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Query: UMLS:C0038362 (stomatitis)
 8,852 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

A clinically unclear case is described of stomatitis with a long duration in a male of 28. Exfoliations in the region of the mouth angle were observed resembling pemphigus vegetans. Biopsy examination revealed a thick plasma cell infiltration which was considered to be an extramedullary plasmacytoma. However, a polyclonal composition of plasmacytes was found immunomorphologically producing immunoglobulins A, M and G with predominant production of IgG. This allowed rejection of neoplastic nature of the infiltrate, confirming its inflammatory origin and specific character. Serological tests (Wassermann, immunofluorescence test, in vitro immobilization test) confirmed the diagnosis of secondary recurring syphilis. Differential diagnosis of plasma-cell syphilid of skin and mucosal extramedullary plasmacytoma is under discussion.
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PMID:[A case of secondary syphilis simulating plasmocytoma]. 195 81

Two hundred years ago Edward Jenner inoculated James Phipps with vaccinia and 181 years later smallpox had disappeared from the surface of the earth as a result of generalized vaccination. Compared to the requirements of modern vaccinology, the procedures used by Jenner and his successors, were extremely primitive because of an almost total lack of knowledge in the field of microbiology and immunology. The active principle of smallpox vaccine is vaccinia virus, which in many respects, differs from that of natural cowpox; the term "cowpox" has been used for more than a century and a half to designate the vaccine; it appears itself to be a misnomer, because it is most probably by a virus of rodents, which only occasionally infects bovines or other species, especially cats. The origin of vaccinia remains doubtful, but a plausible explanation is that it is derived from horse-pox. Jenner was convinced that he was working with a virus of equine origin, which was occasionally transmitted from the horse to the cow by the personnel on the farms. Horse pox has now completely disappeared. Especially during the first years after Jenner's discovery, great confusion was caused by other lesions on the cow's udder, which were called "spurious cowpox". We know today that these lesions could be caused by the viruses of papular stomatitis, pseudo-cowpox or para-vaccinia (milker's nodules), herpes mammilitis and papillomatosis; they could not be differentiated from those of cowpox or vaccinia, in addition lesions due to bacteria or other causes also led to confusion. During the first eighty years the vaccine was being transferred almost exclusively from arm to arm with the risks inherent in this procedure; one of the reasons for applying this method was the fear of "bestialization" thought to be linked with the use of material of animal origin. Several contaminations have been observed as a result of the use of the arm-to-arm procedure: smallpox was transmitted, especially in the beginning, because vaccinations were carried out in a contaminated environment. Syphilis was diagnosed in several countries after the use of vaccine taken from syphilis patients. At least two foci of hepatitis were reported after the use of contaminated human lymph. Transmission of tuberculosis or what was then designated as scrofulosis was unlikely, but was used as one of the main arguments against vaccination by the antivaccinists. Varicella and measles were transmitted from time to time with the vaccine and also bacterial infections, such as staphylococci, streptococci e.a. From the global point of view, however, the number of contaminations remained limited in comparison with the large numbers of vaccinations that were performed. Another problem the early vaccinators were facing, was that of the decline and disappearance of the immunity after a certain number of years. Jenner and his successors believed that the immunity post vaccination would be lifelong as it was after variolation. When in the early part of the 19th century more and more immunity breakdowns occurred, this observation led to total confusion and it took dozens of years of debate and controversy before the only logical and efficacious measure, i.e. revaccination, was generally accepted and implemented. In the last third of the 19th century "human lymph", obtained by arm-to-arm vaccination, was gradually replaced everywhere by animal lymph i.e. vaccine produced on the skin of animals, mainly calves. The determining factor in the switch was the risk of vaccination syphilis. Everywhere vaccine institutes were created, where the vaccinia virus was propagated on the skin of calves. The harvested virus served each time for the inoculation of fresh calves; this resulted in a gradual increase of the number of passages leading to the possible risk of overattenuation. To avoid this risk, passages in man, donkeys, rabbits or other species were performed from time to time.
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PMID:[Jenner's cowpox vaccine in light of current vaccinology]. 902 32

