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Query: UMLS:C0021051 (immunodeficiency)
 71,517 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Disseminated toxoplasmosis is a well-known complication of immunodeficiency states, including those induced by malignancies, steroid and cytotoxic drug therapy, and AIDS. In immunodeficient patients, toxoplasmic infections of the eye are less common than toxoplasmic infections of other organs for unknown reasons. When ocular toxoplasmosis does occur in the immunodeficient host, or if immunosuppressive therapy is administered to patients with active disease, widespread tissue destruction by proliferating organisms may result. Immunodeficiency alone may not be sufficient, however, to cause reactivation of encysted organisms in retinochoroidal scars. Ocular toxoplasmosis in the immunocompromised host presents difficult problems in diagnosis and management. There may be a variety of clinical lesions, including single foci of retinochoroiditis in one or both eyes, multifocal lesions, or diffuse areas of retinal necrosis. The majority of lesions do not arise from the borders of preexisting scars, which suggests that they result from acquired infection or dissemination of organisms from nonocular sites of disease. Toxoplasma gondii may infect iris, choroid, and vitreous-tissues that are not usually infected in the immunocompetent host. Ocular lesions appear to respond to standard antiparasitic drug therapies, but continued treatment is probably necessary to prevent reactivation of disease in the most immunocompromised patients. The best treatment regimens have yet to be determined. Histopathologic studies show little retinal inflammation; therefore anti-inflammatory drugs, such as oral steroids, probably have no role in the management of infection.
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PMID:Ocular toxoplasmosis in the immunocompromised host. 269 6

Clinical toxoplasmosis was diagnosed in 15 cats by correlating serologic evidence of infection and clinical signs to either response to therapy or histopathologic demonstration of the organism. Ophthalmic manifestations, primarily involving the anterior segment, were common. Other common physical examination abnormalities included muscle hyperesthesia, fever, and weight loss. Response to therapy was variable, but administration of clindamycin hydrochloride resulted in resolution of all clinical signs not involving the eyes in surviving animals. This drug, alone or in combination with corticosteroids, led to total resolution of clinical signs in four of four cats with active retinochoroiditis and in six of nine cats with anterior uveitis. Four of the 15 cats had concurrent infection with feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV). Feline leukemia virus antigen or antibodies to feline infectious peritonitis virus were not detected.
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PMID:Clinical feline toxoplasmosis. Serologic diagnosis and therapeutic management of 15 cases. 277 47

The case presented here involves a 32-year-old homosexual man with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) seropositivity and unusual manifestations of secondary syphilis. The patient presented with syphilitic keratoderma and chorioretinitis, and his appearance superficially resembled that of a patient with Reiter's syndrome. Although nontreponemal and treponemal tests for syphilis showed reactivity, the patient's humoral immune response to individual polypeptides of Treponema pallidum, measured by Western blot analysis, was markedly abnormal. The possible relationship between asymptomatic HIV infection and an abnormal humoral immune response to a second pathogen, in this case T. pallidum, is discussed. Our case is one of several recent cases of active syphilis reported in individuals with HIV seropositivity.
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PMID:Unusual manifestations of secondary syphilis and abnormal humoral immune response to Treponema pallidum antigens in a homosexual man with asymptomatic human immunodeficiency virus infection. 296 40

To investigate the role of cellular immunodeficiency in recurrent toxoplasmic retinochoroiditis, six Cynomolgus monkeys (Macaca fascicularis) with healed toxoplasmic lesions of the retina were immunosuppressed by total lymphoid irradiation. Three months prior to irradiation 30,000 Toxoplasma gondii organisms of the Beverley strain had been inoculated onto the macula of eye in each monkey via a pars plana approach. Toxoplasmic retinochoroiditis developed in each animal, and lesions were allowed to heal without treatment. During total lymphoid irradiation animals received 2000 centigrays (cGy) over a 7-week period. Irradiation resulted in an immediate drop in total lymphocyte counts and decreased ability to stimulate lymphocytes by phytohemagglutinin. Weekly ophthalmoscopic examinations following irradiation failed to show evidence of recurrent ocular disease despite persistent immunodeficiency. Four months after irradiation live organisms were reinoculated onto the nasal retina of the same eye in each animal. Retinochoroidal lesions identical to those seen in primary disease developed in five of six animals. Toxoplasma organisms therefore were able to proliferate in ocular tissue following the administration of immunosuppressive therapy. This study fails to support the hypothesis that cellular immunodeficiency alone will initiate recurrent toxoplasmic retinochoroiditis. Results suggest that reactivation of disease from encysted organisms involves factors other than suppression of Toxoplasma proliferation. If reactivation occurs by other mechanisms, however, cellular immunodeficiency then may allow development of extensive disease.
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PMID:Ocular toxoplasmosis in immunosuppressed nonhuman primates. 337 60

