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)

Injecting drug users and prisoners have high prevalences of antibodies to hepatitis A-C. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of antibodies to hepatitis E virus (anti-HEV) in two Danish high-risk populations and correlate anti-HEV with risk factors for transmission. Three hundred thirty male prisoners and 137 patients at a drug treatment center were tested for anti-HEV with an in-house enzyme-linked immunoassay (EIA) utilizing antigens derived from open reading frame 2 (ORF2). This was compared with a commercial test with antigens derived from ORF2 and ORF3 (Abbott HEV EIA). In addition the samples were tested for antibodies against hepatitis A-C viruses, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) 1 and 2, human T lymphotropic virus (HTLV) I and II and herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV2). The participants were interviewed about risk factors for transmission. The anti-HEV prevalence was 16.9% (95% CI 14-21) for the in-house assay compared to 4.1% (95% CI 2.5-6.3) with the commercial assay. The correlation between the two assays was low (87% overall agreement; kappa value 0.32). One sample was strongly anti-HEV IgM positive, suggesting recent HEV infection inside Denmark. The presence of anti-HEV was associated significantly with anti-HAV among prisoners and increased with age in both groups. In contrast, associations were not found with injecting drug use or sexual risk factors. With the commercial assay an increased prevalence of anti-HEV was found among participants who had spent more than 5 years outside Northern Europe. In conclusion, anti-HEV was highly prevalent among Danish prisoners and drug users but not related to risk factors for blood-borne or sexual transmission.
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PMID:High prevalence of hepatitis E antibodies among Danish prisoners and drug users. 1174 58

The contribution of viral hepatitis, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and malaria to jaundice among pregnant women in Luanda, Angola, was studied. 20 pregnant women with jaundice (cases) were identified in 2 large maternity hospitals and compared with 40 pregnant women without jaundice (controls). Among the cases 6 patients died, whereas no death occurred in the control group (p < 0.001). Five spontaneous abortions and 6 stillbirths were also noted among the cases, implying foetal loss in 55% and stillbirth in 30%. One stillbirth was registered among control women. Of the cases 40% had anti-hepatitis E virus antibodies compared with 13% of the controls (p = 0.02). Plasmodium falciparum parasitaemia occurred in 47.5% and 5% of cases and controls, respectively (p < 0.001). There was no difference in the prevalence of antibodies against hepatitis C or HIV among cases and controls. The carriership of hepatitis B surface antigen was 10% in both groups. In conclusion, jaundice during pregnancy is often associated with maternal mortality in Luanda, women suffering from jaundice during pregnancy have an extremely high case fatality rate, and P. falciparum and hepatitis E are associated with jaundice in the setting studied.
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PMID:Infectious aetiology of jaundice among pregnant women in Angola. 1295 53

Delivery of foreign genes to the digestive tract mucosa by oral administration of nonreplicating gene transfer vectors would be a very useful method for vaccination and gene therapy. However, there have been few reports on suitable vectors. In the present study, we found that plasmid DNA can be packaged in vitro into a virus-like particle (VLP) composed of open reading frame 2 of hepatitis E virus, which is an orally transmissible virus, and that these VLPs can deliver this foreign DNA to the intestinal mucosa in vivo. The delivery of plasmid DNA to the mucosa of the small intestine was confirmed by the results of immunohistochemical analyses using an expression plasmid encoding human immunodeficiency virus env (HIV env) gp120. After oral administration of VLPs loaded with HIV env cDNA, significant levels of specific IgG and IgA to HIV env in fecal extracts and sera were found. Moreover, mice used in this study exhibited cytotoxic T-lymphocyte responses specific to HIV env in the spleen, Payer's patches and mesenteric lymph nodes. These findings suggest that VLPs derived from orally transmissible viruses can be used as vectors for delivery of genes to mucosal tissue by oral administration for the purpose of DNA vaccination and gene therapy.
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PMID:DNA vaccine-encapsulated virus-like particles derived from an orally transmissible virus stimulate mucosal and systemic immune responses by oral administration. 1497 44

