Detection of HPV in Norwegian cervical biopsy specimens with type-specific PCR and reverse line blot assays.

Background: Although the association of HPV16 and HPV18 DNA with cervical cancers has been well studied, the prevalence of these types in high-grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasias (CIN2/3) may differ from the prevalence found in cervical cancer specimens.

Objective: To determine the prevalence of specific HPV types found in high-grade CIN2/3 biopsy samples.

Study Design: One thousand eight hundred and forty-eight cervical biopsy specimens were obtained from Norwegian women.

Identification of Friend murine retrovirus-infected immune cells and studies of the effects of sex and steroid hormones in the early phase of infection.

Male mice are more susceptible than female mice to the murine retrovirus FIS-2. We previously reported that sex-related factors influence early virus replication via mechanisms involving a glucocorticoid response element (GRE) in the long terminal repeat (LTR) enhancer region. In the present study, we investigated further the influence of sex and steroid hormones on early murine retrovirus dissemination and immune functions.

A glucocorticoid response element in the LTR U3 region of Friend murine leukaemia virus variant FIS-2 enhances virus production in vitro and is a major determinant for sex differences in susceptibility to FIS-2 infection in vivo.

The nucleotide sequence of the Friend murine leukaemia virus variant FIS-2 LTR has high identity with the closely related Friend murine leukaemia virus (F-MuLV) LTR, except for the deletion of one direct repeat, a few point mutations and the generation of a glucocorticoid response element (GRE) in the U3 region. The GRE can mediate gene induction by glucocorticoids, mineral corticoids, progesterone and androgens, and it has been shown that incorporation of a GRE(s) within the LTR can increase the transcriptional activity of retroviral enhancers. We have previously reported an increased early virus replication in male mice compared with female mice when infected with a virus containing the FIS-2 LTR and have proposed that the GRE might contribute to this sex difference.

Early dissemination rates of Friend murine leukaemia virus variants correlate with late pathogenesis.

FIS-2, a less oncogenic, immunosuppressive variant of the Friend murine leukaemia virus (F-MuLV), was used to explore whether the differences in biological features were related to early virus dissemination rates or sites of replication. We found that erythroblasts were the primary target cells for both F-MuLV and FIS-2, while B- and T-cells were infected later in the infection. Although FIS-2 replicated to similar titres as F-MuLV, we observed a delay in peak viraemia titre and in the number of virus-positive cells in bone marrow and spleen.

[HIV infection in pregnant women--clinical findings and treatment].

Background And Methods: The paper reviews HIV infection in pregnancy. We have mainly used PubMed for literature searches with focus on risk factors for vertical infection and measures to prevent mother-to-child transmission.

Results: The risk of vertical HIV-transmission is greatest when the mother has high levels of viraemia.

Gender-related differences in susceptibility, early virus dissemination and immunosuppression in mice infected with Friend murine leukaemia virus variant FIS-2.

An emerging amount of data indicates a correlation between gender-related factors and regulation of virus infection and supports what is known in clinical circles, that these topics are of great importance in many infectious diseases. In the present study we found that young adult NMRI male mice are more susceptible to infection by a variant of Friend murine leukaemia virus, FIS-2, than are female mice. We observed that the level of virus in serum, bone marrow and spleen was initially higher in male mice.