Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0021051 (immunodeficiency)
 71,517 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The regularities of the infectious process of plague in a sensible Pallas' pika species, are presented. The specific infectious process was shown to pass a number of phases. These phases are characterized by certain changes in the composition of the leukocytic pool of the peripheral blood, the immune system and the activity of the bactericidal systems of professional phagocytes. The infectious process in sensitive animals is accompanied by the formation of secondary relative immunodeficiency with a pronounced hypersuppressive component, which leads to disturbances in the cooperative interaction of immunocompetent cells; in its turn, it results in dysbalance in the cytokine system and, as a consequence, to irreversible disturbances in homeostasis, leading to the death of the infected animal.
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PMID:[Mechanisms of high sensitivity of Mongolian pika spp. (Pallas) to Yersinia pestis]. 1204 55

Generating lentiviral vectors pseudotyped with different viral glycoproteins (GPs) may modulate the physicochemical properties of the vectors, their interaction with the host immune system, and their host range. We have investigated the capacity of a panel of GPs of both retroviral (amphotropic murine leukemia virus [MLV-A]; gibbon ape leukemia virus [GALV]; RD114, feline endogenous virus) and nonretroviral (fowl plague virus [FPV]; Ebola virus [EboV]; vesicular stomatitis virus [VSV]; lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus [LCMV]) origins to pseudotype lentiviral vectors derived from simian immunodeficiency virus (SIVmac251). SIV vectors were efficiently pseudotyped with the FPV hemagglutinin, VSV-G, LCMV, and MLV-A GPs. In contrast, the GALV and RD114 GPs conferred much lower infectivity to the vectors. Capitalizing on the conservation of some structural features in the transmembrane domains and cytoplasmic tails of the incorporation-competent MLV-A GP and in RD114 and GALV GPs, we generated chimeric GPs encoding the extracellular and transmembrane domains of GALV or RD114 GPs fused to the cytoplasmic tail (designated TR) of MLV-A GP. Importantly, SIV-derived vectors pseudotyped with these GALV/TR and RD114/TR GP chimeras had significantly higher titers than vectors coated with the parental GPs. Additionally, RD114/TR-pseudotyped vectors were efficiently concentrated and were resistant to inactivation induced by the complement of both human and macaque sera, indicating that modified RD114 GP-pseudotyped lentiviral vectors may be of particular interest for in vivo gene transfer applications. Furthermore, as compared to vectors pseudotyped with other retroviral GPs or with VSV-G, RD114/TR-pseudotyped vectors showed augmented transduction of human and macaque primary blood lymphocytes and CD34+ cells.
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PMID:Lentiviral vectors pseudotyped with a modified RD114 envelope glycoprotein show increased stability in sera and augmented transduction of primary lymphocytes and CD34+ cells derived from human and nonhuman primates. 1213 Apr 92

By October 1992, the government's Special Program to Control AIDS (PECOS) registered 717 cases of the disease in Peru; however, the number of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) cases could number thousands. PECOS estimates that the number of cases of HIV is doubling every 2 years. One of the main reasons for the continued spread of HIV is the common perception that the pink plague, as AIDS is called here, affects only homosexuals. While 85% of sexually transmitted HIV and AIDS cases are among gay and bisexual men, in the past 4 years a large number of new cases has been registered among heterosexuals, especially women. In 1987, the ratio of AIDS cases among men and women was approximately 15 to 1. Today, the male to female ratio is 7 to 1. Most people working on AIDS say that the changing profile of the epidemic in Peru is caused by the high costs of prevention programs and the lack of information on the disease, which drastically raise the number of people in high risk groups. Peru's ongoing economic crisis has eaten into the budgets of nongovernment organization's (NGOs) AIDS prevention campaigns and has pushed treatment out of the reach of many people. In 1991, 3 television commercials developed by PECOS to promote the use of condoms were blocked by the Health Ministry. One of the groups that fought against campaigns promoting condom use was the Association of Catholic Doctors. The only way to organize an effective program is through a joint effort that brings together the government, NGOs, and other private and public institutions. Cooperation was demonstrated through the actions carried out for World AIDS Day, when more than 16 public, NGO, and government organizations were involved in a variety of AIDS information activities. In 1993, about 30 NGOs will begin actively working with Peru's Health Ministry to coordinate activities.
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PMID:"Pink plague" changes course. 1228 35

