Diagnostic value of CD4 cell count and IL-6/IL-10 ratio in combination for AIDS complicated with Pneumocystis pneumonia / 公共卫生与预防医学

Objective To explore the diagnostic value of CD4 cell count and IL-6/IL-10 ratio in combination for the diagnosis of AIDS complicated with Pneumocystis pneumonia. Methods A total of 100 AIDS patients with pneumocystis pneumonia admitted to the Nanchong Central Hospital from January 2018 to May 2019 were enrolled in the AIDS pneumonia group, 100 AIDS patients were enrolled in the AIDS group, and 100 healthy subjects were included in the control group. The number of CD4+T cells in serum was detected by flow cytometry, and the expression levels of IL-6 and IL-10 in serum were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The AUC of receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) was used to analyze the CD4 cell count and the diagnostic significance of IL-6/IL-10 detection in AIDS with pneumocystis pneumonia. Results The number of CD4 cells in the serum of AIDS patients with Pneumocystis pneumonia was significantly lower than that of AIDS patients and healthy subjects (t=28.31, P<0.0001; t=36.90, P<0.0001), but the ratio of IL-6/IL-10 was higher than that of AIDS patients and healthy individuals (t=7.184, P<0.0001; t=19.03, P<0.0001). The sensitivity of CD4 cell count and IL-6/IL-10 ratio in the diagnosis of AIDS patients with Pneumocystis pneumonia was 92.00%, the specificity was 88.00%, and the accuracy was 89.33%. Conclusion The detection of CD4 cell count and IL-6/IL-10 ratio can be used as a potential marker for the diagnosis of AIDS with Pneumocystis pneumonia.

To Study The Percentage of HIV Seropositivity in Smear Positive Tuberculosis Cases

Tuberculosis is the commonest opportunistic infection and the leading cause of death in HIV patients in developing countries and accounts for about 40% of all manifestations seen in HIV patients. Correct diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis helps to reduce burden of TB. However there are difficulties in achieving this goal such as difficulties in diagnosing tuberculosis in HIV infected patients due to unusual clinical picture with increase in smear negative AFB pulmonary tuberculosis and atypical findings on chest radiography. There is a paucity of literature regarding determination of percentage of HIV seropositivity in smear positive tuberculosis cases in Northern India. Hence, this study was planned to study the correlation and burden of HIV seropositivity in smear positive tuberculosis cases. Methods: A prospective study was conducted at the Chest and TB hospital, Amritsar which included 150 smear positive tuberculosis cases. HIV seropositivity was determined in all the patients. Results: In our study, the HIV seropositivity detected in 150 smear positive tubercular cases was 3.33% which is more than the prevalence seen in most of the northern states and lower than the southern and north eastern states of India. Conclusion: The HIV seropositivity detected in 150 smear positive tubercular cases was 3.33% which is more than the prevalence seen in most of the northern states and lower than the southern and north eastern states of India.

Comparing the profile of respiratory fungal pathogens amongst immunocompetent and immunocompromised hosts, their susceptibility pattern and correlation of various opportunistic respiratory fungal infections and their progression in relation to the CD4+T-cell counts

Introduction: Invasive fungal infections are increasingly common in the nosocomial setting. Materials and Methods: The patients were divided into two groups immunocompetent and immunocompromised that is, patients with significant neutropenia <500 neutrophils/?l for longer than 10 days. microscopy, culture, identification of isolates were done and some specilised tests on serum and BAL for antigen detection were performed. Results: Majority of the patients were young adult males in this study. A higher prevalence of 26.7% was seen in immunocompromised patients. Amongst yeasts, Candida albicans was the predominant species followed by the National AIDS Control that is, Candida glabrata, Candida dubliniensis, Candida parapsilosis and Candida tropicalis in the same order. Amongst moulds, Aspergillus fumigatus was the most common species followed by Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus niger. Mucor and Penicillium marneffei were seen in a lower prevalence. By Broth microdilution method, isolates of Candida spp. were most sensitive to caspofungin, amphotericin B, ketoconazole and fluconazole in the same order. Isolates of Aspergillus spp. were most sensitive to caspofungin, amphotericin B and itraconazole in the same order. By disc diffusion method, resistance to fluconazole was observed in 6.9% isolates of C. albicans. 50% of C. dubliniensis and 20% of C. glabrata showed resistance to fluconazole. A total mortality of 27.7% was observed during this study. This was distributed as 24.1%, 26.7%, 50%, 50%, 100% and 0% among by patients of candidiasis, aspergillosis, cryptococcosis, pneumocystosis, mucormycosis and penicilliosis. Fifteen per cent were lost to follow-up. Conclusion: Patterns of invasive fungal infections are changing in many ways. In the midst of these evolving trends, IFI of the respiratory tractcontinue to remain important causes of morbidity and mortality. Diagnostic tools can be adequately used only if the treating physician is aware of the propensity of patients to acquire a fungal infection. Thus, continuous awareness and education is crucial for successful management of patients. Judicious use of antifungal medications as prophylactic measures must be employed, particularly in the critically ill and patients of HIV.

