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Query: UMLS:C0019693 (HIV)
 170,526 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP) is a highly frequent cause of morbidity and mortality in immunocompromised subjects, particularly in HIV-infected ones. The biology of P. Carinii is poorly understood because of the lack of reliable synthetic media or adequate cell lines to grow this opportunistic pathogen in continuous culture. We reported the suitability of the MDCK (Madin Darby Canine Kidney, ATTC CCL 34) cell line to support the temporary microorganism's growth in vitro and the experimental pharmacological trials, in comparison with the HEL 299 cell line, used as reference standard.
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PMID:Madin Darby canine kidney: a new cell line for Pneumocystis carinii in vitro culture. 875 55

Transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) is a multifunctional cytokine secreted by many mononuclear cells in peripheral blood (PBMC) and has diverse effects on cellular and humoral immunity. Increased TGF-beta mRNA expression has been reported in PBMC of HIV-infected patients, but the mechanism by which HIV induces TGF-beta secretion is unknown. In this study, we observed that HIV gp160 could induce significant TGF-beta secretion and TGF-beta mRNA expression in PBMC from HIV-seronegative healthy donors. The cellular source of TGF-beta was attributed to non-T cells, presumably monocytes. Specificity of secreted TGF-beta was confirmed by the addition of anti-TGF-beta mAb which abrogated the proliferative response of CCL-64 cells by gp160-treated culture supernatants. Soluble CD4 blocked the gp160-induced TGF-beta production, suggesting that CD4-gp160 interaction is required to induce TGF-beta production. Our results suggest that HIV-1 gp160 may contribute to the immune defects in HIV infection by inducing TGF-beta secretion.
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PMID:HIV-1 gp160 induces transforming growth factor-beta production in human PBMC. 881 Oct 49

Primary lymphoma of the stomach (PLS) is an uncommon neoplasm, accounting for up to 8 per cent of all malignant neoformations with this particular localization. Its development is linked to the so-called mucosa associated lymphoid tissue (MALT), wherefrom its denomination--MALT lymphoma--is derived. In the stomach, under ordinary conditions, it is nonexistent, and in most of the cases it is acquired through infection with H. pylori. In a prevailing percentage of PLS it is a matter of B-cell lymphoma with low-degree malignancy. T-cell lymphomas occur sporadically, as well as primary Hodgkin's lymphoma which is exceptionally rare. Histologically the B-cell lymphoma reiterates the structural pattern of Peyer's plaque prototype, involving also a number of non-neoplastic components. The most distinguishing cells are reminiscent of centrocytes (centrocyte-like cells--CCL)--a term adopted for all MALT-lymphoma cases. They vary considerably in terms of cytological appearance, and may even bear resemblance to Hodgkin's and Sternberg's cells. Signet-ring lymphomas, known in several variants, are also by no means ruled out. Immunohistochemical typing presupposes a definitive diagnosis being made. In case of immunosuppression (transplantation, HIV-infection) the risk of B-cell lymphomas development augment, and what is more, most of them associated with Epstein-Barr viruses characterized by a substantially more aggressive course and poor prognosis.
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PMID:[Primary lymphoma of the stomach]. 973 58

Distributing condoms to adolescents in an effort to protect them from pregnancy and HIV infection is a prescription for disaster because adolescents are too impulsive and undisciplined to use condoms properly. A 1988 survey showed that 27% of never-married, low-income, adolescent females became pregnant in their first year of depending upon condoms for birth control. A program of condom distribution in San Francisco's Balboa High School led to nearly double the number of sexually active students using condoms and a 25% increase in the school's overall pregnancy rate, despite graphic demonstrations of proper condom use. A school-based program of condom distribution in St. Paul, Minnesota, resulted in a 33% increase in pregnancy rates (from 22/1000 to 29), while condom distribution at an inner-city school in Dallas, Texas, resulted in an 11.2% pregnancy rate, a 47% increase from the rate of 7.6 in a control school. Studies have shown that even among adults with HIV-positive partners, counseling on proper condom use is not always effective. With this evidence that condom distribution only worsens the consequence of adolescent sexual activity, another approach must be found to protect adolescents from pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, and HIV infection.
CCL Family Found
PMID:The disastrous results of condom distribution programs. 1229 41

During World War II, venereal disease was regarded as a problem for men in uniform. At that time there were only three common sexually transmitted diseases (STDs): syphilis, gonorrhea, and venereal warts, along with crab lice. Today, there are two dozens STDs, and almost all of them are caused by viruses. They include AIDS, herpes, human papilloma virus, and also chlamydia. In explaining the emergence of the new sexual diseases, STOPP Planned Parenthood has suggested in its November 1987 newsletter that " ...because the contraceptive pill lowers the acid level of the vaginal area it may be a contributing factor to the development and transmission of AIDS." The December 1993 issue of Family Planning Perspectives has reported that "women who test positive for HIV virus and who also use the pill are more likely than non-users to have the virus present in their cervical and vaginal secretions and may be more likely to infect their sex partner... The presence of HIV virus in cervical secretions was nearly 12 times as likely among pill users as among non-users." The newsletter further states that infected women who were taking the pill were also more likely to transmit AIDS to a baby they delivered. Researchers should thoroughly investigate if the contraceptive pill has contributed to the emergence of STDs.
CCL Family Found
PMID:STDs and the pill. 1234 55