AIDS is a reliably diagnosed disease that is indicative of an underlying cellular immunodeficiency with no other cause for the disorder. To date over 2000 cases have been reported in North America and Europe and the number is rising. Patients fulfilling the definition for AIDS have included male homosexuals, IV drug abusers of both sexes, people from Haiti, heterosexual partners of AIDS patients, hemophiliacs, and some patients who fit no particular pattern. The etiology has been attributed to factors acting singly or in synergy namely that repeated exposure to CMV, semen, or other antigens results in progressive cellular immunodeficiency, or alternatively, a novel virus has an etiologic role. The epidemiology of the syndrome suggests a horizontally transmissible agent. The spectrum of opportunistic infections observed in AIDS patients is well documented. A higher incidence of KS as well as squamous carcinoma of the oral cavity, cloacogenic carcinoma of the rectum, primary lymphomas of the brain, and systemic Burkitt's-like lymphoma has been noted. Seventy-one patients with AIDS were examined and followed during the course of their disease. Forty-one patients had definite retinal lesions at the time of examination. The most common intraretinal finding was CMV retinitis which displayed the typical white, crumbly areas of retinal necrosis and hemorrhage. Optic nerve involvement was quite common. The development of retinitis was a harbinger of eventual death as it was a progressive and a nontreatable disorder, lasting about 6 months. The second most common retinal finding was cotton wool spots, the lesions were usually present during the course of PCP and were due to microvascular damage in the retina from circulating immune complexes. No organisms were demonstrated in the retina. One AIDS patient who had been an IV drug abuser developed fungal retinitis due to Candida albicans. The patient eventually died from Candida sepsis. One patient had acquired toxoplasmosis retinochoroiditis. Examination revealed a large active intraretinal focus of infection. No other retinal lesion was noted. The patient, a homosexual, died from a toxoplasmosis brain abscess. The patient with AIDS is in a continuing struggle for survival against a myriad assortment of opportunistic infectious agents. Careful initial ophthalmological examination and long-term follow-up are mandatory.
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PMID:The retinal lesions of the acquired immune deficiency syndrome. 610 Jan 47

To determine their prognostic and diagnostic values for toxoplasmosis in immunodepressed subjects, we assayed immunoglobulin A (IgA) and IgE antibodies by means of immunocapture (IC) tests, with revelation done by using a suspension of T. gondii (ICT). We also carried out a simultaneous analytical study of IgG antibodies on cellulose acetate membranes by using the comparative immunological profile method and an enzyme-linked immunofiltration assay (ELIFA). A total of 1,238 samples (serum, cerebrospinal fluid, and aqueous humor from 318 patients) were tested. IgA and IgE antibodies were detected in all heart, kidney, and liver transplant recipients with clinical manifestations of toxoplasmosis; IgA was detected in the aqueous humor of a patient with chorioretinitis. In patients with AIDS-related toxoplasmosis, including the cerebral form, IgA and IgE antibodies or a significant modification of ELIFA IgG values were observed in 38, 19, and 25% of patients, respectively. IgM was detected by ICT only in 12% of patients and aided the diagnosis in 1 of 71 patients. IC tests for specific IgA and IgE alone and combined with ELIFA were positive in 39 and 46% of patients who developed clinical toxoplasmosis, respectively. In a serial study of 16 patients in whom at least one of these three tests was positive, a significant immunological signal sometimes preceded clinical onset by 1, 6, and even 17 months. Similarly, in a group of human immunodeficiency virus-infected patients with evidence of previous exposure to T. gondii but no clinical manifestations, IgA, IgE, and IgA and/or IgE antibodies were detected in only 11, 4, and 12% of patients, respectively. These two situations point to peripheral T. gondii reactivation. IgA and IgE emerged as interesting markers of the risk of toxoplasmosis in immunodepressed patients. They may also provide valuable assistance in the diagnosis of toxoplasmosis, especially because tests for specific IgM are disappointing. However, at least one in two patients with toxoplasmosis showed no detectable immunological reaction, suggesting that this polyisotypic approach should be combined with other noninvasive methods such as gene amplification.
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PMID:Evaluation of risk and diagnostic value of quantitative assays for anti-Toxoplasma gondii immunoglobulin A (IgA), IgE, and IgM and analytical study of specific IgG in immunodeficient patients. 779 Apr 53

