, was positive in the same 8 WB-reactive donors. Five of them were infected by HTLV-II, and three by HTLV-1. Our results confirm that the sensitivity of the ELISA tests actually used for the detection of HTLV-I/II antibodies is low, and that HTLV-infected blood donors may be frequently undetected. Moreover, in our study population, the prevalence of HTLV infection (0.73%) was greater than that which might be expected from the existing seroepidemiological data in Italy.
AIDS Res Hum Retroviruses 1996 May 20
PMID:HTLV infection in ELISA-negative blood donors. 874 84

Chimpanzees infected with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) are used to model acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Since the central nervous system (CNS) is involved in AIDS, we performed an immunovirological study in 18 chimpanzees inoculated up to 87 months prior to the study (mean, 45 months) with HIV-1 and 8 uninfected controls. Serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) IgG and albumin levels of infected chimpanzees never exceeded those of controls. The CSF/serum albumin ratio was elevated in 1 of 18 infected chimpanzees compared to controls; however, all animals had an elevated ratio indicating a more open blood-brain barrier relative to humans. The intrathecal IgG production index was elevated in only 1 of 18 infected chimpanzees compared to controls. Identical serum and CSF IgG bands were found by isoelectric focusing in 2 of 8 controls and in 1 of 18 infected chimpanzees. None of these bands reacted with recombinant HIV-1 p24gag or gp 120env. HIV-1 was isolated from the peripheral blood of 4 of 18 infected chimpanzees but never from the paired CSF samples. Anti-HIV-1 antibody was detected by a enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in 18 of 18 paired serum and CSF samples and by Western blot in 18 of 18 serum and 13 of 18 CSF samples from infected chimpanzees without a difference in pattern. Polymerase chain reaction analysis on brain tissue of one animal was negative for HIV-1 sequences. Our results demonstrate that, unlike human infection, chimpanzees inoculated with HIV-1 show no evidence of isolatable virus in the CSF and no evidence of intrathecal anti-HIV-1 antibody synthesis up to several years after experimental infection. The lack of CNS involvement may contribute to the delay or suppression of clinical disease in infected chimpanzees.
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PMID:An immunovirological study of central nervous system involvement during HIV-1 infection of chimpanzees. 879 80

Microsporidia are now recognized as important pathogens of AIDS patients; the ability of these parasites to cause disease in immunocompetent persons is still being elucidated. Improved diagnostic tests for microsporidial infection are continually being sought for establishing diagnosis in order to avoid laborious electron microscopy studies that require invasively acquired biopsy specimens. Modified trichrome or chemofluorescent stains are useful for detecting microsporidia in bodily fluids and stool specimens, but they do not allow for speciation of microsporidia. Polymerase chain reaction with specific primers will allow the detection and speciation of microsporidia in biopsy tissue, bodily fluids, and stool specimens.
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PMID:Application of molecular techniques to the diagnosis of microsporidial infection. 890 28

The incidence of primary central nervous system lymphomas is increased several 1000-fold in AIDS patients. These are B-cell malignancies consistently associated with Epstein-Barr virus. They typically occur late in the course of HIV infection and are associated with a very short median survival. The pattern of Epstein-Barr virus gene expression is indicative of severe immunocompromise. Radiographic differentiation from toxoplasmosis remains a problem. Polymerase chain reaction amplification of Epstein-Barr virus DNA in cerebrospinal fluid, 18F-fluoro-deoxyglucose-positron emission tomography scanning, and 201-thallium single-photo emission CT are all promising noninvasive or minimally invasive diagnostic procedures that may obviate the need for brain biopsy in the future. Occasional patients have long remissions after therapy but most patients die within a few months. A possible role for combined modality therapy, including combination chemotherapy, is being explored.
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PMID:AIDS primary central nervous system lymphoma. 902 61

