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Query: UMLS:C0032285 (pneumonia)
 54,520 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The use of alpha interferon (alpha IFN) and, more recently, of the purine analogues deoxycoformycin (dCF) and 2-chlorodeoxyadenosine (2-CdA) has dramatically improved the prognosis of patients affected by hairy cell leukemia (HCL). DCF has been shown to induce an higher and more durable response rate than IFN, with only moderate myelosuppression and relatively few side effects. In this paper, we report our experience with dCF in a series of 38 HCL patients who had progression of their disease after IFN therapy. Serum interleukin-1 beta (IL-1 beta), soluble interleukin-2 receptors (sIl-2R) and Tumor Necrosis Factor alpha (TNF alpha) levels were also evaluated before, both during and after treatment in order to monitor clinical response. Two schedules of treatment were employed: 23 patients were treated with the EORTC protocol and the following 15 with the NCI regimen. The overall response rate was 94.7%; no significant differences in response rates were observed between the two schedules. In respect to toxicity, we recorded nausea and in two cases a cutaneous rash. Four patients experienced localized herpes zoster and one had a fungal pneumonia. Median overall survival after therapy is 38.5 months, 55 percent of patients enrolled in the EORTC schedule and 77% of those who received the NCI program are currently in CCR at 3 years. Serum IL-1 beta and sIL-2R levels significantly decreased after treatment, while no significant changes in serum TNF alpha levels were observed. In our study, dCF was confirmed as an effective agent in HCL, inducing an high response rate with only moderate side effects.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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PMID:Deoxycoformycin induces long-lasting remissions in hairy cell leukemia: clinical and biological results of two different regimens. 782 42

The role of CD8+ T cells in antichlamydial immunity was investigated in a murine model of chlamydial genital infection by using T-cell clones generated against the Chlamydia trachomatis agent of mouse pneumonitis (MoPn). Two CD8+ T-cell clones tested (2.1F and 2.14-9) were chlamydia antigen specific and MHC restricted and reacted against MoPn as well as the Chlamydia psittaci agent of guinea pig inclusion conjunctivitis and C. trachomatis serovar E, suggesting the recognition of a genus-specific antigen. Upon adoptive transfer into persistently MoPn-infected nu/nu mice, 55.6% of the recipients of clone 2.1F (15 of 27) resolved the infection but recipients of clone 2.14-9 did not. The ability to resolve the MoPn infection correlated with the capacity of clone 2.1F to elaborate a combination of gamma interferon and tumor necrosis factor alpha. The results suggested that in addition to CD4+ T cells, CD8+ T cells may also contribute to antichlamydial T-cell immunity in vivo.
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PMID:Role for CD8+ T cells in antichlamydial immunity defined by Chlamydia-specific T-lymphocyte clones. 792 6

The pathologic features in pulmonary specimens are reported from 32 open thoracotomies of 20 patients with chronic granulomatous disease (CGD). The pattern of inflammation present in the resected material varied, but a granulomatous component was present in each case. In 78% of the specimens, a distinctive form of granuloma was found: a neutrophilic microabscess surrounded by palisading histiocytes. In four specimens eosinophils were also found within the microabscesses. This feature was found exclusively in cases of fungal infection. Fungal organisms were found by culture in 18 specimens (56%) and in 17 of these specimens (94%), they also were seen by histopathology. In 9 cases (28%) routine bacterial cultures were positive, and in one case an atypical Mycobacterium was cultured. These organisms were not prospectively identified on special stains of histologic sections in any of the cases. Abscess formation was found more commonly in pure fungal infections (41%) than in pure bacterial infections (14%). In contrast to earlier reports, well-formed granulomas with giant cells were not specific for fungal infections. In this series, they were present in 57% of cases with pure bacterial infections. A subset of the patients received gamma interferon therapy or granulocyte transfusions before the surgical procedures. No differences in the histopathology of the inflammation were associated with granulocyte transfusions, but gamma interferon therapy was associated with a reduction in necrotizing granulomatous inflammation. Additionally, one case of severe cytomegalovirus pneumonitis is described in a CGD patient receiving chronic steroid therapy.
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PMID:Surgical pathology of the lung in chronic granulomatous disease. 794 37

