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

Between January 1988 and May 1991 intravenous ganciclovir (GCV) treatment was administered to eight male AIDS-patients with unilateral cytomegalovirus (CMV)-retinitis. Despite of continuous therapy with at least the recommended dose of GCV, three patients developed slowly progressive CMV-retinitis in the fellow eye after 4 to 13 months. The progression could not be stopped by GCV and thus bilateral blindness resulted after 12 to 22 months. The number of CD4-lymphocytes in the blood was reduced in all patients, but particularly in patients with progressive disease. Treatment failure was partly related to the duration of CMV-retinitis and partly to the degree of immunodeficiency. Intravenous treatment with GCV alone can not stop the progression of CMV-retinitis in long-term survivors and in those with advanced immunodeficiency.
 ...
PMID:Failure to control AIDS-related CMV-retinitis with intravenous ganciclovir. 136 18

Electron microscopic features of muscle biopsies from 13 human immunodeficiency (HIV)-positive patients who had myopathy while receiving zidovudine (AZT) were compared with biopsies from five patients with HIV-induced myopathy who were not treated with AZT. All specimens showed disorganization of the myofibrillar structures, along with a varying degree of nemaline (rod) bodies, vacuolization, inflammation, and endothelial tubuloreticular profiles. One untreated and all AZT-treated patients had cytoplasmic bodies, which in the latter were abundant, large, and irregular. Two untreated patients had a peculiar osmiophilic destruction of the muscle fibers, with numerous tubuloreticular profiles in the endothelial cells and brisk inflammation that included lymphoplasmatoid cells. The AZT-treated group had ubiquitous abnormal mitochondria that complemented the presence of ragged red fibers seen by light microscopy. There was subsarcolemmal proliferation of mitochondria, with marked variation in size and shape and proliferation or disorganization of their cristae. Paracrystalline inclusions were seen in one patient. Blind re-examination of the electron micrographs showed abnormal mitochondria that readily distinguished patients with AZT-associated myopathy from those with untreated HIV-induced myopathy. Immunocytochemistry using antibodies to single- and double-stranded DNA revealed severe reduction of mitochondrial DNA compared with the normal nuclear DNA. Although the myopathies associated with HIV and AZT share common myopathologic features, the mitochondrial abnormalities are unique to the AZT-treated patients. Since mitochondrial DNA is specifically reduced, the structural changes noted on electron microscopy are probably associated with mitochondrial dysfunction. Zidovudine, a DNA chain terminator that inhibits the mitochondrial gamma-DNA polymerase, is toxic to muscle mitochondria.
 ...
PMID:Ultrastructural characteristics and DNA immunocytochemistry in human immunodeficiency virus and zidovudine-associated myopathies. 174 34

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) retinitis is the most common cause of blindness in patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Ganciclovir, a guanosine nucleoside, has been found to be effective in the short-term treatment of CMV retinitis and in the delay of progression to recurrence of the disease. However, ganciclovir has no intrinsic activity against HIV, and patients with the acquired immune deficiency syndrome often require treatment with zidovudine, the only currently approved therapy for HIV infection. Both agents have been associated with dose-limiting granulocytopenia in such patients, and death from sepsis in the setting of profound decreases in absolute granulocyte counts has been reported. However, recent investigation suggests that with careful patient selection and monitoring, relatively safe concomitant therapy may be possible. This article reviews the toxicity issues that influence the decision to employ concomitant therapy with ganciclovir and zidovudine. An approach to dosing ganciclovir, including a schema for modifying or interrupting the zidovudine dosage based on hematologic status, is also presented. A prospective study is presently under way to determine whether combined therapy in selected patients leads to prolonged survival and a decreased incidence of recurrence of active CMV retinitis.
 ...
PMID:Concomitant ganciclovir and zidovudine treatment for cytomegalovirus retinitis in patients with HIV infection: an approach to treatment. 184 17