A 32-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital because of diarrhea, fever, and liver dysfunction. IgM antibody to hepatitis C antibody and hepatitis B makers were negative. Antibodies to human deficiency virus was negative. Bacterial cultures of the stool were negative. Sigmoidoscopy on the 9th hospital day showed diffuse edematous and inflated mucosa in the rectum and left-sided colon. Multiple erosions and small ulcers were also present. Polymerase chain reaction examination revealed cytomegalovirus (CMV) DNA in the biopsy specimen of the rectum and the blood on the 10th hospital day. IgG antibody titer to CMV was low, but IgM titer was high. Her physical state had improved and fever resolved without anti-CMV therapy. Second sigmoidoscopy on the 24th hospital day showed normal mucosa. One month later the patient was free from any symptoms. Immunocompromised patients such as recipients of solid organ and bone marrow transplants, patients with AIDS, and patients with malignancies frequently complicate CMV colitis, which can be a major cause of death. Thus, CMV colitis is rarely overlooked in immunocompromised patients. Only a few cases of CMV colitis are reported in adult patients with no risk for CMV infection or associated disease. CMV colitis should be concluded in the differential diagnosis of acute or subacute colitis even in immunocompetent patients.
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PMID:[Cytomegalovirus colitis in a normal woman]. 910 68

Recently, a new human herpesvirus (KSHV/HHV-8) has been identified in classic, transplant, endemic, and AIDS Kaposi's sarcoma that may be involved in the pathogenesis of Kaposi's sarcoma. The purpose of this study was to evaluate oral AIDS-Kaposi's sarcoma for detection of KSHV/HHV-8 DNA. DNA extracted from 54 oral AIDS-Kaposi's sarcoma lesions (47 initial, 7 postvinblastine treated), 5 non-Kaposi's sarcoma HIV-positive lesions, and 3 non-Kaposi's sarcoma HIV-negative lesions was evaluated by polymerase chain reaction (KS330(233bp)amplicon) for KSHV/HHV-8. The AIDS-Kaposi's sarcoma study population consisted of 52 patients (51:1, men:woman; 92% men having sex with men, 8% heterosexual; mean age, 38 years; mean, CD4 59/mm3) Opportunistic infections occurred in 88% (candidiasis, 65%; Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia, 31%; nonoral Kaposi's sarcoma, 25%; mycobacterium avium-intracellulare (MAI), 16%; cytomegalovirus, 14%; herpes simplex virus, 14%). Sexually transmitted diseases occurred in 73% (gonorrhea, 37%; syphilis, 23%; condyloma, 22%; HSV, 16%). Most frequent lesion sites were palate (74%) and gingiva (17%). Most common lesion types were purple nodular (48%) and macular (42%). Histopathologic subtypes were nodular (71%), plaque (27%), and patch (2%). Polymerase chain reaction analysis detected KSHV/HHV-8 DNA in 53 of 54 AIDS-Kaposi's sarcoma lesions (47 of 47 initial, 6 of 7 postvinblastine treatment). KSHV/HHV-8 DNA was not detected in non-Kaposi's sarcoma lesions in HIV-positive or HIV-negative persons. KSHV/HHV-8 DNA sequence is present in a high proportion of oral AIDS-Kaposi's sarcoma lesions. Whether KSHV/HHV-8 is an etiologic agent or a cofactor in the development of this vascular neoplasm is uncertain and remains to be proven. Polymerase chain reaction analysis for KSHV/HHV-8 DNA sequence detection may be helpful in identifying Kaposi's sarcoma in early vascular proliferations, when the characteristic histopathologic features are not present.
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PMID:Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus-like DNA sequences (KSHV/HHV-8) in oral AIDS-Kaposi's sarcoma: a PCR and clinicopathologic study. 911 59

Polymerase chain reaction-based limiting dilution assays (PLDAs), commonly called end-point dilutions, are frequently used to quantify the copy numbers of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and other viruses in biological samples; however, the way in which these assays are done, and the mathematical method used to estimate copy numbers, vary from laboratory to laboratory. Here, we describe a statistical method for estimating the number of copies and the associated standard error of the estimate, using a PLDA. The copy number is estimated by the value that maximizes the goodness of fit between the observed numbers of negative reactions and the expected numbers of negative reactions (the latter estimated using a Poisson probability distribution) as measured by the chi2 statistic. The method described here also takes into account user-specified probabilities of obtaining a false-positive or a false-negative PCR result, a feature that is not generally available with other limiting dilution estimation procedures. QUALITY, a computer program that implements the estimation strategy, is also described. Simulations illustrate the efficiency of estimation with different numbers of PCR amplifications conducted at each dilution, and different dilution factors. Finally, a simple strategy for more efficient assays is proposed.
AIDS Res Hum Retroviruses 1997 Jun 10
PMID:Quantitation of target molecules from polymerase chain reaction-based limiting dilution assays. 917 Dec 17

