Moraxella catarrhalis pneumonia in an AIDS patient: a case report.

Moraxella catarrhalis pneumonia, although in the immunocompromised patients is very uncommon for community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). It demonstrates a potential pathogen with high mortality when the presence of heavy numbers of organisms, intracellularly and extracellularly, in the sputum Gram's stained smears confirmed by cultures. In 2007, the authors reported a case of a 28-year-old Thai single male patient with acquired-immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and Moraxella catarrhalis pneumonia who dramatically responded to two weeks of oral Amoxyclav (Amoxycillin trihydrate 500 milligrams + Clavulanic acid (Potassium clavulanate) 125 milligrams) treatment at 625 milligrams every 8 hours and then discharged. The present case report describes clinical and initial chest roentgenographic presentations of Moraxella catarrhalis pneumonia in AIDS patient. The importance of chest roentgenographic pictures, CD4/CD8-T lymphocyte ratio, sputum Gram's stainings, cultures with susceptibility testing in establishing a diagnosis, and protective vaccine are discussed.

Production of a monoclonal antibody against a yeast secreted antigen of Penicillium marneffei.

Monoclonal antibody against P. mameffei yeast secreted antigen was produced in order to develop a serological test for penicilliosis marneffei. The yeast form of P. marneffei was cultured in brain heart infusion broth at 37 degrees C for 7 days. A secreted antigen was prepared, partially purified from culture supernatant and subsequently immunized in a BALB/c mouse. Mouse monoclonal antibody was produced from immune spleen cells by a standard hybridoma technique. Specificity of the obtained monoclonal antibody was assessed with yeast secreted antigens for P. mameffei, C. alblicans, C. neoformans, and H. capsulatum by an indirect ELISA. Three of 46 hybrid clones (1 F1, 2G5, and 3G4) reacted positively with P mameffei secreted antigen. 1 F1 and 3G4 were cloned by two rounds of limiting dilution. Partially purified monoclonal antibody and rabbit polyclonal antibody against P. marneffei yeast secreted antigen were used to develop a double antibody sandwich ELISA to detect P. marneffei antigen in plasma or serum samples of 7 patients with penicilliosis marneffei and 5 healthy controls. The sandwich ELISA developed using monoclonal antibody as a capture antibody and rabbit polyclonal antibody as a detector was able to detect P. marneffei antigen in all the plasma and serum samples of penicilliosis marneffei patients, while negative in all the healthy controls. Thus, the monoclonal antibody produced in the present study appeared to be highly specific for P. marneffei and the double antibody sandwich ELISA developed using monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies against the yeast secreted antigen of P. marneffei showed a strong potential for the diagnosis of penicilliosis marneffei.

Efficacy and safety of zidovudine and zalcitabine combined with a combination of herbs in the treatment of HIV-infected Thai patients.

A randomized double blind placebo controlled trial to determine the efficacy and safety of combined-herbs (SH) given with zidovudine (ZDV) and zalcitabine (ddC) for the treatment of HIV infection in Thai adults was conducted in 3 hospitals in northern Thailand during 2002 to 2003. The eligible subjects were HIV-infected Thai adults who had never received anti-retrovirals, had a Karnofski Performance Score (KPS) of > or = 70, and had no opportunistic infections. The subjects were randomized to receive either a combination of ZDV 200 mg three times per day, ddC 0.75 mg three times per day, and SH 2.5 g three times per day or a combination of ZDV 200 mg three times per day, ddC 0.75 mg three times per day, and placebo 2.5 g three times per day for 24 weeks. The main outcome measures were HIV-RNA, CD4 cells, and blood chemistry profiles prior to the treatment and then every 4 weeks for 24 weeks. The baseline characteristics of 60 evaluable subjects, 40 in the SH group and 20 in the placebo group, were not significantly different. HIV RNA at week 4 and thereafter was significantly decreased from the baseline value in both groups (p<0.001). However, the decline in HIV RNA in the SH group was significantly more than that in the placebo group. The CD4 cells in the SH group at week 12 and thereafter were significantly increased from the baseline value. Serious adverse events in the two groups were not observed. It is concluded that an addition of SH herbs to two nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors has greater antiviral activity than antiretrovirals only. The SH herbs may be an alternative for the third anti-retroviral agent in the triple drug regimen for the treatment of HIV infected patients in countries with limited resources.