Oxidant/antioxidant status in patients with chronic HIV infection.

The infection caused by HIV leads to an activation of the immune system, which involves local and systemic oxidative stress. In HIV-positive (HIV+) patients, oxidative damage is the result of HIV infection and its progression through the replication of the virus. We have examined 52 subjects: 26 HIV+ patients, and 26 healthy subjects (NC).

Study of bone metabolism in patients with chronic HIV infection.

Aims: Various studies have confirmed the high incidence of skeletal homeostasis modifications in subjects who are carriers of chronic HIV infections, and specific pharmacological treatments, which modify the metabolism and condition both the weight loss and the reshaping of the bones. The presence of a reduction in body mass index seems to contribute to the progressive deterioration of the skeletal framework. The aim of this study was to see whether the presence of HIV-seropositivity could constitute a risk factor for the development of osteoporosis/osteopenia, even in the light of the fact that our group was composed of patients with a concentrated age span well under the limit for both post-menopausal and senile osteoporosis, and with a median age superimposable for both sexes.

An outbreak of hepatitis A virus infection with a high case-fatality rate among injecting drug users.

Background/aims: In 2002, the first reported outbreak of hepatitis A virus (HAV) infection involving mostly intravenous drug users (IDU) occurred in Italy. We attempted a thorough evaluation of the outbreak, including epidemiological, clinical and virological analyses.

Methods: We conducted an epidemiological investigation, including a case-control study, to identify the source and the modes of HAV transmission.

[Cerebral hemorrhagic infarction caused by tubercular arteritis in HIV positive patient: a case report].

A case of cerebral hemorrhagic infarction caused by tubercular arteritis complicating the course of a tubercular meningitis in an HIV-positive patient is described. The atypical clinical course and histopathologic findings of this rare deadly complication of specific meningeal infection are underlined.

Report on an outbreak of trichinellosis in Central Italy.

At the end of 1988 an outbreak of trichinellosis involving 48 persons occurred in a small town in Central Italy, near the Appennine mountains. The epidemic was caused by the ingestion of sausages recently made with wild boar meat. The people affected were mostly relatives and friends of hunters.