The great strides in organ transplantation have been accompanied by some specific pathologies, notably, neoplasia, including Kaposi's sarcoma which occupies the third place in frequency after cutaneous tumours and malignant lymphomas. We report a case of cutaneous Kaposi's sarcoma developing some six months after a cardiac transplant. The modulation of immuno-suppression and treatment with Alpha interferon allowed an initial stabilisation of the cutaneous lesions. However, there were secondary developments of the lesions and, 21 months after the initial presentation, the patient developed a diffuse infiltrating pneumonia leading to death. The autopsy revealed lymphangitis carcinomatosis of Kaposi's sarcoma type. This observation underlines the therapeutic difficulties seen in Kaposi's sarcoma after organ transplantation when there is no alternative to allow a significant reduction or cessation of immuno-suppression.
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PMID:[Cutaneous Kaposi's sarcoma with pulmonary carcinomatous lymphangitis in patient with heart transplantation]. 797 44

Nitric oxide (NO) is produced by murine macrophages in response to cytokines and/or gram-negative bacterial lipopolysaccharide. NO induction by gram-positive bacteria such as group B streptococci (GBS), the major etiologic agents of neonatal pneumonia and meningitis, has received little study. GBS as well as two other gram-positive bacterial species, Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis, were found to stimulate NO production in thioglycolate-elicited murine macrophages and in the mouse macrophage cell line J774A.1 in the presence of gamma interferon. Serotype Ia and III GBS were both stimulatory, as were asialo- and type antigen-deficient mutant strains of type III GBS. NO production was dose dependent, inhibitable by L-arginine analogs, and unaffected by polymyxin B. Since phagocytosis by murine and human phagocytes of GBS is dependent on complement receptor type 3 (CR3), the role of CR3 in the NO response to GBS was tested in the CR3-deficient myelomonocytic cell line WEHI-3. GBS did not induce NO, whereas S. aureus or lipopolysaccharide did induce NO in WEHI-3 cells. S. epidermidis, whose nonopsonic phagocytosis is also CR3 dependent, failed to induce NO in WEHI-3 cells. Monoclonal anti-CR3 (anti-CD11b or anti-CD18) in the presence of interferon also induced NO production in thioglycolate-elicited macrophages and in J774A.1 cells but not in WEHI-3 cells. This evidence suggests that ligated CR3 and gamma interferon act synergistically to induce NO production and that CR3 mediates the GBS-induced signal for NO production in interferon-treated macrophages.
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PMID:Group B streptococcus-induced nitric oxide production in murine macrophages is CR3 (CD11b/CD18) dependent. 803 77

MoPn-specific T-cell clones were isolated from a T-cell line that was capable of curing chlamydial genital infection by the Chlamydia trachomatis agent of mouse pneumonitis (MoPn) after adoptive transfer. Two clones (designated as 2.14-0 and 2.14-3) were characterized by flow cytometry techniques to be homogenous for L3T4, CD3, and alpha/beta T cell receptor (TcR) T-helper cell markers. The two clones were biovar specific, because they reacted to MoPn but not the Chlamydia psittaci agent of guinea pig inclusion conjunctivitis (GPIC) or C. trachomatis, serovar type E. Cytokine profile analysis, by a combination of bioassays, ELISA, and slot/Northern blotting for specific cytokine messenger RNAs, further revealed that cultures of antigen-stimulated clone 2.14-0 contained interleukin-2 (IL-2), tumor necrosis factor-alpha, and gamma interferon (a T helper 1 cell [Th1] profile). Clone 2.14-3 was also positive for gamma interferon, a level much lower than that of clone 2.14-0, and negative for IL-4 secretion, suggesting a Th1 profile as well. The ability of these clones to bring about the resolution of the chronic genital chlamydial infection of nude mice was tested by the adoptive transfer of 10(7) cells of each clone into the mice. By 4 weeks after cell transfer of clone 2.14-0, 81% of recipient nude mice (30 of 37) resolved the disease. In contrast, clone 2.14-3 or a control T-cell clone specific for a heterologous antigen were unable to resolve the infection in 20 recipients in each case, even after 100 days.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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PMID:Resolution of murine chlamydial genital infection by the adoptive transfer of a biovar-specific, Th1 lymphocyte clone. 806 34