Cytomegalovirus (CMV), a major opportunistic viral pathogen frequently causing disease in immunocompromised patients such as organ transplant recipients and people with AIDS, may present as pneumonitis, gastrointestinal disease, or encephalitis. Its most common manifestation in patients with AIDS is retinitis which, if left untreated, invariably progresses to extensive retinal necrosis and ultimately to blindness. Ganciclovir sodium, currently the only licensed antiviral agent for the treatment of CMV retinitis, effectively controls this infection in a majority of AIDS patients, but significant granulocytopenia or thrombocytopenia related to ganciclovir therapy often limit its clinical application. Myelosuppression may be further exacerbated in AIDS patients by such other agents as zidovudine or trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole, often necessitating dosage reductions or discontinuation of these agents in patients receiving ganciclovir. Foscarnet sodium, a pyrophosphate analog active against both cytomegalovirus and the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV), may be an effective alternative to ganciclovir in the management of CMV retinitis. Trials with intravenous foscarnet in CMV retinitis have reported favorable results using initial daily doses of 180-230 mg/kg/d given as intermittent infusions every eight hours, followed by maintenance regimens of 60-90 mg/kg/d given as single daily one- or two-hour infusions. Foscarnet therapy may result in renal impairment, and indefinite intravenous maintenance therapy may be required to prevent recurrence of CMV infection. Despite these drawbacks, foscarnet's lack of major myelosuppressive toxicity, and its activity in suppressing HIV replication, make this a potentially safe and effective alternative agent for the management of CMV infection, especially in AIDS patients.
 ...
PMID:Foscarnet sodium. 184 59

We reviewed the neuro-ophthalmic findings in 177 subjects with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) or AIDS-related complex who underwent an eye examination in one center from January 1984 to May 1989. The findings included ocular motor nerve palsies (five cases), papilledema (two cases), cytomegalovirus optic neuritis (two cases), cortical blindness (one case), conjugate gaze palsy (one case), and altitudinal visual field defect (one case). These findings were attributed to central nervous system toxoplasmosis (four cases) or lymphoma (one case), cryptococcal meningitis (two cases), systemic cytomegalovirus infections (two cases), and herpes simplex encephalitis (one case). Of 177 patients, 61 patients were tested for syphilis. Twenty-six patients had positive rapid plasma reagin titers, and 28 had positive fluorescent treponemal antibody-absorbed tests. Human immunodeficiency virus-infected individuals need to be screened routinely for syphilis.
 ...
PMID:Neuro-ophthalmic findings in acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. 216

A longitudinal study of serum IgG and IgA antibody titers to Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) viral capsid antigen (VCA) was carried out in 218 homosexual men at various stages of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. The serum samples tested were obtained from the following groups: 24 HIV seroconverters, 41 persistently HIV-seropositive asymptomatic individuals, 22 seropositives who developed AIDS-related complex (ARC), 29 HIV seropositives who developed lymphadenopathy syndrome (LAS), 35 HIV seronegatives with LAS, 36 asymptomatic HIV seronegatives, and 31 AIDS patients. Blind-tested samples were titrated for IgG and IgA EBV-VCA antibodies by immunoperoxidase assay (IPA). Cross-sectional analysis indicated that all HIV-seropositive subjects exhibited significantly elevated EBV IgG and IgA antibody titers compared with HIV-seronegative subjects. The proportions with EBV-VCA IgA antibodies at a titer of greater than or equal to 128 rose during the course of HIV infection and progression of the disease: 8% in HIV seronegatives, 11% in HIV seronegatives with LAS, 25% in HIV seronegatives prior to HIV seroconversion, 44% in asymptomatic HIV seropositives, 34% in LAS, 50% in ARC, and 58% in AIDS patients. An increase in EBV-VCA IgG and IgA titers was detected following HIV seroconversion and in samples obtained 6 months before disease progression to LAS. These data suggest the possible involvement of EBV in the natural history of HIV infection and disease progression. The possibility that EBV-VCA IgA antibody levels would be of value in prediction of progression of HIV-related illness is discussed.
 ...
PMID:Serum IgG and IgA antibodies specific to Epstein-Barr virus capsid antigen in a longitudinal study of human immunodeficiency virus infection and disease progression in homosexual men. 219 73

