Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0020538 (hypertension)
 170,190 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

A 55-year-old white man with a history of hypertension, fibromyalgia, and colonic polyps presented with unrelenting plantar warts on his hands and feet for the past 4 years. He was otherwise healthy and without a history of recurrent infections. Physical examination was unremarkable except for extensive warts on his hands and feet. Pertinent laboratory findings included hypoalbuminemia, hypogammaglobulinemia, and lymphopenia most severely affecting CD4(+) T cells. Testing for HIV infection was negative. This clinical and laboratory presentation suggested a combined humoral and cellular immunodeficiency syndrome that could be best explained by loss of lymphocytes, immunoglobulins, and other serum proteins. Additional immunologic testing revealed a marked reduction in peripheral blood naive (CD4(+)CD45RA(+)) T cells. A 24-hour stool collection showed a markedly elevated alpha(1)-antitrypsin level. These findings were most consistent with the diagnosis of intestinal lymphangiectasia, a type of protein-losing enteropathy associated with hypoalbuminemia, hypogammaglobulinemia, and lymphopenia, characterized by a preferential loss of naive CD4(+) T cells into the gastrointestinal tract. This case illustrates the importance of considering intestinal loss of immunoglobulins and lymphocytes in the differential diagnosis of the adult patient who presents with laboratory evidence of a combined humoral and cellular immunodeficiency. It also underscores the diagnostic utility of the clinical immunology laboratory and how flow cytometry, in particular, can contribute to an understanding of pathogenic mechanisms.
 ...
PMID:A 55-year-old man with hypogammaglobulinemia, lymphopenia, and unrelenting cutaneous warts. 1531 25

Clinical studies have shown the importance of endothelin as a pathogenic mediator in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). We describe the effects of bosentan, an oral dual endothelin receptor antagonist, in patients with PAH associated with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. In this prospective study, 16 patients with PAH associated with HIV infection in stable condition received bosentan for 16 weeks. Efficacy endpoints included exercise capacity, cardiopulmonary hemodynamics, Doppler echocardiography, New York Heart Association functional class, and quality of life (SF-36 and EQ-5D). Safety was assessed by laboratory tests, vital signs, and adverse events. Improvements were observed from baseline to Week 16 in all efficacy parameters: 6-minute walk distance (+91 +/- 60 m, p < 0.001), New York Heart Association class (14 patients improved), hemodynamics (cardiac index: +0.9 +/- 0.7 L/minute/m(2), p < 0.001), Doppler echocardiographic variables, and quality of life. During the study, no patient died and none required epoprostenol treatment. Hepatic tolerability was similar to that reported in patients with PAH. Bosentan had no negative impact on control of HIV infection. Although limited by uncontrolled design, small sample size and short duration, this study suggests that bosentan may benefit patients with PAH associated with HIV infection, and that endothelin is an important pathogenic mediator in this disease.
 ...
PMID:Bosentan for the treatment of human immunodeficiency virus-associated pulmonary arterial hypertension. 1531 66

