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)

To be efficient, a synthetic vaccine should contain different T and B cell epitopes of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) antigens, and the B epitope regions in the vaccine and in the HIV should be conformationally similar. We have suggested previously the construction of vaccines in the form of a protein with a predetermined tertiary structure, namely a four-alpha-helix bundle. Antigenic determinants of cellular and humoral immunity are blocks for the vaccine design. From experimentally studied HIV-1 T and B cell epitopes, we constructed a sequence of a four-helix protein TBI (T and B cell epitopes containing immunogen). The gene of the protein was synthesized and the protein was produced in C600 Escherichia coli cells under recA promoter from Proteus mirabelis. CD spectroscopy of the protein demonstrated that 30% of amino acid residues adopt an alpha-helical conformation. Mice immunized with TBI have shown both humoral and cellular immune responses to HIV-1. The obtained data show that the design of TBI was successful. The synthesized gene structure makes possible further reconstruction and improvement of the protein vaccine structure.
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PMID:Design of four-helix bundle protein as a candidate for HIV vaccine. 754 4

H. ducreyi is the causative agent of chancroid, a genital ulcer disease most prevalent in developing countries. Chancroid enhances the heterosexual transmission of human immunodeficiency virus and is identified in focal outbreaks in the United States, but little is known about its pathogenesis. We studied the hemolysin produced by H. ducreyi because this molecule might be an important virulence factor in the pathogenesis of chancroid. Ten strains of H. ducreyi were tested on newly devised blood agar plates and were found to have hemolytic activity. We examined the hemolytic activity of H. ducreyi 35000 further and found that it was heat labile, cell associated, greatest at pH 7.0, and produced in logarithmic- but not stationary-phase cultures. Using transposons Tn916 and Tn1545-delta 3, we have isolated three classes of transposon mutants of strain 35000: those with no detectable hemolytic activity, those with reduced hemolytic activity, and those with enhanced hemolytic activity. Transposon insertions in the nonhemolytic mutants were located in a DNA sequence which hybridized to the Proteus mirabilis hemolysin gene. Analysis of clones containing overlapping sections of this region served to further localize the H. ducreyi hemolysin gene and allow its expression in Escherichia coli and complementation of the nonhemolytic defect in an H. ducreyi mutant. These experiments indicate that H. ducreyi 35000 produces a hemolysin that is related to the calcium-independent hemolysin produced by P. mirabilis. Further experiments are needed to define the similarity of the H. ducreyi hemolysin to other calcium-independent hemolysins and to determine its role in the pathogenesis of chancroid.
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PMID:Characterization of the hemolytic activity of Haemophilus ducreyi. 759 Oct 78

The most common spermicidal compound in use in North America is nonoxynol-9. Barrier methods of contraception used in combination with a spermicidal product help prevent a variety of sexually transmitted diseases. In 1991 the Centers for Disease Control reported a total of 620,478 cases of gonorrhea, 128,569 of syphilis, and 43,672 of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). The evidence for antimicrobial activity of spermicides against sexually transmitted disease pathogens has been accumulated during the last 20 years from in vitro and in vivo studies on Neisseria gonorrhea, Treponema pallidum, Chlamydia trachomatis, Trichomonas vaginalis, Herpes simplex viruses 1 and 2, and the human immunodeficiency virus. Uropathogenic bacteria, including E. coli, Proteus mirabilis, Enterococcus faecalis and Staphylococcus species, have been found to grow in concentrations of 25% or greater of nonoxynol-9. Less well known is the effect of nonoxynol-9 on the growth of lactobacilli, the predominant organisms colonizing the vagina of most healthy postpubertal and premenopausal women, which according to in vitro studies could inhibit the colonization and ascending infection of the bladder by E. coli and as E. faecalis. The organisms associated with bacterial vaginosis have been found to be inhibited by low concentrations of nonoxynol-9 (0.0019-0.5%). However, spermicide use does not appear to have any effect on the development of bacterial vaginosis. Clinical studies to date, with one exception, have shown no significant differences in bacterial vaginosis infection rates among users of diaphragms, contraceptive sponges and condoms and other contraceptive methods that do not involve exposure to spermicides. A history of nonoxynol-9 use as well as the use of antimicrobial agents should be considered in recurrent urogenital infections, since both can potentially disrupt the urogenital microbial flora. The physician must weigh the risk of exposure to sexually transmitted diseases or an unwanted pregnancy against the prevention of urinary tract infection or vaginal candidiasis before advising the patient to discontinue the use of nonoxynol-9-containing spermicides.
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PMID:The influence of nonoxynol-9-containing spermicides on urogenital infection. 805 30

