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)

A PCR assay for the diagnosis of leishmaniosis was developed by using primers that were selected from the sequence of the small-subunit rRNA gene. The assay was optimized for routine diagnostic use. Processing of the clinical samples is rapid and simple (lysis of erythrocytes in Tris-EDTA buffer, digestion with proteinase K directly in PCR buffer, and no further purification steps). Furthermore, an internal control is included in every specimen in order to detect the presence of PCR inhibitors. The PCR was compared with diagnostic in vitro cultivation of promastigote stages for the detection of Leishmania spp. in clinical specimens from humans and dogs with a tentative diagnosis of leishmaniosis. PCR and cultivation gave identical results with all but 1 of the 95 specimens from humans. The PCR result in this case was false negative, possibly because of unequal apportionment of this sample. With 10 skin biopsies from six patients with cutaneous leishmaniosis, the sensitivity was 60%. For six human immunodeficiency virus-positive patients with visceral leishmaniosis, all bone marrow biopsies and 7 of 11 whole blood samples (after isolation of leukocytes by Ficoll-Paque) were positive in both tests. PCR detected one more case with the use of 500 microliters of whole blood with direct lysis of the erythrocytes in Tris-EDTA buffer. With dog lymph node aspirates, the sensitivity was 100% (16 of 16 samples) for both methods; furthermore, PCR was positive for 5 of 13 whole blood samples from dogs with leishmaniosis. The specificity of the PCR was 100% (70 specimens from patients without leishmaniosis). This PCR assay proved to be feasible as a routine diagnostic test, being reliable and faster than in vitro cultivation.
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PMID:PCR and in vitro cultivation for detection of Leishmania spp. in diagnostic samples from humans and dogs. 761 19

This study compared the levels of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) virion RNA in plasma from whole blood collected in VACUTAINER CPT (cell preparation tube), VACUTAINER PPT (plasma preparation tube), VACUTAINER SST (serum separation tube), and standard VACUTAINER tubes with sodium heparin, acid citrate dextrose, sodium citrate, and potassium EDTA used as anticoagulants. Quantitative plasma HIV RNA levels were measured by branched-DNA signal amplification. Blood from all tubes was either processed within 1 to 3 h after collection or stored at room temperature or at 4 degrees C for analysis at 6 to 8 and 30 h postdraw. Immediately separated plasma from sodium citrate CPT tubes held at 4 degrees C maintained better stability of HIV RNA equivalents than whole blood held at room temperature or 4 degrees C. The highest number of HIV RNA equivalents was seen with EDTA VACUTAINER tubes. HIV RNA equivalents in all types of plasma were significantly higher than in SST tubes. Although a decline in HIV RNA equivalents was seen in all collection devices after 30 h, a significantly greater decline in plasma HIV RNA equivalents occurred in acid citrate dextrose VACUTAINER tubes than in citrate CPT, PPT, and standard EDTA VACUTAINER tubes. In order to minimize the variability of quantitative HIV RNA test results, our data suggest that samples collected for a particular assay should be processed at the same time postdraw using a particular tube type throughout a given study.
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PMID:Comparative stabilities of quantitative human immunodeficiency virus RNA in plasma from samples collected in VACUTAINER CPT, VACUTAINER PPT, and standard VACUTAINER tubes. 765 Jan 87

Physiological microenvironments such as blood, seminal plasma, mucosal secretions, or lymphatic fluids may influence the biology of the virus-host cell and immune interactions for human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1). Relative to media, physiological levels of human plasma were found to enhance the infectivity of HIV-1 primary isolates in both phytohemagglutinin-stimulated peripheral blood mononuclear cells and monocyte-derived macrophages. Enhancement was observed only when plasma was present during the virus-cell incubation and resulted in a 3- to 30-fold increase in virus titers in all of the four primary isolates tested. Both infectivity and virion binding experiments demonstrated a slow, time-dependent process generally requiring between 1 and 10 h. Human plasma collected in anticoagulants CPDA-1 and heparin, but not EDTA, exhibited this effect at concentrations from 90 to 40%. Furthermore, heat-inactivated plasma resulted in a loss of enhancement in peripheral blood mononuclear cells but not in monocyte-derived macrophages. Physiological concentrations of human plasma appear to recruit additional infectivity, thus increasing the infectious potential of the virus inoculum.
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PMID:Human plasma enhances the infectivity of primary human immunodeficiency virus type 1 isolates in peripheral blood mononuclear cells and monocyte-derived macrophages. 766 10