Oral manifestations and their correlation to baseline CD4 count of HIV/AIDS patients in Ghana

OBJECTIVES: Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). People with AIDS are much more vulnerable to infections, including opportunistic infections and tumors, than people with a healthy immune system. The objective of this study was to correlate oral lesions associated with HIV/AIDS and immunosuppression levels by measuring clusters of differentiation 4 (CD4) cell counts among patients living in the middle western regions of Ghana. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 120 patients who visited the HIV clinic at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital and the Regional Hospital Sunyani of Ghana were consecutively enrolled in this prospective and cross-sectional study. Referred patients' baseline CD4 counts were obtained from medical records and each patient received an initial physician assessment. Intraoral diagnoses were based on the classification and diagnostic criteria of the EEC Clearinghouse, 1993. After the initial assessment, extra- and intraoral tissues from each enrolled patient were examined. Data analyses were carried out using simple proportions, frequencies and chi-square tests of significance. RESULTS: Our study included 120 patients, and was comprised of 42 (35.0%) males and 78 (65.0%) females, ranging in age from 21 to 67 years with sex-specific mean ages of 39.31 years (males) and 39.28 years (females). Patient CD4 count values ranged from 3 to 985 cells/mL with a mean baseline CD4 count of 291.29 cells/mL for males and 325.92 cells/mL for females. The mean baseline CD4 count for the entire sample was 313.80 cells/mL. Of the 120 patients we examined, 99 (82.5%) were observed to have at least one HIV-associated intraoral lesion while 21 (17.5%) had no intraoral lesions. Oral candidiasis, periodontitis, melanotic hyperpigmentation, gingivitis and xerostomia were the most common oral lesions. CONCLUSION: From a total of nine oral lesions, six lesions that included oral candidiasis, periodontitis, melanotic hyperpigmentation, gingivitis, xerostomia and oral hairy leukoplakia were significantly correlated with declining CD4 counts.

Cellular immune therapy for viral infections in transplant patients.

Stem cell and organ transplantation are considered as the major advances of modern medicine. Unfortunately the success of transplantation is limited by its toxicity and infectious complications as a result of profound immunosuppression. Viral infections are an extremely common and predictable problem in these patients. Antiviral drugs given either prophylactically or as early therapy for patients with detectable viral loads appear to be an effective strategy for reducing viral infections. However, long-term treatment with these drugs is associated with significant toxicity, expense and the appearance of drug resistant virus isolates ultimately resulting in treatment failure. Over the last few years, there is increasing evidence that cellular immune therapies can reverse the outgrowth of haematological malignancies and can also provide therapeutic benefit against lethal viral infections. While the expansion and adoptive transfer of virus-specific T-cells from the healthy donor can be an effective strategy to control viral replication, this is not possible when donors are seronegative or are subsequently inaccessible. Recent studies have demonstrated successful expansion of virus-specific T-cells from seropositive stem cell transplant recipients of a seronegative graft with active virus disease and the long term reconstitution of protective anti-viral immunity following their adoptive transfer back into the patients. Furthermore, this immunotherapeutic strategy has also been extended for multiple pathogens including cytomegalovirus, Epstein-Barr virus, adenovirus and BK polyoma-virus. This approach can be employed to rapidly expand multiple pathogens-specific T cells that can be used for adoptive immunotherapy. Finally, new assays to monitor T cell immunity have been developed which will allow to identify the high risk transplant patients who may develop virus-associated complications post-transplantation and can be given adoptive T cell therapy prophylactically.

In vitro effects of meloxicam on the number, Foxp3 expression, production of selected cytokines, and apoptosis of bovine CD25+CD4+ and CD25-CD4+ cells

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of meloxicam (MEL) on selected immune parameters of bovine CD25highCD4+, CD25lowCD4+, and CD25-CD4+ cells. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) collected from 12-month-old heifers were treated with MEL at a concentration corresponding to the serum level of this medication following administration at the recommended dose (MEL 5 x 10(-6) M) and at a concentration 10 times lower (MEL 5 x 10(-7) M). After 12 and 24 h of incubation with the drug, the percentage of CD25highCD4+ cells decreased; however, this disturbance was quickly reversed. Furthermore, the absolute number of CD25highCD4+ cells in the PBMC populations treated with MEL 5 x 10(-6) M for 48 and 168 h was increased. Prolonged (168 h) exposure to the drug increased the percentage of Foxp3+ cells in the CD25highCD4+ cell subpopulation. The higher dose of MEL was found to significantly increase the percentage of IFN-gamma+ cells among the CD25-CD4+ cells. These results indicated that MEL does not exert an immunosuppressive effect by depleting CD4+ cells and suppression of IFN-gamma+ production by these cells. Furthermore, IL-10 and TGF-beta production was not changed following exposure to MEL.