We identified 31 patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and lung abscess. All patients had advanced HIV disease, and the mean CD4 cell count was 17/mm3 (range, 2-50/mm3). Twenty-two patients (71%) had previous opportunistic infections, and 24 (77%) had previous pulmonary infections. Symptoms at the time of presentation included fever (90% of patients), cough (87%), dyspnea (35%), pleuritic chest pain (26%), and hemoptysis (10%). The microbiological etiology was established for 28 patients, and the pathogens recovered were bacteria (65%), Pneumocystis carinii (6%), fungi (3%), and mixed microorganisms (16%). The pathogens included Pseudomonas aeruginosa (11), Streptococcus pneumoniae (6), P. carinii (5), Klebsiella pneumoniae (5), Staphylococcus aureus (4), Aspergillus species (3), viridans streptococcus (2), Haemophilus influenzae (1), Streptococcus milleri (1), Proteus mirabilis (1), and Cryptococcus neoformans (1). Mycobacterium tuberculosis was not isolated; two patients for whom a microbiological etiology was not established responded to antituberculous therapy. Patients were treated for 2-12 weeks; 25% of the patients received > 4 weeks of therapy. The outcome was poor: 36% of the patients had recurrences, and 19% died. In patients with AIDS, lung abscess is associated with advanced HIV infection, is due to a broad spectrum of pathogens, responds poorly to antibiotics, and has a poor prognosis.
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PMID:Lung abscess in patients with AIDS. 882 70

Bartonella, genus Proteus, can cause immunodepressive disease. The organisms, in parasitized red blood cells, may invade the brain and every other system and space in the human body. Bartonella henselae is proposed to have a role in the pathogenesis of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) encephalopathy. Bartonella bacilliformis produces two known toxins that can induce spasm and angiomatosis, respectively, and manifest as diseases associated with symptomatic AIDS. The skin lesions of bartonellosis may be mistaken clinically and histologically for Kaposi's sarcoma. Bacteria of the genus Proteus produce L-forms: their elementary bodies may be mistaken for what are called the 'human immunodeficiency viruses' (HIV). Antibiotics, especially penicillin, induce bacteria to produce L-forms. Air pollution and high sugar, salt and fat diets are factors that may increase the lipid content of microbes that produce toxins and L-forms that may persist or revert to bacterial form.
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PMID:Bartonellosis and human immunodeficiency disease (AIDS): L-forms as persisters, activating factors, and mechanism of disease. 924 95

The objective of this study was to define the incidence of febrile morbidity and its causes in severe and critical ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS). For this purpose, we reviewed the medical records of all OHSS patients hospitalized in 16 out of 19 tertiary medical centres in Israel between January 1987 and December 1996. Febrile morbidity was defined as at least one episode of temperature rise above 38 degrees C lasting > or =24 h. A total of 2902 patients (3305 hospitalizations) with OHSS was identified, of whom 196 had severe, and 13 critical, OHSS. Among the 209 patients investigated the incidence of febrile morbidity was 82.3%, of which 20.5% was attributed to urinary tract infection, 3.8% to pneumonia, 3.3% to upper respiratory tract infection, 2.0% to intravenous line phlebitis, 1.0% to cellulitis at an abdominal puncture site, 1.0% to postoperative wound infections and 0.5 % to gluteal abscess at the site of progesterone injection. Non-typical organisms were frequently isolated, such as Pseudomonas, Proteus, Klebsiella and Enterobacter species. No infectious aetiology was found in 105 patients (50.2%). Hypoglobulinaemia was recorded in most patients, while ascitic and pleural fluids aspirated from these patients contained high globulin concentrations. We conclude that infection-related febrile morbidity in severe and critical OHSS is high, and may be attributed to some degree of immunodeficiency associated with loss of plasma globulins to the third space. However, non-infection-related febrile morbidity is even higher and may be attributed to endogenous pyrogenic mechanisms.
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PMID:Febrile morbidity in severe and critical ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome: a multicentre study. 985 69

An antifungal peptide with a molecular mass around 7 kDa and an N-terminal sequence highly homologous to defensin was isolated from ground beans (Vigna sesquipedalis cv. 'Ground Bean'). The peptide was adsorbed on Affi-gel blue gel and on Mono S. It exerted an antifungal action on Botrytis cinerea, Fusarium oxysporum and Mycosphaerella arachidicola; and an antibacterial action on Escherichia coli B, Proteus vulgaris, Mycobacterium phlei and Bacillus megaterium. The antimicrobial activity was inhibited in presence of the 5 mM CaCl2 and MgCl2, but no inhibition was observed in 5 mM NaCl. The peptide exerted antiproliferative activity toward breast cancer (MCF-7) cells and leukemia M1 cells, this activity could not be inhibited by the ions mentioned above. It also exhibited some inhibitory activity toward human immunodeficiency virus-type 1 reverse transcriptase.
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PMID:Sesquin, a potent defensin-like antimicrobial peptide from ground beans with inhibitory activities toward tumor cells and HIV-1 reverse transcriptase. 1594 29