The human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) DNA PCR results of 94 dried blood spot (DBS) samples on filter paper and corresponding venous blood in EDTA obtained from infants born to HIV-1-seropositive mothers were compared. In addition, the results of HIV-1 DNA PCR on DBS and the HIV-1 RNA PCR from plasma of 70 paired samples were compared. A 100% specificity and a 95% sensitivity for HIV-1 DNA PCR on DBS compared with results for venous blood were observed for the 94 paired samples. The results of the DBS HIV-1 DNA PCR and HIV-1 RNA PCR of 70 corresponding plasma samples correlated perfectly (100%). The DBS HIV-1 DNA PCR method proved reliable for HIV-1 detection.
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PMID:Detection of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) in heel prick blood on filter paper from children born to HIV-1-seropositive mothers. 785 88

We developed and evaluated an automated screening test for antibody to human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) using EDTA-2Na-treated whole blood and an extract of paper disk-absorbed dried whole blood from 60 hemophiliacs infected with HIV-1 and 210 diseased and healthy controls. The specificity and the sensitivity of this system were judged to be 100% with both the whole blood and the extract. This test allows measurement of HIV-1 antibody in whole blood and dried whole blood on a small paper disk and gives a result within 13 minutes; the system can process 150 samples per hour. Therefore, it may be useful at many testing sites, such as emergency departments, intensive care units, blood banks, and commercial laboratories, as well as for mail-order testing from remote areas and developing countries.
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PMID:Preliminary report on an automated screening test for detection of antibody to human immunodeficiency virus type 1 in whole blood. 798 9

Several endocrine functions have been found disturbed in patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). However, no information is available on parathyroid function in these patients. Six patients with AIDS and 10 healthy volunteers underwent an EDTA infusion to induce hypocalcemia and stimulate PTH secretion. A group of 6 severely ill patients with malignancies was studied at baseline and served as additional controls for the effect of a severe disease per se. Baseline values showed that mean serum intact PTH concentration was lower in patients infected with the human immunodeficiency virus than in healthy volunteers (P < 0.04) as well as in patients with malignancies (P = 0.004). Whole blood calcium also tended to be lower in patients with the human immunodeficiency virus than in both control groups, the difference reaching the limit of statistical significance for the healthy controls only (P < 0.04). Mean serum magnesium, 25-hydroxyvitamin D and 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D concentrations were similar in both groups. Throughout the entire EDTA stimulation procedure, i.e. at any blood calcium concentration, serum intact PTH concentration remained lower in patients with AIDS than in healthy control subjects (P < 0.04, analysis of variance for repeated measurements). Basal and maximal secretion of PTH is reduced in patients with AIDS. The mechanisms underlying this finding remain speculative.
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PMID:Altered parathyroid gland function in severely immunocompromised patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus. 798 78

N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC) has been proposed as a therapeutic agent for AIDS patients because it reduces human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) replication in stimulated T cells. However, NAC and glutathione enhanced acute HIV-1 replication in monocyte-derived macrophages. Buthionine sulfoximine did not affect NAC-mediated enhanced HIV-1 replication, indicating that the NAC-mediated effects are glutathione-independent. Superoxide dismutase and the hydroxyl radical scavengers dimethylthiourea and thiourea, but not urea, inhibited acute HIV-1 replication in macrophages. NAC reduced ferricytochrome c and increased dose-dependently Fe(III)-citrate and Fe(III)-EDTA-catalyzed hydroxyl radical formation in a system using glucose and glucose oxidase. Dimethylthiourea and thiourea, but not urea and superoxide dismutase, dose-dependently inhibited NAC-mediated enhancement of HIV-1 replication. These data suggest that oxygen radicals play an important role in self-sustained HIV-1 replication in macrophages and that oxygen radical scavengers other than NAC should be considered as therapeutic agents for AIDS patients.
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PMID:Role for oxygen radicals in self-sustained HIV-1 replication in monocyte-derived macrophages: enhanced HIV-1 replication by N-acetyl-L-cysteine. 799 46