We report three cases of chronic hepatitis C (HC) with pneumonitis, suspected to be caused by natural and recombinant interferon (INF) alfa treatments. The patients were administered INF through intramuscular injection. All three patients developed acute respiratory failure (PaO2 < or = 60 mm Hg) with bilateral lung infiltration. One of the patient's condition improved after the cessation of INF treatment, without any other therapy. The other two patients were administered corticosteroids, and one patient's condition improved, while in the other patient the pneumonitis persisted, even after a high dose of corticosteroids. To our knowledge, these three cases are the first report of pneumonitis associated with INF alfa in patients with chronic HC.
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PMID:Pneumonitis associated with natural and recombinant interferon alfa therapy for chronic hepatitis C. 813 69

Cytokine production has been assessed at the single-cell level (ELISPOT assay) for freshly isolated mediastinal lymph node cells from C57BL/6 mice with primary, nonfatal influenza pneumonia. The mediastinal lymph node populations were also secondarily stimulated in vitro, and culture supernatants were assayed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Both approaches showed minimal evidence of protein secretion for interleukin-4 (IL-4), IL-5, and tumor necrosis factor, while IL-2, IL-10, and gamma interferon (IFN-gamma) were prominent throughout the response. The numbers of IL-2- and IFN-gamma-producing cells were maximal at 7 days after infection, while the total counts for cells secreting IL-10 were fairly constant from day 3 to 7. The cultures that were stimulated with virus in vitro showed in inverse relationship between IL-10 and IFN-gamma production, with IL-10 peaking on day 3 and IFN-gamma peaking on day 7. Lymphocytes secreting IL-2, IL-10, and/or IFN-gamma were present in CD4+ and CD8+ populations separated by fluorescence-activated cell sorting, although the CD8+ T cells produced less cytokine and were at a relatively lower frequency. Addition of recombinant IL-10 to the virus-stimulated cultures decreased the amount of IFN-gamma that could be detected, while incorporation of a monoclonal antibody to IL-10 had the opposite effect. A neutralization experiment also indicated that IL-2 was the principal mediator of lymphocyte proliferation. These experiments thus show that the developing T-cell response in the regional lymph nodes of mice with influenza cannot be rigidly categorized on the basis of a TH1 or TH2 phenotype and suggest possible regulatory mechanisms.
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PMID:Concurrent production of interleukin-2, interleukin-10, and gamma interferon in the regional lymph nodes of mice with influenza pneumonia. 815 76

A total of 78 patients with superficial bladder carcinoma were prospectively randomized to two groups following complete transurethral resection (TUR). Each received 12 intravesical instillations of 10(7) units interferon A or 120 mg BCG Connaught for 1 year starting 6 weeks post-TUR. After a mean observation period of 24 (13-31) months in the BCG and 25 (6-32) months in the IFN group 5/32 (15.6%) recurrences in the BCG versus 21/35 (60%) in the IFN group were observed (P = 0.0003). In the IFN group 18.4% of the patients had dysuria and 2.6% fever; in the BCG group 35% had fever, 60% cystitis, 1 patient granulomatous epididimoorchitis and 1 patient pneumonitis with granulomatous prostatitis. With our instillation regimen interferon A had few side effects but also no prophylactic effect, whereas BCG had tolerable-seldom severe--side effects and was very effective in preventing recurrences. Perhaps IFN should be given earlier after TUR and in a higher dosage.
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PMID:[BCG vs interferon A for prevention of recurrence of superficial bladder cancer. A prospective randomized study]. 817 7

Cefadroxil, a cephalosporin, had been prescribed to children with superinfected atopic dermatitis, and was shown to improve both the infection, the clinical status and induced a dramatic lowering of the serum total IgE levels. Further studies have confirmed the IgE immunomodulating properties of cefadroxil. We report the case of a 3 year old asthmatic child who was hospitalized for superimposed pneumonia and was included in a study evaluating cefadroxil. The child was also suffering of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. After treatment with cefadroxil and oral salbutamol, the child fully recovered. The initially elevated serum IgE (day 1:556 IU/ml) dropped to normal values (day 21: 52 IU/ml), while the production of IgE in vitro by peripheral blood B cells was normalized. We suggest that one mechanism of action of cefadroxil is the stimulation of production of gamma interferon in patients with atopic disorders; this mechanism interferes with the IL-4 primary signal, as well as with other second signals recognized for the synthesis of IgE. Gamma interferon may also prove beneficial for the control of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis.
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PMID:Cefadroxil reduces the production of IgE in a 3 year old asthmatic with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. 823 16


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