Low-intensity laser therapy administered in the form of intravenous blood irradiation, transrectal and transurethral prostatic irradiation and their combination as preoperative preparation and correction of immunity disturbances in patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) were studied. The response to the treatment was evaluated by positive changes in the immune status and bacterial contamination of the urine and prostatic tissue. Conventional preoperative preparation (uroantiseptics, antibiotics and phytotherapy) fails to correct signs of T-cell immunodeficiency, depression of phagocytic activity of neutrophils, significantly reduce bacteriurea. Laser therapy as intravenous laser blood radiation acts immunomodulatorily on cellular immunity and normalized the proportion of T-helpers of the first and second order (T-suppressors) and neutrophil phagocytosis. The antibacterial effect of this technique on urinary microflora and prostatic tissue is not very high. Local laser therapy is a potent immunostimulator of T- and B-lymphocytes, increased the index of immunoregulatory cells' proportion, activated phagocytosis of neutrophils. It has pronounced antibacterial effect against gram-negative urinary microflora and tissue of the prostate. Combined laser therapy produced the highest immunomodulating action on T-lymphocytes and immunostimulating one on B-lymphocytes, potentiated phagocytic ability of neutrophils, elevated index of the immunoregulatory cells, but was unable to correct their imbalance completely. Antibacterial effects of combined laser therapy were the highest, including the bacterial group Proteus-Providencia. Preoperative low-intensity laser therapy of BPH reduced the number of postoperative pyoinflammatory complications, hospital stay, severity of postoperative period.
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PMID:[Low-intensity laser radiation in preoperative preparation of patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia]. 1685 53

Proteus mirabilis is one of the most important pathogens associated with complicated urinary tract infections (acute pyelonephritis, bladder infections, kidney stones) and bacteremia, affecting patients with anatomical abnormalities, immunodeficiency, and long-term urinary catheterization. For epidemiological purposes, various molecular typing methods, such as pulse-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) or ribotyping, have been developed for this pathogen. However, these methods are labor intensive and time-consuming. We evaluated the discriminatory power of several PCR-based fingerprinting methods (RAPD, ISSR, ERIC-PCR, BOX-PCR and rep-PCR) for P. mirabilis clinical isolates. Typing patterns and clustering analysis indicated that RAPD, BOX-PCR and ERIC-PCR differentiated P. mirabilis strains from Escherichia coli, Hafnia alvei, and Morganella morganii. With the exception of rep-PCR, the methods gave medium to high discriminatory efficiency in P. mirabilis. In general, the results obtained with RAPD, BOX-PCR and ERIC-PCR were in good agreement. We concluded that a combination of ERIC-PCR and BOX-PCR results is a rapid and reliable alternative for discrimination among P. mirabilis clinical isolates, contributing to epidemiological studies.
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PMID:Comparison of PCR-based molecular markers for the characterization of Proteus mirabilis clinical isolates. 1921 83

Emergence of resistance to widely used trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole (TMP/SMX) as well as common adverse events in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients casts interest on combinations of TMP with other sulfonamides. Sulfametrole (SMT) combined with TMP could provide a choice for difficult-to-treat infections, particularly when administered intravenously. The objective of this review was to evaluate the available clinical and pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) evidence regarding TMP/SMT, particularly in comparison with TMP/SMX. We reviewed the available evidence retrieved from searches in PubMed/Scopus/Google Scholar and by bibliography hand-searching. In total, 46 eligible studies (most published before 1997) were identified, 7 regarding intravenous (i.v.) TMP/SMT, 24 regarding oral TMP/SMT and 15 providing comparative data for TMP/SMT versus TMP/SMX. The antimicrobial activity of TMP/SMT was similar to TMP/SMX for Gram-positive isolates. A greater percentage of Escherichia coli and Proteus spp. isolates were susceptible to TMP/SMT compared with TMP/SMX. PK/PD data suggest a dosage adjustment of i.v. TMP/SMT in patients with seriously impaired renal function. Four randomised controlled trials and 16 non-comparative studies reported good effectiveness/safety outcomes for oral TMP/SMT in genital ulcers (mainly chancroid), respiratory tract infections and urinary tract infections (UTIs). Moreover, i.v. TMP/SMT was effective against Pneumocystis jiroveci infection in HIV-infected patients, severe pneumonia and UTIs. In one study, hypersensitivity reactions occurred in 18/52 (34.6%) of HIV-infected patients; 2/52 (3.8%) developed psychosis. Gastrointestinal adverse events were mild and rare. Excipients in i.v. TMP/SMT formulations might be less toxic compared with i.v. TMP/SMX formulations, particularly for children. In conclusion, despite the scarcity of contemporary evidence, available data suggest that TMP/SMT could be an alternative treatment option to TMP/SMX, even in serious infections, when administered intravenously.
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PMID:Trimethoprim/sulfametrole: evaluation of the available clinical and pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic evidence. 2174 2


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