Blepharoptosis and external ophthalmoplegia associated with long-term antiretroviral therapy.

Background: Long-term antiretroviral therapy (ART) is associated with lipodystrophy, peripheral neuropathy, lactic acidosis, and myopathy. Blepharoptosis, without prior ART association, is usually caused by age-associated involutional ptosis, but it is also seen in mitochondrial myopathies with external ophthalmoplegia, cardiac conduction disturbances, and neurological impairments.

Methods: Patients presented over a 2-year period.

Multicenter evaluation of the Bayer ADVIA Centaur HIV 1/O/2 enhanced (EHIV) assay.

Background: It is important that serological assays detect antibodies to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in all infected individuals, including those infected with less prevalent, more diverse subtypes.

Methods: Performance of the ADVIA Centaur HIV 1/O/2 Enhanced (EHIV) Assay was tested on 1344 samples from HIV-positive subjects, 6061 samples from groups at low-risk for HIV infection, and 1042 samples from groups at high-risk for HIV-1 and HIV-2 infection. Results were compared with those of an FDA-approved predicate assay.

Clinical, microbiological, and immunological characteristics in HIV-infected subjects at risk for disseminated Mycobacterium avium complex disease: an AACTG study.

The clinical, microbiologic, and immunologic parameters in HIV-infected subjects first presenting with disseminated Mycobacterium avium complex (DMAC) were determined. Four HIV-positive groups not yet on DMAC treatment were enrolled: 19 subjects with CD4 lymphocyte counts < or =50/microl thought to have DMAC on clinical grounds; 18 subjects newly found to have a positive blood culture for MAC; 25 asymptomatic controls (CD4 cell counts < or =50); and 25 asymptomatic controls (CD4 counts 100-250/microl). Outcome measures include comparisons between groups for clinical characteristics; results of cultures from blood, marrow, and gastrointestinal and respiratory tracts; immunological markers from staining of marrow and flow cytometry of circulating lymphocytes; and cytokine production of PBMCs.

Regional body fat distribution in HIV-infected patients with lipodystrophy.

Background: Objective criteria for the assessment of patients with lipodystrophy syndrome in human immunodeficiency virus infection (LDHIV) have not emerged.

Methods: We compared regional body fat changes in 13 men with severe LDHIV on protease inhibitor-inclusive antiretroviral therapy with 13 control HIV-infected men using anthropometry, dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA), and whole-body magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Results: LDHIV patients, compared with control subjects, had thinner gluteal, suprailiac, and triceps skinfolds (p < .

T cells containing T cell receptor excision circles are inversely related to HIV replication and are selectively and rapidly released into circulation with antiretroviral treatment.

Objective: To examine baseline predictors of T-cell receptor rearrangement excision circle (TREC) levels and their changes during treatment with combined antiretroviral therapy.

Methods: Peripheral blood and lymph node lymphocytes were examined for the presence of TREC by real-time polymerase chain reaction and circulating lymphocyte phenotypes were examined by flow cytometry. Correlates for CD4 and CD8 cell TREC levels at baseline were identified among CD4 and CD8 immunophenotypes, viral load and patient demographics; the significance of TREC changes after initiation of antiretroviral therapy was assessed.