Polymerase chain reaction (PCR), virus culture and antigen detection assays are useful for early detection of vertically transmitted human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection in infants under 12 months of age. Sixty-four children born to HIV-1-seropositive mothers were evaluated. Thirteen children (20.3%) were repeatedly positive by PCR analysis. There was 100% concordance between the results obtained from PCR and culture assays. Measurement of p24 antigen in serum was, in contrast, a less sensitive marker of HIV infection: only 5/13 infants had positive p24 antigen results. We have investigated the relationship among the HIV-1 biological phenotype, replicative capacity of viral isolates, HIV RNA copy number in plasma, p24 antigenaemia, CD4 T lymphocyte counts and the clinical status in 13 HIV-infected infants. Six out of 13 HIV-1 isolates from these patients were classified as rapid/high and seven as slow/low. We have found a significantly positive correlation between the replication rate of HIV isolates and their capacity to induce syncytia in vitro. The HIV-1 isolates with rapid/high and syncytium-inducing phenotype, and isolates with slow/low and non-syncytium-inducing phenotype were obtained from infants who had HIV-1 RNA copy number ml(-1) plasma values of 27654-83520 and 1342-34321, respectively. Levels of HIV-1 RNA were measured in sequential plasma samples from three HIV-infected infants and their biological properties determined in vitro. Our findings indicate that infants who carried viruses with more cytophatic biological phenotype and who had higher viral RNA copy numbers in blood were more likely to have lower CD4+ T cell counts and more likely to develop full-blown AIDS.
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PMID:Immunological and virological markers of disease progression in HIV-infected children. 924 Aug 57

A 61-year-old man with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) sought care because of the onset of progressive dysphagia. He was found to have a perforated, fungating esophageal mass. The combined histologic and immunologic findings were diagnostic of Hodgkin's disease, nodular sclerosis type, lymphocyte-depleted variant, arising in the esophagus. The Reed-Sternberg cells and mononuclear variants were positive for Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) latent membrane protein (LMP1) and EBV RNA. Occasional small lymphoid cells were also positive for EBV RNA. Polymerase chain reaction studies demonstrated the presence of EBV type A without deletion of the EBV LMP1 gene. Other authors have reported an increased frequency of type B EBV and deletion of the EBV LMP1 gene in cases of human immunodeficiency virus-associated Hodgkin's disease. Hodgkin's disease arising in the esophagus is rare in immunocompetent patients. However, in the presence of AIDS, Hodgkin's disease should be considered in the differential diagnosis of patients with signs or symptoms of esophageal disease.
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PMID:Hodgkin's disease of the esophagus. 935

Microsporidia, which are members of the phylum Microspora, are increasingly recognized as causing opportunistic infections in persons with immunodeficiency (e.g., AIDS). Diarrhea is the predominant clinical sign associated with infections by two Microsporidia, namely Enterocytozoon bieneusi and Encephalitozoon intestinalis (which was formerly named Septata intestinalis). Prevalence rates of microsporidiosis in persons with AIDS and chronic diarrhea range fron 7 to 50%. Transmission electron microscopy has been the gold standard by which to diagnose microsporidiosis and requires observing a polar filament which is the structure distinguishing Microsporidia from other organisms. Transmission electron microscopy is difficult, time-consuming, costly, relatively insensitive, and requires a great deal of expertise. As such, histochemical methods have been developed and improved for detecting Microsporidia. Diagnoses from stool specimens or enteric fluids can be made using the chitin-staining fluorochromes (e.g., Calcofluor White) and the modified trichrome stain which are highly sensitive, particularly when both are used. Immunofluorescent antibody staining methods are being developed to improve specificity, but reagents are not yet commercially available. Microsporidia can be detected most readily in tissue biopsies by Gram stain, Giemsa stain, or immunofluorescent antibody. Polymerase chain reaction methods are in their infancy for application, but should prove to be particularly sensitive and specific in the future.
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PMID:Workup of gastrointestinal microsporidiosis. 943 98


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