Despite spectacular progress in the eradication of infectious diseases, malaria and tuberculosis are making a comeback in many parts of the world. After years of decline, plague, diphtheria, dengue, meningococcal meningitis, yellow fever, and cholera have reappeared as public health threats. In the last 20 years [before 1997] more than 30 new and highly infectious diseases have been identified, including Ebola-type hemorrhagic fever, HIV/AIDs, and hepatitis C. Antibiotic resistance has also emerged during this period, and fewer new antibiotics are being produced because of high development costs and licensing. Drugs no longer offer protection or cure for many infectious diseases, and consequently more people need hospitalization with higher treatment costs. The causes of the appearance of new diseases and the resurgence of old ones include the rapid increase in international travel, the growth of mega-cities with high population densities, inadequate safe water and sanitation, food-borne diseases by the globalization of trade, and human penetration into remote animal and insect habitats. Meanwhile, resources for public health are being reduced, with the result that either the appearance of new diseases or resistance to drugs go unnoticed. A recent example is the human immunodeficiency virus, which went unrecognized until a large number of people got infected. For this very reason the 1997 World Health Day featured the theme of emerging infectious diseases and global response. Such forums are held to help countries rebuild the foundations of disease surveillance and control, while the public and private sectors may be encouraged to develop better techniques for surveillance to confront a common global threat.
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PMID:Emerging infectious disease: global response, global alert. 1234 2

There are huge numbers of wild animals distributed throughout the world and the diversity of wildlife species is immense. Each landscape and habitat has a kaleidoscope of niches supporting an enormous variety of vertebrate and invertebrate species, and each species or taxon supports an even more impressive array of macro- and micro-parasites. Infectious pathogens that originate in wild animals have become increasingly important throughout the world in recent decades, as they have had substantial impacts on human health, agricultural production, wildlife-based economies and wildlife conservation. The emergence of these pathogens as significant health issues is associated with a range of causal factors, most of them linked to the sharp and exponential rise of global human activity. Among these causal factors are the burgeoning human population, the increased frequency and speed of local and international travel, the increase in human-assisted movement of animals and animal products, changing agricultural practices that favour the transfer of pathogens between wild and domestic animals, and a range of environmental changes that alter the distribution of wild hosts and vectors and thus facilitate the transmission of infectious agents. Two different patterns of transmission of pathogens from wild animals to humans are evident among these emerging zoonotic diseases. In one pattern, actual transmission of the pathogen to humans is a rare event but, once it has occurred, human-to-human transmission maintains the infection for some period of time or permanently. Some examples of pathogens with this pattern of transmission are human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome, influenza A, Ebola virus and severe acute respiratory syndrome. In the second pattern, direct or vector-mediated animal-to-human transmission is the usual source of human infection. Wild animal populations are the principal reservoirs of the pathogen and human-to-human disease transmission is rare. Examples of pathogens with this pattern of transmission include rabies and other lyssaviruses, Nipah virus, West Nile virus, Hantavirus, and the agents of Lyme borreliosis, plague, tularemia, leptospirosis and ehrlichiosis. These zoonotic diseases from wild animal sources all have trends that are rising sharply upwards. In this paper, the authors discuss the causal factors associated with the emergence or re-emergence of these zoonoses, and highlight a selection to provide a composite view of their range, variety and origins. However, most of these diseases are covered in more detail in dedicated papers elsewhere in this Review.
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PMID:The role of wildlife in emerging and re-emerging zoonoses. 1570 16