Calcium ions are required for fusion of a wide variety of artificial and biological membranes. To examine the role of calcium ions for cell fusion mediated by interactions between CD4 and the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) envelope glycoprotein (gp120-gp41), we used two experimental systems: (i) cells expressing gp120-gp41 and its receptor CD4, both encoded by recombinant vaccinia viruses, and (ii) chronically infected cells producing low levels of HIV-1. Fusion was measured by counting the number of syncytia and by monitoring the redistribution of fluorescence dyes by video microscopy. Syncytia did not form in solutions without calcium ions. Addition of calcium ions partially restored the formation of syncytia. EDTA and EGTA [ethylene glycol-bis(beta-aminoethyl ether)-N,N,N',N'-tetraacetic acid] blocked syncytium formation in culture media containing calcium ions. Membrane fusion as monitored by fluorescence dye redistribution also required calcium ions. Cell fusion increased with an increase in calcium ion concentration from 100 microM to 10 mM but was not affected by magnesium ions in the concentration range from 0 to 30 mM. Fibrinogen and fibronectin did not promote fusion in the absence or presence of Ca2+. Binding of soluble CD4 to gp120-gp41-expressing cells was not affected by Ca2+ and Mg2+. We conclude that Ca2+ is involved in postbinding steps in cell fusion mediated by the CD4-HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein interaction.
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PMID:Calcium ions are required for cell fusion mediated by the CD4-human immunodeficiency virus type 1 envelope glycoprotein interaction. 843 34

Recombinant glycoprotein 120 (rgp120) of human immunodeficiency virus type-1 (HIV-1) activates the human complement system in the absence of anti-gp120 antibodies. HIV-1 glycoprotein gp120 can dissociate from the viral envelope either spontaneously or after binding of HIV-1 to the CD4 molecule. As a consequence, gp120 can circulate in the patient's serum and attach to the surface of uninfected CD4+ T cells. Complement activation by cell-bound HIV-1 glycoprotein gp120 with subsequent opsonization may represent a mechanism for the elimination of uninfected CD4+ cells by the reticuloendothelial system, thereby enhancing the progression of HIV disease. In the current study, the complement proteins C4,C3,C5,C9, and properdin were found to bind to a synthetic peptide covering positions 233-251 of the gp120BRU sequence on incubation with normal human serum. Complement activation by the peptide was comparable with that induced by aggregated IgG, complete rgp120, and the previously described complement-activating gp41-peptide 609-623. Activation occurred via the classical pathway and was abrogated in the presence of EDTA, Mg2+/EGTA, or C4-deficient human serum. Peptides partly overlapping the sequence 233-251 activated complement to a lesser extent. The complement-activating capacity of the gp120 sequence 233-251 was not restricted to the HIV-1BRU isolate, because a peptide from the corresponding sequence of the HIV-1MN strain was also capable of activating complement. An additional strong complement-activating site was identified in the gp120 sequence 321-360 of the HIV-1MN strain. These data indicate that distinct sites in gp120 are able to activate human serum complement via the classical pathway in the absence of anti-gp120 and independent of glycosylation.
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PMID:Identification of complement activation sites in human immunodeficiency virus type-1 glycoprotein gp120. 863 Mar 95

We report a novel assay for monitoring the DNA binding of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) integrase and the effect of cofactors and inhibitors. The assay uses depurinated oligonucleotides that can form a Schiff base between the aldehydic abasic site and a nearby enzyme lysine epsilon-amino group which can subsequently be trapped by reduction with sodium borohydride. Chemically depurinated duplex substrates representing the U5 end of the HIV-1 DNA were initially used. We next substituted an enzymatically generated abasic site for each of 10 nucleotides normally present in a 21-mer duplex oligonucleotide representing the U5 end of the HIV-1 DNA. Using HIV-1, HIV-2, or simian immunodeficiency virus integrases, the amount of covalent enzyme-DNA complex trapped decreased as the abasic site was moved away from the conserved CA dinucleotide. The enzyme-DNA complexes formed in the presence of manganese were not reversed by subsequent addition of EDTA, indicating that the divalent metal required for integrase catalysis is tightly bound in a ternary enzyme-metal-DNA complex. Both the N- and C-terminal domains of integrase contributed to efficient DNA binding, and mutation of Lys-136 significantly reduced Schiff base formation, implicating this residue in viral DNA binding.
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PMID:Chemical trapping of ternary complexes of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 integrase, divalent metal, and DNA substrates containing an abasic site. Implications for the role of lysine 136 in DNA binding. 891 Mar 9


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