Intravitreal pharmacokinetics and retinal concentrations of ganciclovir and foscarnet after intravitreal administration in rabbits.

Purpose: To perform a detailed pharmacokinetic study and to evaluate the drug levels reached in the retina after the intravitreal administration of ganciclovir and foscarnet to rabbits.

Methods: Retinal and vitreal levels of both drugs were measured by high-performance liquid chromatography at 1, 6, 12, 24, 36, 48, 60, and 72 hours after a single intravitreal injection of 196 microg and 800 microg of ganciclovir and 960 microg of foscarnet to three groups of 24 pigmented rabbits. A noncompartmental pharmacokinetic analysis was used.

Prospective evaluation and follow-up of European patients with visceral leishmaniasis and HIV-1 coinfection in the era of highly active antiretroviral therapy.

A prospective descriptive study was designed to determine the impact of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) in the evolution of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) in HIV-1 infected patients. Thirty-two patients were treated with meglumine antimoniate or amphotericin B in lipid formulations. Patients who had undergone previous HAART at study entry (n=17) continued with therapy while receiving treatment for VL.

Community-acquired bacterial pneumonia in human immunodeficiency virus-infected patients: validation of severity criteria. The Grupo Andaluz para el Estudio de las Enfermedades Infecciosas.

Severity criteria for community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) have always excluded patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. A 1-yr, multicenter, prospective observational study of HIV-infected patients with bacterial CAP was done to validate the criteria used in the American Thoracic Society (ATS) guidelines for CAP, and to determine the prognosis-associated factors in the HIV-infected population with bacterial CAP. Overall, 355 cases were included, with an attributable mortality of 9.

Haemophilus influenzae pneumonia in human immunodeficiency virus-infected patients. The Grupo Andaluz para el Estudio de las Enfermedades Infecciosas.

Although Haemophilus influenzae is a common etiologic agent of pneumonia in patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the characteristics of this pneumonia have not been adequately assessed. We have prospectively studied features of H. influenzae pneumonia in 26 consecutive HIV-infected inpatients.

Intravitreal, retinal, and central nervous system foscarnet concentrations after rapid intravenous administration to rabbits.

Retinal, vitreous humor, brain, and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) foscarnet levels were measured by high-performance liquid chromatography after administration of an intravenous dose of 120 mg/kg of body weight to 32 pigmented rabbits. A pharmacokinetic analysis was done using a two-compartment model. The penetration ratios, defined as ratios of retinal, vitreous humor, brain, and CSF areas under the concentration-time curve from 0 to 2 h were 110% +/- 1%, 12.

[Clinical and immuno-virologic efficacy of the expanded access use of protease inhibitors for HIV-1 advanced disease].

Objective: To compare the efficacy and tolerance of additive therapy with protease inhibitors (PI) in patients with advanced HIV infection previously treated with retro-transcriptase inhibitors (RTI).

Methods: Eighty patients with prior antiretroviral therapy with RTI (zidovudine, ddI or ddc) for more than 6 months were included. Fifteen patients received indinavir, 42 ritonavir and 23 saquinavir.

Activities of the EM10 protein from Echinococcus multilocularis in cultured mammalian cells demonstrate functional relationships to ERM family members.

The ezrin-radixin-moesin (ERM) homolog EM10 is expressed by the larval stage of the parasite E. multilocularis and shows 46.9% overall identity in the primary structure with human ezrin.

Comparison of two methods for the assessment of delayed-type hypersensitivity skin responses in patients with human immunodeficiency virus infection.

We compared two techniques for detecting delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) skin responses in 359 patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) (mean CD4+ lymphocyte count, 387/microL). DTH responses were assessed with use of two antigenic panels administered simultaneously: tuberculin purified protein derivative (PPD) plus three control antigens (Candida albicans, mumps antigen, and tetanus toxoid) administered by the Mantoux method and by a multiple-puncture device delivering seven antigens percutaneously (MULTITEST CMI; Institut Mérieux, Lyon, France). Eighty-three patients (23%) were anergic, 216 (60%) reacted to both panels, 55 (15%) did not react to MULTITEST CMI but did react to the antigens administered by Mantoux method, and only five (1%) reacted to MULTITEST CMI without reacting to antigens administered by the Mantoux method (P < .

