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)

Early in the AIDS epidemic, retrospective studies reported that vaginal candidiasis occurred more frequently in women who were infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) than in those who were not infected. Some investigators suggested that new onset or recurrent vaginal candidiasis might identify HIV-infected individuals and predict the course of AIDS in women already known to be infected. In this article, studies of vaginal candidiasis in HIV-infected women are examined, and several observations are made. First, early studies were small and likely reflected biased populations. Second, adherence to previously accepted diagnostic criteria for vaginal candidiasis was not consistent in these studies. Finally, conclusions about the increased risk of recurrent or chronic candidal vaginitis in HIV-infected women have been promulgated in the medical literature and may have influenced clinical practice even though such statements are not supported epidemiologically. Prospective trials with uninfected community controls should determine the true impact of HIV infection on vulvovaginal candidiasis.
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PMID:Is vulvovaginal candidiasis an AIDS-related illness? 872 39

Vaginal isolates of Candida albicans from human immunodeficiency virus-positive (HIV+) and HIV- women with or without candidal vaginitis were examined for secretory aspartyl proteinase (Sap) production in vitro and in vivo and for the possible correlation of Sap production with pathology and antimycotic susceptibility in vitro. HIV+ women with candidal vaginitis were infected by strains of C. albicans showing significantly higher levels of Sap, a virulence enzyme, than strains isolated from HIV+, C. albicans carrier subjects and HIV- subjects with vaginitis. The greater production of Sap in vitro was paralleled by greater amounts of Sap in the vaginal fluids of infected subjects. In an estrogen-dependent, rat vaginitis model, a strain of C. albicans producing a high level of Sap that was isolated from an HIV+ woman with vaginitis was more pathogenic than a strain of C. albicans that was isolated primarily from an HIV-, Candida carrier. In the same model, pepstatin A, a strong Sap inhibitor, exerted a strong curative effect on experimental vaginitis. No correlation was found between Sap production and antimycotic susceptibility, as most of the isolates were fully susceptible to fluconazole, itraconazole, and other antimycotics, regardless of their source (subjects infected with strains producing high or low levels of Sap, subjects with vaginitis or carrier subjects, or subjects with or without HIV). Thus, high Sap production is associated with virulence of C. albicans but not with fungal resistance to fluconazole in HIV-infected subjects, and Sap is a potentially new therapeutic target in candidal vaginitis.
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PMID:High aspartyl proteinase production and vaginitis in human immunodeficiency virus-infected women. 1020 90

This study was undertaken to assess whether the prevalence of lower genital tract infections among human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-seropositive women was higher than among high-risk HIV-seronegative women at their baseline visit for the HIV Epidemiology Research Study. Results were available for 851 HIV-seropositive and 434 HIV-seronegative women. Human papilloma virus (HPV) infection was more prevalent among HIV-seropositive women (64% vs. 28%). Bacterial vaginosis was common (35% vs. 33%), followed by trichomoniasis (12% vs. 10%), syphilis (8% vs. 6%), Chlamydia trachomatis infection (4% vs. 5%), candidal vaginitis (3% vs. 2%), and Neisseria gonorrhoeae infection (0.8% vs. 0.3%). Alcohol use (odds ratio [OR], 1.8; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1. 3-2.4) and smoking (OR, 1.8; 95% CI, 1.3-2.5) were associated with bacterial vaginosis. Bacterial vaginosis (OR, 2.3; 95% CI, 1.5-3.4), trichomoniasis (OR, 2.3; 95% CI, 1.1-4.7), and syphilis (OR, 3.1; 95% CI, 1.3-7.4) were found to be more prevalent among black women. Our study showed no statistically significant difference in the prevalence of lower genital tract infections except for HPV between HIV-infected and demographically and behaviorally similar HIV-uninfected high-risk women.
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PMID:Prevalence of lower genital tract infections among human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-seropositive and high-risk HIV-seronegative women. HIV Epidemiology Research Study Group. 1052 55