Gonococcal eye infection in adults is an uncommon cause of blindness, where prompt diagnosis and effective treatment are essential in the prevention of ophthalmic morbidity. We present a case report detailing the management and complications encountered in this condition in a patient coinfected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).
 ...
PMID:Adult gonococcal keratoconjunctivitis with AIDS. 230 46

We prospectively evaluated the diagnostic value of blind brushing of the esophagus via nasogastric tube in 66 patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection [acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) (N = 59), or AIDS-related complex (ARC), (N = 7)] complaining of odynophagia and/or dysphagia. Brushings were obtained between 20 and 35 cm from the incisors. Patients then underwent upper endoscopy with directed brushings and biopsies; esophageal lavage was also done in the first 40 patients. Candida esophagitis was defined as an abnormal appearance of the esophageal mucosa, together with microscopic evidence of pseudohyphae in the endoscopic brushings or invasive candidiasis on biopsy. The presence of oral thrush was also recorded. Candida esophagitis was present in 28 (42%) of the 66 patients. Blind brushings diagnosed candidiasis in 27/28 cases and produced five false positives (sensitivity 96%, specificity 87%). Blind brushing of the esophagus was significantly more sensitive than the presence of oral thrush for the diagnosis of esophageal candidiasis (p = 0.02). Oral thrush was found in only 20/28 cases of Candida esophagitis and in eight patients without Candida (sensitivity 71%, specificity 79%). Esophageal lavage yielded Candida in all cases (sensitivity 100%) but had a poor specificity (64%). We conclude that blind brushing of the esophagus is a rapid, safe, and economical way to diagnose Candida esophagitis in patients with AIDS. This procedure can be performed by primary care physicians with minimal loss of sensitivity and specificity as compared to endoscopy.
 ...
PMID:Prospective evaluation of blind brushing of the esophagus for Candida esophagitis in patients with human immunodeficiency virus infection. 232 79

We report a patient with pathologic evidence of anterograde spread of varicella zoster virus (VZV) through the visual system. A 29-year-old homosexual man developed the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) 2 months before the onset of left herpes zoster ophthalmicus. During the next 11 months, the zoster infection progressed to involve the left eye, with resultant keratitis, iritis, retinitis, and eventual blindness. Later, the patient developed bilateral blindness, left hemiparesis, and fatal pneumonia. At autopsy, the brain revealed destruction of the visual system and adjacent structures, with sparing of the remainder of the brain. Glial cells near the areas of necrosis showed Cowdry type A intranuclear inclusions. In situ hybridization with probes to VZV nucleic acid sequences were positive in the necrotic brain and retinal areas. Hybridization with probes to cytomegalovirus, herpes simplex virus type II, human immunodeficiency virus, and Epstein-Barr virus were negative. Electron microscopy revealed characteristic herpes group nucleocapsids. This case provides insight into the mechanisms of virus dissemination and the production of encephalitis.
 ...
PMID:Transsynaptic spread of varicella zoster virus through the visual system: a mechanism of viral dissemination in the central nervous system. 253 32

The acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) affects the ocular structures in several ways. Kaposi's sarcoma has been observed on the bulbar conjunctiva of the globe. Retinal complications, however, are of major concern. Cotton-wool spots are commonly seen in AIDS patients and are usually of no consequence, except that they must be distinguished from the early stages of cytomegalovirus (CMV) retinitis, seen in 20-40% of these patients. CMV causes a necrotic-type retinitis potentially leading to blindness. 9-[2-Hydroxy-1-(hydroxymethyl)ethoxymethyl]guanine (DHPG) has been found effective in the short-term treatment of this disorder. It is planned to use AS101 in the regimen to see if a long-term cure from this disease can be affected. Care must be taken in handling ocular tissue of AIDS patients or the re-use of ophthalmic instruments touching the eye of AIDS patients since the human immunodeficiency virus has been found in these structures.
 ...
PMID:Ocular complications of the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. 284 60


1 2 3 4 5 6 Next >>