The pathogenesis of preeclampsia stems from aberrant changes at the placental interface. The trophoblastic endovascular invasion of tonic spiral arteries that converts them to passive conduits falters. Uteroplacental insufficiency and fetoplacental hypoxemia result. Secondary maternal oxidative stress and an excessive inflammatory response to pregnancy generate the clinical syndrome of preeclampsia. Current treatment focuses on preventing seizures, controlling hypertension, preserving renal function and delivering the baby. We propose that the pathophysiological changes induced by preeclampsia in the placenta parallel those caused by persistent hypoxemia in the lungs at high altitude or with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Unrelenting pulmonary hypoxic vasoconstriction induces pulmonary hypertension and cor pulmonale. Inhalation of nitric oxide and phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitors opposes pulmonary hypoxic vasoconstriction, alleviates pulmonary hypertension and improves systemic oxygenation. Notably nitric oxide donor therapy also counters hypoxemic fetoplacental vasoconstriction, a biological response analogous to pulmonary hypoxic vasoconstriction. Fetal oxygenation and nutrition improve. Placental upstream resistance to umbilical arterial blood flow decreases. Fetal right ventricular impedance falls. Heart failure (cor placentale) is avoided. Emergency preterm delivery can be postponed. Other than low dose aspirin and antioxidants vitamins C and E no available therapy specifically targets the underlying disease profile. We hypothesize that, like nitric oxide donation, pharmacological inhibition of placental phosphodiesterase-5 will also protect the fetus but for a longer time. Biological availability of guanosine 3'5'-cyclic monophosphate is boosted due to slowed hydrolysis. Adenosine 3'5'-cyclic monphosphate levels increase in parallel. Cyclic nucleotide accumulation dilates intact tonic spiral arteries and counters hypoxemic fetoplacental vasoconstriction. Intervillous and intravillous perfusion pick up. Maternal to fetal placental circulatory matching improves. Enhanced placental oxygen uptake alleviates hypoxemic fetal stress. Appropriate fetal nutrition resumes. Cor placentale and severe intrauterine growth restriction are averted. Increased maternal cyclic nucleotide concentrations promote systemic vasodilatation so that blood pressures fall. Preemption of oxidative stress initiated by "consumptive" oxidation of nitric oxide stabilizes the vascular endothelium and corrects coagulopathy. Anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressant adenosine 3'5'-cyclic monphosphate offsets the extreme gestational inflammatory response. Cellular injury and multi-organ damage are prevented. One tablet a day of the new long acting phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitor, tadalafil (half life of 17.5 h) theoretically should allow a preterm pregnancy affected by preeclampsia to continue safely. Selective monitoring of vital organ functions guards against life-threatening maternal complications. Regular biophysical profiling warns the obstetrician of impending fetal compromise. Fetal growth and vital organ maturation can continue. As a result workloads imposed upon neonatal intensivists will lighten. Parental anxiety and concern will be allayed. The cost of treating preeclamptic mothers and their extremely low birth weight infants will decrease. Money saved by midwifery services in poorer states can be used to pay for better prenatal care. Severe preeclampsia/eclampsia will be less common. Maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality will be reduced. Because the human immunodeficiency virus often infects individuals at a workforce eligible age, the global acquired immunodeficiency syndrome pandemic has already brought many nations to the brink of economic ruin. Potentially productive lives saved for the future will help restore them fiscally.
 ...
PMID:Hypothesis: selective phosphodiesterase-5 inhibition improves outcome in preeclampsia. 1550 76

Heart failure is a common, progressive, complex clinical syndrome with high morbidity and mortality. Coronary artery disease is its most common cause. The evaluation of symptomatic patients with suspected heart failure is directed at confirming the diagnosis, determining the cause, identifying concomitant illnesses, establishing the severity of heart failure, and guiding therapy. The initial evaluation should include a focused history and physical examination, a chest radiograph, and an electrocardiogram. The presence of heart failure can be confirmed by an echocardiogram. Heart failure is highly unlikely in the absence of dyspnea and an abnormal chest radiograph or electrocardiogram. Radionuclide angiography or contrast cineangiography may be necessary when clinical suspicion for heart failure is high and the echocardiogram is equivocal. Patients with confirmed heart failure should undergo additional testing, including a more detailed history and physical examination; a complete blood count; blood glucose measurement; liver function tests; serum electrolyte, blood urea nitrogen, and creatinine measurements; lipid panel; urinalysis; and thyroid-stimulating hormone level. A serum ferritin level, human immunodeficiency virus test, antinuclear antibody assays, rheumatoid factor test, or metanephrine measurements may be required in selected patients. Patients with coronary artery disease, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, exposure to cardiotoxic drugs, alcohol abuse, or a family history of cardiomyopathy are at high risk for heart failure and may benefit from routine screening.
 ...
PMID:Diagnosis of heart failure in adults. 1560 63

