Viruses that can persist in the host are of special concern in immunocompromised populations. Among 871 human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected and 439 high-risk HIV-uninfected women, ...seroprevalences of cytomegalovirus, hepatitis B virus, hepatitis C virus, and herpes simplex virus types 1 and 2 and prevalence of human papillomavirus DNA in cervicovaginal lavage fluids were all >50% and were 2–30 times higher than prevalences in the general population. Prevalences were highest among HIV-infected women, of whom 44.2% had ⩾5 other infections, and were relatively high even among the youngest women (age 16–25 years). In multivariate analyses, viral infections were independently associated not only with behaviors such as injection drug use and commercial sex but also with low income, low levels of education, and black race. Disadvantaged women and women who engage in high-risk behaviors are more likely to be coinfected with HIV and other viruses and, thus, may be at high risk of serious disease sequelae
The occurrence of monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS) is common in chronic immune mediated disorders. This increased monoclonal antibody production could result from chronic ...stimulation of lymphocytes, with the immunoglobulin G (IgG) subtype accounting for the majority of cases in psoriatic arthritis (PsA). We aimed to identify IgG subclass profiles in patients with PsA and to determine association with specific disease characteristics.
Serum samples from 221 patients with PsA from a single cohort were analyzed for their serum IgG subclass levels. All patients fulfilled the ClASsification for Psoriatic ARthritis (CASPAR) criteria and were followed at 6-month to 12-month intervals according to a standard protocol. MGUS was defined as the occurrence of a discrete band in the gammaglobulin region on at least 2 separate serum protein electrophoresis tests performed 6 months apart. Patients with high abnormal IgG subclass levels were compared to patients with normal levels using descriptive tests.
Elevations of IgG1-4 were common in PsA, with ∼20%-49% of patients having elevations of each subclass, IgG2 being the most common subclass abnormality. However, no clinical-serological correlation was found in the group with abnormal IgG2 levels. Of the 38 patients with MGUS, elevations in IgG1 were most common. Patients with an abnormal IgG1 subclass level were more likely to have a discrete band in the gammaglobulin region, higher prevalence of MGUS, and abnormal erythrocyte sedimentation rate or C-reactive protein levels.
Determination of the IgG subclass concentration in PsA did not seem to add any significant value in identifying specific disease manifestations. However, this study provides insight into the pathological process leading to MGUS in PsA.
To study human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8) transmission between individuals and in populations, we developed a system for genetic fingerprinting of HHV-8 strains based on variation in the HHV-8 K1, ...glycoprotein B (gB), and glycoprotein H (gH) genes. Using this system, we sequenced nearly the entire K1 gene (840 bp); two segments of the gB gene (open reading frame 8), totaling 813 bp; and a 702-bp segment of the gH gene (open reading frame 22) from blood and tissue samples obtained from 40 human immunodeficiency virus-infected and noninfected individuals, including those with Kaposi's sarcoma, primary effusion lymphoma, or Castleman's disease. The specimen collection was assembled from individuals living in diverse geographical locations, including the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Uganda, and Zambia. As reported by others, K1 was the most variable gene, with up to 16% variation at the nucleotide sequence level and up to 32% variation at the amino acid sequence level. Despite this extensive sequence variation, the K1 amino acid sequence contained 14 conserved cysteine sites, suggesting a conserved tertiary structure. gB and gH sequences were highly conserved, in most cases differing by <0.6% in pairwise comparisons. K1 was the most useful gene for strain discrimination, but the other genes enabled the discrimination of strains with identical K1 sequences. Individuals from diverse geographic locations were infected with four different HHV-8 genotypes; strains did not strictly segregate by continent of origin. The majority of HHV-8 strains from the United States and Europe were relatively closely related, whereas some strains identified from Uganda and Australia were phylogenetically distant. Genotype I strains were the most common and were found on three continents. Identical sequences were found in specimens obtained from different body sites and at different times from the same individual.
Botulinum neurotoxins (BoNT) are the etiological agents responsible for botulism and are acknowledged terrorist threat agents. Passive immunotherapy may provide one countermeasure. Importantly, in ...the virtually unlimited repertoire of antibody specificities, enzyme linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) has become an indispensable method for antibody selection. We report that of the BoNTs, BoNT/E is highly susceptible to polystyrene induced denaturation. To further dissect this result and the potential susceptibility of other BoNTs to denaturation we selected a thermal platform, which could be readily quantified using surface plasmon resonance (SPR), a primary rat spinal cord cell-based assay and an animal lethality model.
A measurement of the top quark mass (Mtop) in the all-hadronic decay channel is presented. It uses 5.8 fb−1 of pp¯ data collected with the CDF II detector at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider. Events ...with six to eight jets are selected by a neural network algorithm and by the requirement that at least one of the jets is tagged as a b-quark jet. The measurement is performed with a likelihood fit technique, which simultaneously determines Mtop and the jet energy scale (JES) calibration. The fit yields a value of Mtop=172.5±1.4(stat)±1.0(JES)±1.1(syst) GeV/c2.
The sequence of a 20.15kb region from human herpesvirus 6 variant B (HHV-6B) strain Z29 is described (GenBank accession number L14772). Determinations of protein homologies for seventeen predicted ...gene products revealed HHV-6B homologs of six proteins well-conserved both in genetic context and amino acid sequence throughout the alpha-, beta-, and gammaherpesvirus subfamilies. These include proteins involved in viral DNA replication, packaging and nucleotide metabolism, and conserved proteins of undefined function. The close evolutionary relationship of the human betaherpesviruses, HHV-6B, HHV-6A, HHV-7 and human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) was confirmed by identification of several protein sequences encoded only by these viruses, including homologs of the HCMV early phosphoprotein family and a series of HCMV open reading frames predicted to encode glycoprotein exons. Homologs of essential HSV-1 replication proteins, UL8 and UL9, were also identified. Downstream from the conserved replication locus, each betaherpesvirus contains a region of divergent, small open reading frames. The evolution of this region and its potential use in the development of a viral vector system are discussed.PUBLICATION ABSTRACT
A continuous 20.9kb sequence from human herpesvirus 6 variant B (HHV-6B) strain Z29 (GenBank accession number L16947) is genetically colinear with a discrete segment of the human cytomegalovirus ...(HCMV) UL region and with HHV-6 variant A (HHV-6A). Short nucleotide sequence determinations at multiple sites within an 8.5kb region immediately 3' to the 20.9kb contig revealed additional colinearity between HHV-6B, HCMV and HHV-6A. Homology studies with the predicted peptide sequences from 11 complete and 12 partial HHV-6B open reading frames (ORFs) revealed that most encode proteins conserved to varying degrees in all previously sequenced primate herpesviruses. HHV-6B homologs were identified for the HSV-1 ICP18.5, ICP8, UL52, UL24, UL25 and major capsid protein. Several HHV-6B proteins had limited amino acid similarity to their positional homologs in other herpesviruses. Each gene identified is highly homologous to its HHV-6A counterpart, including two unique HHV-6 genes predicted to encode membrane-associated glycoproteins. However, two regions of substantial divergence were noted, one spanning the origin of replication and the other encoding one of the putative HHV-6-specific glycoprotein genes. Substitutions in the latter region lead to predicted differences in reading frames and protein lengths among HHV-6 isolates.PUBLICATION ABSTRACT
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