Reducing HIV Mortality: A New Paradox for Practitioners Working in Countries with Socialized Health-care Systems

The milestones marking substantial changes in the lives or in the survival of humans deserve to be remembered. It has been only 11 years since we experienced an event that not even the most optimistic amongst us would have predicted before 1997. Let us place the facts in time. At the beginning of the 80s, we faced the distressing reality that more than three quarters of all children, men and women found to have antibodies directed against a new infectious agent named human immune deficient virus (HIV) were bound to die. The mere reactivity of the serum of a human being against a virus characterized in 1983 (antibodies) handed an almost inevitable sentence of death. At that time the evolution of this viral infection was assessed by the quantification of a sub type of white cells, the auxiliary lymphocytes or CD4. This count was the principal evidence for most of the predictions on how a person might survive without degradation, and the value of such cells was the abacus used to forecast the time when an individual would develop irreversible blindness, to anticipate respiratory failure, and to predict the time before weakness would appear after devastating diarrhea, etc. We should recall that the CD4 cell count was even used as a predictor of the initiation of cognitive shrinkage, forecasting dementia as well as the signs that would take hold of personality as a consequence of infections or neoplastic transformations in the encephalitic mass.

Anti-inflammatory and immune-modulating effects of Dihuang Heji in the treatment of multiple sclerosis / 中华神经医学杂志

Objective To observe the anti-inflammatory and immune-modulating effects of Dilmang Heji(DHHJ),a compound traditional Chinese medicinal preparation,in patients with multiple sclerosis(MS)and explore the possible mechanisms underlying these effects. Methods Forty MS patients were randomized into prednisone treatment and prednisone+DHHJ group for the corresponding treatments.Another 20 surgical patients without immune or inflammatory diseases undergoing lumbar anesthesia served as the control group.Glial fibrillary acidic protein(GFAP)and S100B levels in the cerebrospinal fluid(CSF)and the peripheral blood of these subjects were detected using ennzynle-linked immtmosorbent assay(ELISA), and the numbers 0f CD4+ and CD8+ cells were detected by flow cytometry.The ambulation index(AD,expanded disability status scale(EDSS)and 9-hole PEG test (9HPT)were used to assess the patients'clinical symptoms.All the patients were followed up for3 years to record the number of times of MS relapse. Results GFAP and S100B levels in the CSF were significantly higher in the MS patients than in the healthy subjects,but lower in MS patients treatedwith prednisone plus DHHJ thanin those with prednisone treatment only(P<0.05).In the MS patients,AI and 9HPT scores were correlated to the GFAP and S100B levels in the CSF.Irednisone plus DHHJ treatment was associated with significantly reduced MS relapse in comparison with prednisone treatment alone(P<0.05).Before the treatment,the MS patients showed increased CD4+ cell number and decreased CD8+ cell number especially in the CSF;atter the treaRnents,the CD4+ ceils decreased and CD8+ cells increased,and this effect was stronger with prednisone plus DHHJ treatment(P<0.05).Conclusions DHHJ produces anti-inflammatory effect by inhibiting glial cell activation and modulating immune balance in MS,thus alleviating the symptoms of MS and reducing MS relapse.DHHJ may provide anideal adjuvanttherapy for MS.

The immunohistopathological features of prurigo Hebra.

Until now the pathologic mechanisms of prurigo Hebra (PH) is still understood. Earlier study the genetic inheritance of PH showed the multifactorial pattern. Considering the genetic inheritance and the existence of allergic reaction to insects bite in all patients, might be the mechanisms followed hypersensitivity reactions. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the general and specific local inflammatory features of early and late lesions of prurigo Hebra (PH). Fifty biopsy specimens of early and late lesions of prurigo Hebra patients were processed with haematoxylin-eosin (HE) and immunoperoryde (lP) staining using monoclonal antibodies against specific inflammatory cells namely B cells, T cells, helper T (CD4+) cells, supressor T (CD8+) cells, Langerhans cells, and antigen presenting cells (APC) that expressed HLA-DR antigen. HE-stained specimens: In early lesions, PMN cells were few, while eosinophils were present in great quantity and independent of mast cells and plasma cells; this feature was similar to that of insect bite reaction. IP-stained specimens: In late lesions, the amounts of lympho-histiocytic infiltration consisting of T cells, CD8+ cells, HLA-DR-expressing APCs were greater than those of early lesions, although it was not statistically significant. An exception was for the CD4+ cells, whose number in early lesions was significantly higher. The ratio of CD4+ to CD8+ in early lesions was higher than in late lesions (3/1: 2/1). This suggested that CD4+ cells were predominant. B cells, which were normally absent, appeared in small quantity in both early and late Lesions. The presence of B cells was not statistically correlated with T cells or eosinophils. The number of Langerhans cells in late lesions was higher than in early lesions. There was a strong correlation (r=0.39) between T cells and HLA-DR-expressing antigen-presenting cells (APCs/HLA-DR). Those cells found in great qunntity suggested that PH patients usually expose to extrinsic factors. In some cases with severe condition, the presence of eosinophils was more profound and was statistically significant. It is conclude that immunohistopathological mechanisms of PH follow the mixed types (one and IV) hypersensitivity reaction.