The high sensitivity of nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) offers the possibility of rapid detection of cytomegalovirus (CMV) DNA in serum. Five consecutive serum samples were examined from 52 human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-seropositive patients (19 of whom had clinically presumed diagnosis of CMV chorioretinitis). Presence of CMV DNA in serum was shown to precede development of clinical disease. Eleven patients who developed chorioretinitis were positive for CMV DNA in serum samples obtained 3 months before clinical disease, and 3 retinitis patients who initially were negative for CMV DNA became positive with the onset of clinical retinitis. In contrast, 29 of 33 HIV-seropositive subjects without clinical CMV chorioretinitis and matched with respect to age and CD4 T cell numbers were negative for CMV DNA in all 5 serum samples. Thus, the presence of CMV DNA in serum analyzed by PCR is a good predictive marker of CMV retinitis in HIV-seropositive subjects. A positive PCR results supports the clinical diagnosis and may be useful for monitoring response to antiviral treatment.
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PMID:Detection of cytomegalovirus DNA in serum correlates with clinical cytomegalovirus retinitis in AIDS. 776 20

This study was designed to examine the effects of a pre-existing, clinically asymptomatic feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) infection on a primary challenge with Toxoplasma gondii. Parenteral challenge of FIV-infected cats with tachyzoites of the ME49 strain of T. gondii caused a precipitous drop in all lymphocytes (CD4+, CD8+, and B cells) and generalized severe toxoplasmosis. The predominant postmortem lesions included acute and often fatal interstitial pneumonia, dominated histologically by macrophages, and multifocal to coalescing hepatic necrosis. Immunohistochemistry revealed numerous T. gondii antigen and tachyzoites in macrophages and other cell types in the lung lesions. The proliferative response of peripheral blood mononuclear cells to specific (T. gondii antigen) and nonspecific (Concanavalin A) mitogens was defective in the dually infected cats, suggesting marked immunosuppression. In contrast to the dually infected cats, cats infected only with T. gondii developed a transient, mild clinical disease characterized by anorexia, lethargy, and multifocal chorioretinitis. Lymphocyte changes in T. gondii-infected cats included an early pan-lymphopenia followed by reestablishment of all lymphocyte subset profiles. These cats also showed a reduced proliferative response to Concanavalin A at 1 week after challenge, but a measurable in vivo response to T. gondii antigens, as evidenced by in vitro lymphocyte proliferation in the absence of a mitogenic stimulus. These results show that infection of cats with FIV-NCSU, markedly enhances their susceptibility to a primary T. gondii infection and provides a model to study the mechanisms of the underlying immunological defect(s) occurring early after HIV infection that may predispose individuals to development of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome and associated diseases.
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PMID:Feline immunodeficiency virus predisposes cats to acute generalized toxoplasmosis. 823 62

A case of cryptococcal retinochoroiditis associated with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) is reported. The patient was a 22-year-old man with hemophilia A. He was found seropositive for human immunodeficiency virus three years ago. He was admitted with complaints of fever and cough. CD4/CD8 ratio was 0.01 and CD4 lymphocyte count was 10/mm3. Two weeks later, ophthalmological examination revealed some yellowish white focal lesions at the posterior fundus. More detailed examinations were impossible because of his poor general condition. He died one month later. The autopsy showed disseminated cryptococcosis. Ocular histopathological examination revealed cryptococcal retinochoroiditis without any inflammatory reaction. This is the first report in Japan of this disease associated with AIDS and of a histopathological study of it.
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PMID:[A case of cryptococcal retinochoroiditis associated with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome]. 833 73

Toxoplasmic retinochoroiditis has been reported as the initial manifestation of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Two authors have described two patients with AIDS and toxoplasmic papillitis. We report the case of a patient with a papillitis of unknown origin in whom the workup found systemic toxoplasmosis and subsequent positive human immunodeficiency virus status. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of toxoplasmic papillitis as the initial manifestation of AIDS.
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PMID:Toxoplasmic papillitis as the initial manifestation of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. 844 50


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