Background. Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients with tuberculosis (TB) respond to effective antituberculous therapy, but their prognosis remains poor. Mounting evidence from clinical studies supports the concept of copathogenesis in which immune activation that is triggered by TB and mediated by cytokines stimulates viral replication and worsens HIV infection, especially when immune function is preserved.Methods. We performed a phase 2, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial in Kampala, Uganda, to determine whether immunoadjuvant prednisolone therapy in HIV-infected patients with TB who have CD4(+) T cell counts >/=200 cells/ mu L is safe and effective at increasing CD4(+) T cell counts.Results. Short-term prednisolone therapy reduced levels of immune activation and tended to produce higher CD4(+) T cell counts. Although prednisolone therapy was associated with a more rapid clearance of Mycobacterium tuberculosis from the sputum, it was also associated with a transient increase in HIV RNA levels, which receded when prednisolone therapy was discontinued. The intervention worsened underlying hypertension and caused fluid retention and hyperglycemia.Conclusion. The benefits of prednisolone therapy on immune activation and CD4(+) T cell counts do not outweigh the risks of adverse events in HIV-infected patients with TB and preserved immune function.
 ...
PMID:Immunoadjuvant prednisolone therapy for HIV-associated tuberculosis: a phase 2 clinical trial in Uganda. 1571 59

The burden of chronic kidney disease (CKD) is rising in the world and the greatest burden is likely in developing countries such as South Africa (SA). This burden is related to the increase of 130% in noncommunicable diseases (NCD) such as diabetes and hypertension. SA has an additional burden of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which has infected 19.9% of adults and contributes to 30% of deaths. NCDs remain the major causes of death (37%). Hypertension is considered as a cause of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) in 34.6% of Blacks, 4.3% Whites, 20.9% of mixed race people, and 13.9% of Indians. Diabetes is believed to occur in 10% to 16% of South Africans. These risk factors, together with a high HIV/CKD burden (8%), result in a large burden of CKD. Other nontraditional risk factors, such as low birth weight, must also be considered. Despite rates of ESRD suspected to be about 400 per million population (pmp), only 99 pmp receive renal replacement therapy (RRT). Novel methods have to be established in the developing world to tackle the NCD and communicable disease burden. This article investigates the option of an integrated approach to chronic diseases as an answer to some of this burden. Both an urban-based and a rural-based NCD prevention and treatment program are reviewed.
 ...
PMID:Kidney and kidney related chronic diseases in South Africa and chronic disease intervention program experiences. 1571 29

A promising approach to improving outcomes in patients with cryptococcal meningitis is to use adjunctive passive immunotherapy with a monoclonal antibody (MAb) directed against the capsular polysaccharide of Cryptococcus neoformans. This is the first application of MAb therapy for the treatment of a fungal disease in humans. We determined the safety and maximum tolerated dose of the murine anticryptococcal MAb 18B7 in a phase I dose-escalation study. The subjects were human immunodeficiency virus-infected patients who had been successfully treated for cryptococcal meningitis. Six dosing cohorts received MAb 18B7 at 0.01 to 2 mg/kg of body weight as a single infusion. Three patients each received 0.01, 0.05, 0.2, and 0.5 mg of MAb 18B7 per kg without significant adverse events. Four of the subjects who received the 1-mg/kg dose had mild study drug-associated toxicity, including transient nausea, vomiting, back pain, and urticarial rash. Two of the subjects who received 2 mg/kg developed drug-associated mild to moderate nausea, vomiting, chills, and myalgias. One of the subjects who received 2 mg/kg developed intracranial hypertension 10 weeks after MAb 18B7 administration. Serum cryptococcal antigen titers in the cohorts receiving doses of 1 and 2 mg/kg declined by a median of twofold at 1 week and a median of threefold at 2 weeks postinfusion, but the titers subsequently returned toward the baseline values by week 12. The half-life of MAb 18B7 in serum was approximately 53 h, while the MAb was undetectable in the cerebrospinal fluid of all patients. These data support the continued investigation of MAb 18B7 at a maximum single dose of 1.0 mg/kg.
 ...
PMID:Phase I evaluation of the safety and pharmacokinetics of murine-derived anticryptococcal antibody 18B7 in subjects with treated cryptococcal meningitis. 1572 88

