Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0019163 (hepatitis B)
 38,309 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

A cross-sectional study of a cohort of 49 male human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected intravenous drug users attending the Infectious Diseases Unit of the National University of Malaysia during 1991-94 yielded a clinical profile of these patients. The mean age of respondents was 33.2 years and the mean duration of intravenous drug use was 12.7 years. On average, these men had known of their HIV-positivity for 53.2 weeks. Intravenous drug use was the only reported HIV risk factor in 34 men (69%). Clinical symptoms at intake included fatigue (49%), weight loss (47%), night sweats (31%), fever (14%), and diarrhea (6%), while clinical findings included hepatomegaly (57%), lymphadenopathy (35%), and oral thrush (29%). Anemia (82%), leucocytosis (53%), hypoalbuminemia (43%), hyperglobulinemia (88%), elevated liver enzymes and hyponatremia (57%) were frequent laboratory findings. The prevalences of hepatitis B virus, cytomegalovirus, and toxoplasma infection were 12.1%, 72.7%, and 59%, respectively. A total of 91 diagnoses were made in these 49 patients: most common were pneumonia, tuberculosis, bacteremia, infective endocardiditis, mycotic aneurysm, and psychiatric disorders. The mean duration of known progression to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) in the 7 patients at this stage was 391 days. Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia was the most common AIDS-defining illness. Three months into the study, 19 men (57%) had defaulted, reflecting the difficulties of involving drug addicts in research and intervention projects. Moreover, 16 patients (33%) were first confirmed HIV-positive at presentation to the hospital, suggesting that many drug users' HIV status remains unknown until they develop symptoms requiring hospital care.
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PMID:A study of Malaysian drug addicts with human immunodeficiency virus infection. 906 11

Many viruses can be responsible for systemic vasculitis, the most frequent being hepatitis B virus-related polyarteritis nodosa (HBV-PAN), even though its incidence has decreased over the past few decades. Mixed cryoglobulinemia has been shown to be associated with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in more than 80% of the patients, but it remains asymptomatic in most of them with only a minority developing vasculitis. Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), erythrovirus B19, cytomegalovirus, varicella-zoster virus and human T-cell lymphotropic virus (HTLV)-1 have also been reported to be associated with or implicated in the development of vasculitides. On the other hand, some bacteria, fungi or parasites can also cause vasculitis, mainly by direct invasion of blood vessels or septic embolization, leading, e.g., to the well-known feature of 'mycotic aneurysm'. Syphilitic aortitis and/or cerebrovascular disease and rickettsial diseases are other, more specific, bacteria-induced vasculitides. Recognizing an infectious origin of vasculitides is of great importance because treatment strategies differ from those applied to non-infectious forms. Effective antimicrobial drugs are mandatory to treat bacterial, parasitic or fungal infections, while the combination of antiviral agents and plasma exchanges has been proven to be effective against HBV-PAN. This latter strategy might also be effective against HIV-associated vasculitis and, unlike cytotoxic agents, does not jeopardize the outcome of HIV-infected patients. In the context of HCV-related cryoglobulinemic vasculitis, antiviral drugs are necessary to achieve recovery, in combination with low-dose corticosteroids and/or rituximab. In the near future, newer antiviral agents will probably also have their place in the therapeutic armamentarium for these patients.
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PMID:Vasculitides secondary to infections. 1685