This review has the objective to discuss the epidemiological aspects of the enterically transmitted hepatitis A and E in Brazil. The prevalence of hepatitis A varies greatly in different Brazilian regions, from 56% in South and Southeast to 93% in North region (Manaus, Amazon). Such differences are also found in different socioeconomic levels among age groups. A significantly higher prevalence was seen in the low socioeconomic group between 1-30 years. This difference is most striking in the first 10 years of age (23.5% vs 60.0%, high/middle vs low, respectively). Despite the improvements in sanitary conditions, hepatitis A is still endemic and outbreaks may occur. As an increasing proportion of the population is becoming susceptible to hepatitis A virus infection and as adult individuals may present more severe forms of the disease, the authors conclude that the implement of hepatitis A vaccination should be considered. Some Brazilian data have shown that the genotype found in our country were IA and IB. Isolates from this study were closely related genetically (or even identical) to isolates originating in other South American countries and overseas, providing firm evidence for epidemiological links between persons who travel to endemic areas. In spite of favorable environmental conditions, outbreaks of hepatitis E have never been reported in Brazil. Nevertheless, reports have demonstrated the evidence of anti-hepatitis E virus antibodies in some Brazilian regions. The seroprevalence of IgG anti-hepatitis E virus among normal populations shows positivities of 6.1% in gold-miners, 3.3% in general population, 2.0-7.5% in blood donors, 1.0% in pregnant women, and 4.5% in children, with no differences among regions. In populations at risk the prevalence of anti-hepatits E virus varies greatly. Among patients with acute non-A, non-B, non-C hepatitis 2.1% was detected in the Southeast to 29% in the Northeast, in 10.6% of acute non-A, non-B, non-C hepatitis relatives in the Amazon basin, in 12% of acute sporadic non-A non-B hepatitis patients in the Northeast, a co-infection with acute hepatitis A in 25 to 38% in the Northeast, in 14 to 18% among prostitutes and women considered at risk for human immunodeficiency virus in the Southeast, and in 12% of the intravenous drug users in the Southeast.
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PMID:Epidemiology of hepatitis A and E virus infection in Brazil. 1577 57

Macaques have served as models for more than 70 human infectious diseases of diverse etiologies, including a multitude of agents-bacteria, viruses, fungi, parasites, prions. The remarkable diversity of human infectious diseases that have been modeled in the macaque includes global, childhood, and tropical diseases as well as newly emergent, sexually transmitted, oncogenic, degenerative neurologic, potential bioterrorism, and miscellaneous other diseases. Historically, macaques played a major role in establishing the etiology of yellow fever, polio, and prion diseases. With rare exceptions (Chagas disease, bartonellosis), all of the infectious diseases in this review are of Old World origin. Perhaps most surprising is the large number of tropical (16), newly emergent (7), and bioterrorism diseases (9) that have been modeled in macaques. Many of these human diseases (e.g., AIDS, hepatitis E, bartonellosis) are a consequence of zoonotic infection. However, infectious agents of certain diseases, including measles and tuberculosis, can sometimes go both ways, and thus several human pathogens are threats to nonhuman primates including macaques. Through experimental studies in macaques, researchers have gained insight into pathogenic mechanisms and novel treatment and vaccine approaches for many human infectious diseases, most notably acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), which is caused by infection with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Other infectious agents for which macaques have been a uniquely valuable resource for biomedical research, and particularly vaccinology, include influenza virus, paramyxoviruses, flaviviruses, arenaviruses, hepatitis E virus, papillomavirus, smallpox virus, Mycobacteria, Bacillus anthracis, Helicobacter pylori, Yersinia pestis, and Plasmodium species. This review summarizes the extensive past and present research on macaque models of human infectious disease.
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PMID:Macaque models of human infectious disease. 1832 83

The recent description of chronic hepatitis E in organ transplant recipients deserves increased awareness in the context of hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection in immunocompromised individuals. Reported here is what is apparently the first PCR-documented case of acute hepatitis E in a human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-1-infected patient. The CD4(+) T-lymphocyte count was 246/mm(3). The IgM anti-HEV antibody and HEV RNA tests results from serum were positive. Hepatitis was benign, and chronic HEV infection was ruled out. The HEV genotype was 3f. The patient did not report recent travel abroad. HEV should be tested in HIV-infected individuals presenting with acute hepatitis. HEV RNA detection is useful in diagnosing HEV infection and in monitoring recovery.
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PMID:Hepatitis E virus as a newly identified cause of acute viral hepatitis during human immunodeficiency virus infection. 1904 70

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection is gaining global attention, not only because of the increasing burden of the disease in low endemicity countries, in terms of morbidity and mortality rates, but also due to recent advances in the molecular virology and epidemiology of this emerging pathogen. HEV infection spread can be described as the evolution of a zoonosis towards an established human infection. As known from other viruses, such as the human immunodeficiency virus or the influenza viruses, crossing the species barriers from animals to humans is a recurrent phenomenon. Albeit slow at the beginning, once the virus has adapted to humans, the person-to-person spread can proceed very quickly. Although an optimal cell culture system for HEV is not yet available, outstanding progress has been made with the in vitro expression of HEV-like particles. These new tools have fostered new research to understand the molecular, structural and immunological aspects of human HEV infection. Although some promising data from Phase II vaccine trials are available, recent discoveries will certainly open new avenues for HEV-specific prophylaxis and therapy.
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PMID:Hepatitis E virus: a zoonosis adapting to humans. 2033 88