This article focuses on pulmonary arterial hypertension, including both primary pulmonary hypertension (PPH) and those forms of pulmonary arterial hypertension that are related to other factors, including collagen vascular diseases, congenital shunts, portal hypertension, human immunodeficiency viral infection, and exposure to specific drugs and toxins. Risks for different types of pulmonary arterial hypertension are identified. The common pathogenesis for pulmonary arterial hypertension is discussed, and includes an overview of the role of key vasoactive substances such as nitric oxide, prostacyclin, endothelin, and thromboxane. Typical presenting clinical manifestations, recommendations for screening of patients at risk, and key diagnostic findings are discussed. The mainstay of treatment is identified as pharmacologic, and may include diuretics, digoxin, warfarin, calcium channel antagonists, and prostacyclin analogues such as epoprostenol. Surgical interventions are considered as a last resort, and may include unilateral or bilateral lung transplant or atrial septostomy. Treatment options for patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension hold more hope today than they did a decade ago and are identified so as to guide the advanced practice nurse in recognizing and then facilitating the appropriate management of patients with this rare but disabling disease.
 ...
PMID:An overview of pulmonary arterial hypertension: risks, pathogenesis, clinical manifestations, and management. 1585 58

Use of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) for the treatment of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection is associated with the development of cardiovascular risk factors, including dyslipidemia, insulin resistance, fat redistribution, and hypertension. The results of the Data Collection on Adverse Events of Anti-HIV Drugs study showed that HAART therapy is associated with a 26% relative risk increase in the rate of myocardial infarction per year of HAART exposure. A number of studies have shown that insulin resistance often precedes lipodystrophy, suggesting that insulin resistance may be a primary feature of the metabolic syndrome in this population. The rate-limiting step in the uptake of glucose is glucose transport, and the predominant glucose transporter (GLUT) in muscle and fat is GLUT-4. Specific protease inhibitors (PIs) have been associated with decreased GLUT-4-mediated glucose transport and insulin resistance both in vitro and in vivo, whereas newer protease inhibitors may have fewer effects on insulin sensitivity. Data also suggest that endothelial dysfunction, impaired fibrinolysis, and excess inflammation may contribute to increased cardiovascular risk in the population infected with HIV. Moreover, recent data suggest that evidence for coronary atherosclerotic disease can be revealed by means of carotid intimal medial thickness (IMT) assessments in specific groups of HIV patients. Pharmacologic strategies for the prevention and/or treatment of HAART-induced dyslipidemia and abnormal glucose homeostasis include 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase inhibitors (statins), resins, nicotinic acid, fibrates, and insulin-sensitizing agents. However, newer PIs such as atazanavir may result in less insulin resistance and dyslipidemia and, as part of a HAART regimen, use of atazanavir may reduce the metabolic complications associated with HAART.
 ...
PMID:Metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular disease in patients with human immunodeficiency virus. 1590 92

Although FDA-approved Alzheimer's disease (AD) treatment strategies (cholinesterase inhibitors and memantine) offer proven benefits, providers recognize unmet needs beyond what is currently available. Consequently there is a significant use of anecdotal yet unproven combinations for treating AD in practice. Based on the best evidence, combination drug therapy is the standard of care for treating other medical conditions such as malignancies, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and hypertension. We review recent combination drug therapy studies in AD. To date, the best evidence-based combination strategy is for moderate-to-severe AD, in which the addition of memantine to stable donepezil therapy was found to benefit cognition, behavior, and function. In milder stages of AD, the benefit of combination drug therapy has not been demonstrated. This review highlights the urgent need to systematically test additional rational drug combinations and the need for future trials to enroll adequate sample sizes and utilize relevant and sensitive outcome measures.
 ...
PMID:Combination drug therapy for Alzheimer's disease: what is evidence-based, and what is not? 1594 60


<< Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next >>