Written in 1987, this opinion was republished in the wake of US President Bill Clinton's AIDS prevention media campaign promoting condom use which began January 1994, targeted at young adults aged 18-25. The author staunchly opposes condom use even though he admits that people do not consider abstinence from sex to be a serious option for the prevention of HIV/STD infection. He believes that there is no moral use of sex with a condom and that condoms have always been a sign of immorality, be it prostitution, adultery, fornication, or marital contraception. Likewise, the author laments the success enjoyed by Planned Parenthood in achieving the social acceptance of marital contraception and sex outside of marriage. The complete social acceptance of homosexual activity, however, remains to be achieved. Magazines, newspapers, and television receive income in exchange for publishing or airing advertisements. Finding offensive advertisements which promote the use of condoms against HIV infection, the author recommends writing letters of complaint to the responsible media sources. If the television stations or publications in question continue to advertise condoms to the public, stop watching them or end one's subscriptions to the particular printed media. Such action taken collectively among many individuals will reduce product sales and income, and potentially sway corporate policy against condom ads.
CCL Family Found
PMID:Condom ads promote illicit sex. 1234 46

CCL-L1 binds more potently to CCR5 than any other chemokine; it inhibits HIV-1 infection in vitro, and its gene occurs in variable copy numbers, some individuals failing to produce it. We analysed the frequency of the absence of CCL3-L1 in 268 Caucasian Australian HIV-1 patients and 260 uninfected individuals. A CCL-L1-negative genotype frequency of 2.3% was found in HIV-1 negative individuals. No association was found between the absence of CCL3-L1 and susceptibility to, or rate of progression of, HIV-1 infection.
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PMID:Analysis of the CCL3-L1 gene for association with HIV-1 susceptibility and disease progression. 1509 12

The appalling toll on the populations of developing countries as a result of the HIV epidemic shows no signs of abatement. While costly drug therapies are effective in developed nations, the sheer scale of the epidemic elsewhere makes the need for a vaccine an ever more urgent goal. The prevalent DNA prime-viral boost strategy aims to elicit cytotoxic lymphocytes (CTL) against HIV, but this approach is undermined by the rapid mutation of HIV, which thereby escapes CTL control. Alloimmunity has been found to be protective in vertical transmission from infected mothers to their babies, in alloimmunization of women with their partners' mononuclear cells, and in monkeys immunized with SIV grown in human T-cells. Vaginal mucosal immunization, as a result of unprotected sex with a regular partner, induced in vitro protection against HIV infection, and this was confirmed in macaques. The second type of natural protection is found in persons with the homozygous 32 CCR5 mutation, a 32-base-pair deletion of the CCR5 gene, which results in a lack of cell-surface expression of CCR5, which is associated with an increase in CC chemokines and the development of CCR5 antibodies. These two 'experiments of nature' have been used to develop vaccine strategies--first, in vaginal immunization of macaques with CCR5 peptides, in addition to HIV envelope (env) and SIV core (gag) antigens, all of which were linked to the 70-kD heat-shock protein (HSP70); and second, in mucosal allo-immunization of macaques, which also gave rise to in vitro protection from infection. Immunization with this vaccine elicited serum and vaginal IgG and IgA antibodies, IFNgamma- and IL-12-producing cells, and increased concentrations of CCL-3 and CCL-4. Vaginal challenge with a simian immunodeficiency virus engineered to carry a human envelope protein (SHIV 89.6) showed significant clearance of SHIV in the immunized macaques. This platform strategy will now be developed to activate the co-stimulatory pathways with the aim of enhancing the primary allogeneic and CCR5-directed responses which are involved in natural protection against HIV infection.
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PMID:Innate and adaptive mucosal immunity in protection against HIV infection. 1667 45

Chemical protein synthesis is important for dissecting the molecular basis of protein function. Here we advance its scope by demonstrating the significant improvement of the multifaceted pharmaceutical profile of small proteins exclusively via a chemical-based approach. The focus of this work centered on CCL-5 (RANTES) derivatives with potent anti-HIV activity. The overall chemical strategy involved a combination of coded and noncoded amino acid mutagenesis, peptide backbone engineering, and site-specific polymer attachment. The ability to alter specific protein residues, as well as precise control of the position and type of polymer attachment, allows for the exploration of specific molecular designs and resulted in novel CCL-5 analogues with significant differences in their respective biochemical and pharmaceutical properties. Using this approach, the complex-interplay of variables contributing to the noncovalent self-association (aggregation) state, CCR-5 specificity, in vivo elimination half-life, and anti-HIV activity of CCL-5-based protein analogues could be empirically evaluated via total chemical synthesis. This work has led to the identification of potent (sub-nanomolar) anti-HIV proteins with significantly improved pharmaceutical profiles, and illustrates the increasing value of protein chemical synthesis in contemporary therapeutic discovery. These antiviral molecules provide a novel mechanism of action for the development of a new generation of anti-HIV therapeutics which are still desperately needed.
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PMID:A chemical approach to the pharmaceutical optimization of an anti-HIV protein. 1791 68

A mannose/glucose-specific lectin has been purified from Chinese evergreen chinkapin (Castanopsis chinensis) seeds, one of the most popular foods in East Asia. This lectin, designated as CCL, exhibited hemagglutinating activity in mouse and rabbit erythrocytes. It displayed a single band with a molecular mass of 29 kDa in SDS-PAGE and a 120-kDa peak in gel-filtration on Superdex-200. Its hemagglutinating activity was stable in the pH range 6-12 and at temperatures below 60 degrees C. The N-terminal amino acid sequence of CCL differed from those of other lectins in the same family. CCL inhibited the proliferation of HepG2 cells and adult emergence in fruitflies. CCL exhibited mitogenic activity toward mouse splenocytes, and induced nitric oxide production from mouse peritoneal macrophages but was devoid of inhibitory activity toward mycelial growth and HIV-1 reverse transcriptase.
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PMID:A mannose/glucose-specific lectin from Chinese evergreen chinkapin (Castanopsis chinensis). 1857 Aug 98


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