Dihydropteroate synthase gene mutations in Pneumocystis and sulfa resistance.

Pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP) remains a major cause of illness and death in HIV-infected persons. Sulfa drugs, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMX) and dapsone are mainstays of PCP treatment and prophylaxis. While prophylaxis has reduced the incidence of PCP, its use has raised concerns about development of resistant organisms.

Attenuation of the bacterial load in blood by pretreatment with granulocyte-colony-stimulating factor protects rats from fatal outcome and brain damage during Streptococcus pneumoniae meningitis.

A model of pneumococcal meningitis in young adult rats receiving antibiotics once the infection was established was developed. The intent was to mimic clinical and histopathological features of pneumococcal meningitis in humans. The primary aim of the present study was to evaluate whether medical boosting of the peripheral neutrophil count affected the outcome of the meningitis.

The tumor necrosis factor alpha -308G>A polymorphism is associated with dementia in the oldest old.

Objectives: To test the hypothesis that the tumor necrosis factor (TNF) -308 G>A promoter gene polymorphism is a risk factor in age-related dementia and longevity.

Design: A cross-sectional and a longitudinal study.

Setting: A population-based sample of Danish centenarians.

Serotype-specific mortality from invasive Streptococcus pneumoniae disease revisited.

Background: Invasive infection with Streptococcus pneumoniae (pneumococci) causes significant morbidity and mortality. Case series and experimental data have shown that the capsular serotype is involved in the pathogenesis and a determinant of disease outcome.

Methods: Retrospective review of 464 cases of invasive disease among adults diagnosed between 1990 and 2001.

Soluble urokinase receptor is elevated in cerebrospinal fluid from patients with purulent meningitis and is associated with fatal outcome.

The urokinase-type plasminogen activator system has been suggested to play a pathophysiological role in brain damage. The aim of this study was to evaluate CSF levels of suPAR in 183 patients clinically suspected of having meningitis on admission. Of these, 54 patients were found to have purulent meningitis, 63 had lymphocytic meningitis, 12 had encephalitis, and 54 patients were suspected of, but had no evidence of, meningitis.

Clinical and experimental studies on inflammatory mediators during AIDS-associated Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia.

This thesis is based on studies carried out during my appointment as a research fellow at the Department of Infectious Diseases, Hvidovre Hospital, University of Copenhagen, Denmark from 1993 to 1997. Part of this period was spent as a guest researcher at the Critical Care Medicine Department, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA. Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP) is the most frequent AIDS defining illness over the past 20 years.

Detection of Pneumocystis DNA in samples from patients suspected of bacterial pneumonia--a case-control study.

Background: Pneumocystis jiroveci (formerly known as P. carinii f.sp.

Cell-associated HIV DNA measured early during infection has prognostic value independent of serum HIV RNA measured concomitantly.

Using data from the Danish AIDS Cohort of HIV-infected homosexual men established in the 1980s, the prognostic value of early HIV DNA loads was evaluated. In addition to DNA measurements, concomitant serum HIV RNA levels, CD4 cell counts and CCR5 genotypes were determined. The patients were divided into 3 groups, according to whether their cell-associated HIV DNA load was < or = 100, 500 or > or = 2,500 DNA copies/10(6) peripheral blood mononuclear cells.

[HIV resistance testing. Introduction of a new technique].

Antiretroviral combination therapy is the standard of care in the treatment of HIV-infection in the industrialised world. Treatment with antiretroviral drugs provides selective pressure on HIV. Suboptimal anti-HIV treatment increases the risk of resistant mutations developing.

YKL-40 is elevated in cerebrospinal fluid from patients with purulent meningitis.

YKL-40, a member of the family 18 glycosyl hydrolases, is secreted by activated neutrophils and macrophages. It is a growth factor for connective tissue cells and a potent migration factor for endothelial cells and may function in inflammation and tissue remodeling. YKL-40 was determined in 134 cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples taken on admission from patients suspected of having meningitis (48 with purulent meningitis, 49 with lymphocytic meningitis, 5 with encephalitis, and 32 without evidence of meningitis).