Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0024312 (lymphopenia)
 4,859 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Fungal infections are increasing in frequency, especially among patients with haematological malignancies. The fungi which cause most of the infections in cancer patients are Candida spp. and Aspergillus spp. These fungi seldom infect individuals with normal host defence mechanisms. Many factors predispose patients to fungal infection, including neutropenia, lymphopenia, gastro-intestinal ulceration, intravenous catheters and adrenal corticosteroid therapy. Candida spp. cause 5 major types of infection: dermatitis, thrush, gastro-intestinal, primary organ and disseminated infection. Aspergillus spp. and Phycomycetes cause pulmonary, disseminated or rhino-cerebral infection. Cryptococcus neoformans usually causes meningitis but may cause pneumonia or disseminated infection. The diagnosis of fungal infection is often made only at postmortem examination, because it is difficult to isolate the aetiological agent from sites of infection. Amphotericin B remains the mainstay of antifungal therapy, but is seldom effective in the patient with compromised host defences. Successful management of these infections in the future will depend upon improvement in diagnostic capabilities as well as the introduction of more effective and less toxic antifungal agents.
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PMID:Fungal infections in the cancer patient. 60 7

Saperconazole (R 66905) is a broad-spectrum antifungal triazole with potent in vitro activity against Aspergillus spp. A total of 279 strains were tested in brain heart infusion broth. Development of the Aspergillus spp. was completely inhibited at 0.1 and 1 microgram of saperconazole per ml for 80.3 and 99.6% of the strains, respectively. Normal and immunocompromised guinea pigs were infected intravenously with Aspergillus fumigatus and treated orally, intravenously, or intraperitoneally with saperconazole or intraperitoneally with amphotericin B. Leukopenia, neutropenia, lymphocytosis, and monocytosis were obtained with mechlorethamine hydrochloride; leukopenia, neutrophilia, and lymphopenia were obtained with cyclophosphamide. Saperconazole was dissolved for oral treatment in polyethylene glycol and for parenteral treatment in cyclodextrins. Amphotericin B was given parenterally as Fungizone (E.R. Squibb & Sons). Treatment was given once daily for 14 days. An early starting treatment was efficacious, but the activity of saperconazole was maintained even when the onset of the treatment was delayed to the moribund state. The activity of saperconazole was not altered in immunocompromised animals. Saperconazole was clearly superior to amphotericin B and free of side effects. The oral and parenteral formulations of saperconazole were equipotent. The systemic activity of saperconazole in guinea pigs was confirmed in invasive aspergillosis in pigeons.
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PMID:Oral and parenteral therapy with saperconazole (R 66905) of invasive aspergillosis in normal and immunocompromised animals. 261 73

Clinical and laboratory features have been reviewed in 66 episodes of disseminated histoplasmosis that occurred during two large urban outbreaks in Indianapolis. Immunosuppression, age greater than 54 years, and presence of other serious underlying illnesses predisposed to the disseminated form of the disease; only 21% of patients lacked one of these risk factors. Central nervous system findings, splenomegaly, hepatomegaly, and lymphopenia suggested disseminated disease but were present in only about one-third of patients. Miliary or diffuse pulmonary infiltrates also suggested dissemination and were noted in about one-third of patients, while mediastinal lymphadenopathy was present in only 17%. Histoplasmal serologic tests, positive in 90% of patients, provided useful diagnostic clues. The diagnosis could be confirmed by culture in 88% of patients, and special stains were positive in about two-thirds. Although 10% of patients recovered without treatment, 11 patients (17%) died because of failure to suspect the diagnosis and initiate therapy promptly. Amphotericin B was effective in all patients receiving at least 500 mg, but relapse occurred if the total dose was less than 30 mg/kg. Ketoconazole appeared effective in non-immunosuppressed patients but not in those with underlying immunosuppression; however, a controlled trial comparing ketoconazole and amphotericin B is required to establish the role of this new fungistatic oral agent.
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PMID:Clinical and laboratory features of disseminated histoplasmosis during two large urban outbreaks. 631 46

A study to evaluate the immunogenicity and protective efficacy of a Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (VEEV) DNA vaccine in an aerosol model of nonhuman primate infection was performed. Cynomolgus macaques vaccinated with a plasmid expressing the 26S structural genes of VEEV subtype IAB by particle-mediated epidermal delivery (PMED) developed virus-neutralizing antibodies. No serum viremia was detected in two out of three macaques vaccinated with the VEEV DNA after aerosol challenge with homologous virus, while one displayed a low viremia on a single day postchallenge. In contrast, all three macaques vaccinated with empty vector DNA developed a high viremia that persisted for at least 3 days after challenge. In addition, macaques vaccinated with the VEEV DNA had reduced febrile reactions, lymphopenia, and clinical signs of disease postchallenge as compared to negative control macaques. Therefore, although the sample size was small in this pilot study, these results indicate that a VEEV DNA vaccine administered by PMED can at least partially protect nonhuman primates against an aerosol VEEV challenge.
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PMID:Immunogenicity and protective efficacy of a DNA vaccine against Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus aerosol challenge in nonhuman primates. 2085 Oct 89