Accurate assessment of neutralizing antibody activities is important either for patients infected with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) or for animals and volunteers immunized with the experimental vaccines against the SARS associated coronavirus (SCV). However, the current assay based on the cytopathic effect (CPE) which has been frequently cited in literature has several limitations. The CPE assay relies on the visual observation on the damage of SCV infected target cells under a microscope. It is subjected to observer variations and it is difficult to generate a quantitative determination of neutralizing activities based on the level of CPE. In the current study, we established the utility of two additional assays to measure the neutralizing activities against SCV: the plaque reduction (PR) and the neutral red staining (NRS) assays. The PR assay described in this study was modified from the traditional viral plaque reduction assay by using an improved crystal staining method to achieve better plague formation in SCV infected Vero E6 cells. The NRS neutralization assay was adopted from a similar system used for detecting neutralizing antibody responses against human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1). In this assay, the protective effect of neutralizing antibodies was determined by the cell viability which is measured by the uptake of neutral red dye at A540. The neutralizing antibody titers can be easily determined with either of the two new assays. In this report, we described the utility of these two new neutralization assays in measuring the neutralizing activities against SCV infection from rabbit sera immunized with various forms of spike protein of SCV.
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PMID:Assays for the assessment of neutralizing antibody activities against Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) associated coronavirus (SCV). 1589 26

Lentivirus-based gene transfer has the potential to efficiently deliver DNA-based therapies into non-dividing epithelial cells of the airway for the treatment of lung diseases such as cystic fibrosis. However, significant barriers both to lung-specific gene transfer and to production of lentivirus vectors must be overcome before these vectors can be routinely used for applications to the lung. In this study, we investigated whether the ability to produce lentiviral vectors pseudotyped with fowl plague virus hemagglutinin (HA) could be improved by co-expression of influenza virus M2 in vector-producing cells. We found that M2 expression led to a 10-30-fold increase in production of HA-pseudotyped lentivirus vectors based upon equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV) or human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1). Experiments using the M2 inhibitor amantadine and a drug-resistant mutant of M2 established that the ion channel activity of M2 was important for M2-dependent augmentation of vector production. Furthermore, the neuraminidase activity necessary for particle release from producer cells could also be incorporated into producer cells by co-expression of influenza NA cDNA. Lentiviral vectors pseudotyped with influenza envelope proteins were able to efficiently transduce via the apical membrane of polarized mouse tracheal cultures in vitro as well as mouse tracheal epithelia in vivo.
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PMID:Influenza M2 envelope protein augments avian influenza hemagglutinin pseudotyping of lentiviral vectors. 1639 5

In 1981, the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) appeared insidiously and mystified doctors and scientists alike. No one could have predicted then that it would become, arguably, the worst plague in human history. Today, 33 million persons are living with infection by the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1), the causative agent of AIDS, while another 25 million have already died of this disease.
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PMID:HIV-1 at 25. 1848 60

Sex-based health disparities are evident throughout the world; however, nowhere are these disparities greater than in resource-poor countries. Women in developing nations lack basic health care and face life-debilitating and life-threatening health issues. Some health issues never existed in the West, whereas science eradicated others decades ago. Maternal mortality, female genital cutting, child marriage, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/AIDS, and cervical cancer are a few of the issues that plague developing nations. This article introduces some of these challenging health problems. In subsequent issues, they will be explored in more depth. Reviews in Obstetrics & Gynecology hopes that highlighting global women's health issues will increase awareness and establish a renewed commitment to improving women's lives.
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PMID:An Introduction to Global Women's Health. 1870 28

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection is aptly called the modern day 'plague' and has the potential to decimate people in the productive age group. On the other hand, the increasing life expectancy in developing countries spirals age-related blindness. One therefore reduces economic productivity while the other increases economic dependency. Both lead to increased expenditure of households though in different proportions. Human immunodeficiency virus and blindness are both associated with discrimination, stigma and long-term consequences. They impact the socioeconomic fabric of the affected individuals, communities and countries. The loss in productivity and the cost of support to the affected individuals are seen in both. Each is a potent problem on its own but together they spell disaster in geometric proportions rather than a simple additive effect. Strategies need to be evolved to provide solace and improve the quality of life of an HIV-positive blind individual.
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PMID:The socioeconomic impact of human immunodeficiency virus / acquired immune deficiency syndrome in India and its relevance to eye care. 1871 Dec 68


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