This article provides clinical profiles for HIV seropositive patients discovered at an STD clinic in Tirupati, India. Considering that sexual contact is the most common mode of transmission of HIV, researchers from the SV Medical College at Tirupati conducted a surveillance for HIV infection among patients attending an STD clinic. From January 1988 to April 1989, the researchers collected serum samples from 2320 patients. 11 people were found to be infected with HIV, 1 of whom exhibited the AIDS Related Complex (ARC). 9 out the HIV-infected patients were 20-30 year-old males categorized as heterosexually promiscuous; the remaining 2 seropositive patients were female prostitutes. The seropositivity rate among heterosexually promiscuous males was 0.58%, and 6.7% among female prostitutes (the total seropositivity rate was 0.47%). Among the HIV-infected patients, the most commonly associated STD was syphilis. 5 of the patients had syphilis alone, and 2 others had syphilis and another STD. One of the HIV-infected patients, a 50 year-old heterosexual male with a history of multiple partners, suffered from a nonhealing genital ulcer and inguinal buboes of 1 month duration. A biopsy of the genital ulcer revealed a pattern consistent with that of granuloma venereum. He also developed angular stomatitis which did not respond to B complex therapy. Furthermore, suffering from persistent lymphadenopathy, weight loss, slight thrombo-cytopenia, an opportunistic infection in the form of oral candidosis and persistent seropositivity for HIV antibodies, the patient was deemed to have the AIDS Related Complex. Tirupati's seropositivity rate of .47% was higher that noticed in other parts of the country, leading the authors call for a plan to investigate the problems of HIV-infected people.
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PMID:Clinical profile of STD clinic patients seropositive for HIV antibodies. 1228 35

Mercury is among the most toxic heavy metals and has no known physiological role in humans. Three forms of mercury exist: elemental, inorganic and organic. Mercury has been used by man since ancient times. Among the earliest were the Chinese and Romans, who employed cinnabar (mercury sulfide) as a red dye in ink (Clarkson et al. 2007). Mercury has also been used to purify gold and silver minerals by forming amalgams. This is a hazardous practice, but is still widespread in Brazil's Amazon basin, in Laos and in Venezuela, where tens of thousands of miners are engaged in local mining activities to find and purify gold or silver. Mercury compounds were long used to treat syphilis and the element is still used as an antiseptic,as a medicinal preservative and as a fungicide. Dental amalgams, which contain about 50% mercury, have been used to repair dental caries in the U.S. since 1856.Mercury still exists in many common household products around the world.Examples are: thermometers, barometers, batteries, and light bulbs (Swain et al.2007). In small amounts, some organo mercury-compounds (e.g., ethylmercury tiosalicylate(thimerosal) and phenylmercury nitrate) are used as preservatives in some medicines and vaccines (Ballet al. 2001).Each mercury form has its own toxicity profile. Exposure to Hg0 vapor and MeHg produce symptoms in CNS, whereas, the kidney is the target organ when exposures to the mono- and di-valent salts of mercury (Hg+ and Hg++, respectively)occur. Chronic exposure to inorganic mercury produces stomatitis, erethism and tremors. Chronic MeHg exposure induced symptoms similar to those observed in ALS, such as the early onset of hind limb weakness (Johnson and Atchison 2009).Among the organic mercury compounds, MeHg is the most biologically available and toxic (Scheuhammer et a!. 2007). MeHg is neurotoxic, reaching high levels of accumulation in the CNS; it can impair physiological function by disrupting endocrine glands (Tan et a!. 2009).The most important mechanism by which mercury causes toxicity appears to bemitochondrial damage via depletion of GSH (Nicole et a!. 1998), coupled with binding to thiol groups ( -SH), which generates free radicals. Mercury has a high affinity for thiol groups ( -SH) and seleno groups ( -SeH) that are present in amino acids as cysteine and N-acetyl cysteine, lipoic acid, proteins, and enzymes. N-acetylcysteine and cysteine are precursors for the biosynthesis of GSH, which is among the most powerful intracellular antioxidants available to protect against oxidative stress and inflammation.Mercury and methylmercury induce mitochondrial dysfunction, which reduces ATP synthesis and increases lipid, protein and DNA peroxidation. The content of metallothioneines, GSH, selenium and fish high in omega-3 fatty acids appear to be strongly related with degree of inorganic and organic mercury toxicity, and with the protective detoxifying mechanisms in humans. In conclusion, depletion of GSH,breakage of mitochondria, increased lipid peroxidation, and oxidation of proteins and DNA in the brain, induced by mercury and his salts, appear to be important factors in conditions such as ALS and AD (Bains and Shaw 1997; Nicole eta!. 1998;Spencer eta!. 1998; Alberti et a!. 1999).
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PMID:Mercury toxicity and neurodegenerative effects. 2451 7