Pneumocystis carinii meningoradiculitis in a patient with AIDS.

Pneumocystis carinii is a common opportunistic pathogen in patients infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia is common, while extrapulmonary infections with Pneumocystis carinii have been reported sparingly. The clinical features are frequently nonspecific.

NHE-RF, a regulatory cofactor for Na(+)-H+ exchange, is a common interactor for merlin and ERM (MERM) proteins.

We have identified the human homologue of a regulatory cofactor of Na(+)-H+ exchanger (NHE-RF) as a novel interactor for merlin, the neurofibromatosis 2 tumor suppressor protein. NHE-RF mediates protein kinase A regulation of Na(+)-H+ exchanger NHE3 to which it is thought to bind via one of its two PDZ domains. The carboxyl-terminal region of NHE-RF, downstream of the PDZ domains, interacts with the amino-terminal protein 4.

Comparisons of cost and accuracy of DNA probe test and culture for the detection of Neisseria gonorrhoeae in patients attending public sexually transmitted disease clinics in Los Angeles County.

Background: Strict handling and transport requirements for the successful use of culture in the detection of Neisseria gonorrhoeae warrant investigation of accurate and cost-effective test alternatives such as the Gen-Probe PACE 2 DNA probe assay (Gen-Probe, Inc., San Diego, CA).

Study Design: The Gen-Probe PACE 2 DNA probe assay for N.

[Usefulness of cerebral biopsy in focal cerebral lesions in patients with human immunodeficiency virus infection].

Brain mass lesions (BML) occurred in 10% of patients infected by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), as expression of severe and sometimes treatable diseases. However, the management of them is not well established. We analyzed, retrospectively, 26 brain biopsies (22 estereotaxic) in patients with HIV infection and BML to know their usefulness and safety.

[Cardiac myxoma. A report of 23 cases].

Twenty-three cases of cardiac myxoma are reviewed during a period of 11 years. Seventeen patients were females and 6 males with an average age of 36 years. All patients were symptomatic for an average period of time of 4 months.

[Postangioplasty renal artery thrombosis treated intraluminally with thrombolysis. A case report].

The authors present the clinical case of a 31 year female with systemic vascular hypertension secondary to a 65 percent unilateral fibromuscular renal artery stenosis. The centellographic study demonstrated hypoperfusion on the right kidney and serious functional damage; the patient was subject to intraluminal renal angioplasty resulting in right renal arterial thrombosis, which was treated successfully with intra-arterial and intravenous streptokinase infusion. Following the thrombotic therapy, recanalization of the thrombosed artery and normal renal excretion of the contrast substance was observed.

Testosterone replacement with transdermal therapeutic systems. Physiological serum testosterone and elevated dihydrotestosterone levels.

Testosterone was administered transdermally to hypogonadal men under three protocols. In the first protocol, it was shown that peak levels of testosterone were achieved three to eight hours after scrotal application of a transdermal therapeutic system containing 5, 10, or 15 mg of testosterone, and values at 22 hours were greater than 60% of peak values. In the second protocol, patients were treated with 10-mg systems for four weeks followed by 15-mg systems for eight weeks.

Relationship of dietary intake to subsequent coronary heart disease incidence: The Puerto Rico Heart Health Program.

A study of base-line nutrient intakes of 8218 urban and rural Puerto Rican man aged 45 to 64 years was undertaken in relation to subsequent six year coronary heart disease (CHD) incidence. Urban dietary intakes were significantly higher in total fat and lower in carbohydrate, particularly starch. Average cholesterol intakes were 83 mg/day higher in urban than rural men.

Nutrient intake and serum lipids in urban and rural Puerto Rican men.

Dietary intake information was collected on 2,426 rural and 5,828 urban men free of coronary heart disease in the Pureto Rico Heart Health Program. Serum cholesterol and triglyceride, body weights, and related parameters were measured during a detailed cardiovascular examination. There were statistically significant differences between rural and urban values with respect to lipids, relative weight, and intake of many nutrients.