Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0032285 (pneumonia)
 54,520 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Zidovudine (azidothymidine, Retrovir) and ddI (di-deoxy-inosine, Videx) interfere with the multiplication of HIV by incorporation into nascent DNA chains and interruption of the further linking of nucleotides. Zidovudine lowers early mortality in patients with Aids and pneumocystis carinii pneumonia. However, much of the effectiveness of zidovudine is lost later on; the average prolongation of life in treated patients is estimated to be about 1 year. About two thirds of patients with Aids can be treated with zidovudine; in the others, the drug is ineffective or contraindicated. Frequent blood counts are necessary to monitor myelotoxicity, even at relatively low doses of 500 mg/day. In contrast, zidovudine is well tolerated by asymptomatic patients with 200 to 500 CD4 lymphocytes/mm3, in whom it diminishes the incidence of Aids from about 7 to 3% during the first year of treatment, with less than 2% severe anemia or leukopenia. For patients who do not tolerate zidovudine, ddI is an alternative. It is not myelotoxic but can cause neuritis and pancreatitis, especially at doses in excess of 10 mg/kg/day. Although its antiviral effect is excellent both in vitro and in vivo, there is still a lack of firm data on its clinical value, such as the decrease in opportunistic infections and increase in survival.
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PMID:[Antiretroviral therapy in Switzerland 1991]. 192 47

In July 1993, the United States Public Health Service and the Infectious Disease Society of America gave a set of recommendations for early intervention and prevention of opportunistic infections in HIV-positive people. These guidelines follow CD4 counts. According to the guidelines, CD4 counts above 500 should be monitored every 4 to 6 months and screenings for tuberculosis, sexually transmitted diseases, and other diseases should also be done. At a CD4 count of 75, a prophylaxis of rifabutin against Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) is advised. Oral ganciclovir has been effective in preventing or delaying cytomegalovirus in people with CD4 counts below 50. HIV-positive patients should be vaccinated for streptococcal pneumonia, hepatitis B, and influenza and avoid alcohol, drugs, and nicotine. AZT is still considered the first line therapy when symptoms appear or when CD4 counts fall. Combination antiretroviral therapies (AZT and ddI, AZT and ddC, and AZT and 3TC) are thought to be the best way to fight HIV. If symptoms include thrush, a prophylaxis against Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia should be started, such as TMP-SMX (Bactrim or Septra), dapsone, or aerosolized pentamidine.
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PMID:Early intervention and prevention options. 1136 17

Dapsone, a treatment used for pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP), is ineffective when taken in conjunction with ddI. A study of the chewable form of ddI showed no significant decrease in the blood level of dapsone taken together with ddI. Researchers are searching for another reason why dapsone fails to prevent PCP when taken with ddI.
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PMID:Dapsone not affected by chewable ddI. 1136 30