We performed polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for detection of cytomegalovirus (CMV), varicella- zoster virus (VZV), herpes simplex virus (HSV), and Toxoplasma gondii DNA in aqueous humor from 15 ...patients who were infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and who had retinitis of unclear origin; these patients were selected from among 820 patients evaluated by ophthalmoscopic examination. On the basis of the final response to treatment, CMV, VZV, and T. gondii retinitis was diagnosed in 5, 2, and 4 of the 15 patients, respectively. No final etiologic diagnosis was reached for four patients. All 5 patients with CMV retinitis were CMV DNA-positive, 1 of 2 patients with VZV retinopathy were VZV DNA-positive, and 3 of 4 patients with T. gondii retinitis were T. gondii DNA-positive. All PCR assays of aqueous humor from the four patients without infectious retinitis were negative. PCR assay of aqueous humor is helpful in the etiologic diagnosis of retinitis of unclear origin in HIV-infected patients.
The effect of acute O3 exposure (5 h at 150 ppb) on photosynthetic electron transport and the thylakoid polypeptide pattern has been studied in 2‐month‐old cuttings of two poplar clones (Populus ...deltoides×maximowiczii clone Eridano and P.×euramericana clone I‐214), known for their differential response to O3 in terms of visible symptoms. The more sensitive Eridano developed severe blackish bifacial necrosis concentrated in the interveinal areas of the basal and intermediate leaves, while in the less sensitive I‐214 clone, visible symptoms were slight or entirely absent. A generalized, significant decrease in leaf pigment content was shown by both of the stressed clones, although the decline in β‐carotene content was much more marked in Eridano than in I‐214. Activation of the xanthophyll cycle was not detected in either clone. In both clones, immunoblot analysis of the thylakoid proteins showed a decrease in the levels of all the PSII polypeptides tested following O3 exposure, whereas the PsaA/B protein in the PSI core was more severely affected in Eridano than in I‐214. No changes in the chloroplast structure could be seen on electron microscopic study in either clone. The only visible difference was a great accumulation of starch grains in Eridano. All of these results suggest that O3 exposure induces alterations in the photosynthetic apparatus in both poplar clones, Eridano being affected to a greater extent than I‐214.
This trial assessed the rate of virological failure at 48 weeks in adult human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) type 1-infected patients assigned indinavir/ritonavir (Idv/Rtv; 800/100 mg 2 times daily) ...or saquinavir/ritonavir (Sqv/Rtv; 1000/100 mg 2 times daily) in an open-label, randomized (1:1), multicenter, phase 4 design. Three hundred six patients began the assigned treatment. At 48 weeks, virological failure was seen in 43 (27%) of 158 and 37 (25%) of 148 patients in the Idv/Rtv and Sqv/Rtv arms, respectively. The time to virological failure did not differ between study arms (P = .76). When switching from randomized treatment was counted as failure, this was seen in 78 of 158 patients in the Idv/Rtv arm, versus 51 of 148 patients in the Sqv/Rtv arm (P = .009). A switch from the randomized treatment occurred in 64 (41%) of 158 patients in the Idv/Rtv arm, versus 40 (27%) of 148 patients in the Sqv/Rtv arm (P = .013). Sixty-four percent of the switches occurred because of adverse events. A greater number of treatment-limiting adverse events were observed in the Idv/ Rtv arm, relative to the Sqv/Rtv arm. In conclusion, Rtv-boosed Sqv and Idv were found to have comparable antiretroviral effects in the doses studied.
Enfuvirtide (ENF) is the first HIV-1 entry inhibitor used in clinical practice and is currently administered via the subcutaneous route. We here evaluated whether ENF administration leads to a change ...in humoral parameters, including IgE, possibly related to ENF-associated injection site reactions (ISRs). A 24-week prospective study was conducted in multidrug resistant patients enrolled in the ENF Early Access Program characterized by CD4 counts < or =100 cells/microlitre and no other active antiretroviral drug. Licensed commercial laboratory assays were used to measure the parameters considered in this study. Results are reported as medians (interquartiles IQR). Statistical analyses were performed using Wilcoxon sign rank, Wilcoxon rank sum and Kruskall Wallis tests. Total IgM, IgA and IgG did not change significantly throughout the study. Conversely, a significant increase in IgE was observed in all patients, in those with normal as well as in those with altered IgE at baseline (BL). ISRs such as induration and number of nodules were more frequent in patients with altered BL IgE. IgE increased significantly in all patients, regardless of the different stratifications in their BL CD4 counts. Of note, the ENF-induced increase in CD4 occurred significantly in all patients, independently of their BL IgE levels. The immunological response associated with ENF treatment is accompanied by a selective increase in IgE levels. Determination of IgE could be used in the monitoring ISRs associated with ENE
We evaluated the effect of zidovudine on HIV-induced lesions of the brain by comparing the neuropathological findings in 82 treated and 120 untreated patients who died from AIDS. We observed a ...statistically significant reduction of the number of cases with multinucleated giant cells (MGCs) in the brain and MGC-associated neuropathological damage in patients treated with zidovudine. The effects of zidovudine were time and dose related in the first 12 months of treatment, while longer periods of therapy produced no further results. The antiretroviral treatment particularly affected the frequency of diffuse demyelinating lesions of the cerebral white matter. In the patients who died with HIV-induced brain lesions but no other opportunistic brain diseases, the percentage of cases with clinical history of severe dementia was significantly lower in the group treated with zidovudine.
This research investigated the SO2-induced effects on photosynthetic apparatus in two barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) cultivars (cv), Panda and Express. Following a chronic treatment with SO2 (80 ppb, 75 ...d) neither cv showed any visible signs of injury or chlorosis on leaf surfaces, while a significant reduction in Amax and Gw was detected in both cvs, although to different extents. Thylakoids of SO2-treated plants showed a decrease in the electron transport activity at the whole chain, photosystem II (PS II) and photosystem I (PS I) level in both cvs . The high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC ) analysis of leaf pigments revealed a significant decrease in both cvs, more pronounced in Panda than in Express. Deriphat-polyacrilamide gel electrophoresis (Deriphat-PAGE) and two dimensional (2-D) electrophoretic analyses of the pigment-protein complexes did not show differences in SO2-treated samples of either cv. HPLC analysis of the green bands also showed no differences in the pigment content of fumigated samples of either cv, except for a decrease in beta-carotene content and xanthophyll cycle pigment (VAZ) content respectively at band 1 (PS I ) and band 5 (minor light-harvesting polypeptides of PS II) level in cv Panda, where the de-epoxidation index (DEP) significantly increased, while in Express, an increase in VAZ content and DEP value of band 5 was observed. These results suggest that the decrease in the photosynthetic activity can be ascribed, in addition to stomata closure induced by SO2, to a generalised, rather than specific, pollutant effect on photosynthetic apparatus, which could be interpreted as an adaptation to the adverse environment
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