The combination of antiretroviral (ARV) therapies introduced at the end of the 1990s profoundly changed the natural history of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. Liver diseases are one of the three primary causes of 'non-AIDS-related' death in people living with HIV for three reasons: the high prevalence of hepatotropic viral co-infections, the hepatotoxicity of ARV drugs and new emerging liver diseases, including nodular regenerative hyperplasia and hepatitis E virus infection. The impact of HIV infection on the natural history of hepatitis C virus (HCV) or hepatitis B virus (HBV)/HIV co-infection has markedly changed in the past few decades with the progress made in ARV treatment and the improved definition of therapeutic strategies for HCV or HBV. Initially, HIV had a negative impact on hepatotropic infections. Today, HIV does not appear to significantly modify the natural history of HCV and HBV infection. This is associated with fair immune restoration, viral suppression associated with analogues having dual activity against HBV and HIV and with the increasing efficacy of antiviral treatments against HCV. A significant decline is expected in the morbidity and mortality associated with chronic liver infection in co-infected patients. Nevertheless, today, there are three major issues: (i) improving preventive measures including vaccination and risk reduction; (ii) screening patients infected with HBV or HCV and evaluating the impact of chronic infection on the liver and finally; (iii) early screening of hepatocellular carcinoma whose occurrence is higher and that evolves more rapidly in co-infected than in mono-infected patients.
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PMID:The impact of human immunodeficiency virus on viral hepatitis. 2120 51

Hepatitis E was first recognised during an epidemic of hepatitis, which occurred in Kashmir Valley in 1978. The epidemic involved an estimated 52,000 cases of icteric hepatitis with 1700 deaths. The disease had unique clinical and epidemiological features. The epidemic was water-borne with highly compressed epidemic curve. Following the epidemic, secondary waves of hepatitis did not occur. Clinical profile was characterized by cholestasis in around 20% of patients. The disease predominantly occurred in young adults. There was increased incidence and severity of the disease in pregnant women. A subset of patients had distinctive liver histology with bile plugs in the canaliculi and formation of pseudo-ductules by hepatocytes around the bile plugs. All surviving patients had self limiting disease. Sera lacked serological markers of acute hepatitis A and hepatitis B. Based on these data, the possibility of another human hepatitis virus distinct from post-transfusion non-A, non-B hepatitis was postulated. Balayan et al. (1983) successfully transmitted the disease into himself by oral administration of pooled stool extracts of 9 patients from a non-A, non-B hepatitis outbreak which had occurred in a Soviet military camp located in Afghanistan. Reyes et al. (1990) cloned and sequenced hepatitis E virus genome. Over the years, hepatitis E was identified as a major health problem in developing countries with unsafe water supplies and poor sanitary disposal. Data from sero-surveys forced re-evaluation of the epidemiology of hepatitis E and gave an indirect indication to vocationally acquired HEV infections in industrialized countries. Soon, autochthonous hepatitis E was recognised as a clinical problem in such countries. Several animal species especially domestic swine, wild boar and wild deer were found to be reservoirs of hepatitis E virus genotype 3 & 4 in these countries. Human infections occur through intake of uncooked or undercooked meat of the infected animals and pig livers or sausages made from these livers and sold in supermarkets. Chronic hepatitis E resulting in rapidly progressive liver cirrhosis and end stage liver disease was described in organ transplant patients and those with other immunodeficiency states from many European countries. Two recombinant hepatitis E virus vaccines have successfully undergone phase 3 trials.
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PMID:Discovery of hepatitis E: the epidemic non-A, non-B hepatitis 30 years down the memory lane. 2132 May 58

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is a Herpesvirus, with four different genotypes. Genotypes 1 and 2 often cause acute hepatitis, which presents as outbreaks in endemic regions of Asia and Africa. Genotypes 3 and 4 cause sporadic cases of acute hepatitis in Europe and North America, where it is considered a zoonosis. Symptoms usually resolve spontaneously, but in recent years cases have been detected that progress to chronic liver disease mainly in immunocompromised patients (patients with solid organ transplants, lymphoma, human immunodeficiency virus, primary immunodeficiencies, and those under treatment with corticosteroids and immunosuppressive agents..). We report the case of a healthy, immunocompetent man who developed an episode of acute HEV hepatitis, which progressed to chronic liver disease with fibrosis grade III/IV in the liver biopsy within a year and half.
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PMID:[Chronic hepatitis E in an immunocompetent patient]. 2157 97


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