Can diffusion-weighted imaging serve as a biomarker of fibrosis in pancreatic adenocarcinoma?

Purpose: To assess the relationship between diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) and intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM)-derived quantitative parameters (apparent diffusion coefficient [ADC], perfusion fraction [f], D , diffusion coefficient [D], and D , pseudodiffusion coefficient [D*]) and histopathology in pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PAC).

Materials And Methods: Subjects with suspected surgically resectable PAC were prospectively enrolled in this Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)-compliant, Institutional Review Board-approved study. Imaging was performed at 1.

Behavioural, Mucosal and Systemic Immune Parameters in HIV-infected and Uninfected Injection Drug Users.

Objective: Injection drug use (IDU) remains a major risk factor for HIV-1 acquisition. The complex interplay between drug use, non-sterile injection, and Hepatitis C remains poorly understood. We conducted a pilot study to determine the effect of IDU on immune parameters among HIV-uninfected and -infected individuals.

A randomized open-label study of 3- versus 5-drug combination antiretroviral therapy in newly HIV-1-infected individuals.

Background: To understand whether combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) has been optimized, we asked whether 3-drug protease inhibitor (PI)-based cART intensified with raltegravir and maraviroc and initiated during early infection would improve outcomes when compared with similarly applied 3-drug PI-based cART.

Methods: Forty newly HIV-1-infected patients were randomized 1:2 to receive 3-drug (N = 14) or 5-drug (N = 26) therapy. The primary end point was the percent of subjects with undetectable plasma viremia using standard reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction and the single copy assay after 48 weeks.

Transmitted drug resistance and phylogenetic relationships among acute and early HIV-1-infected individuals in New York City.

Background: Transmitted drug resistance (TDR) is critical to managing HIV-1-infected individuals and being a public health concern. We report on TDR prevalence and include analyses of phylogenetic clustering of HIV-1 in a predominantly men who have sex with men cohort diagnosed during acute/recent HIV-1 infection in New York City.

Methods: Genotypic resistance testing was conducted on plasma samples of 600 individuals with acute/recent HIV-1 infection (1995-2010).

The major genetic determinants of HIV-1 control affect HLA class I peptide presentation.

Infectious and inflammatory diseases have repeatedly shown strong genetic associations within the major histocompatibility complex (MHC); however, the basis for these associations remains elusive. To define host genetic effects on the outcome of a chronic viral infection, we performed genome-wide association analysis in a multiethnic cohort of HIV-1 controllers and progressors, and we analyzed the effects of individual amino acids within the classical human leukocyte antigen (HLA) proteins. We identified >300 genome-wide significant single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within the MHC and none elsewhere.

Evidence of dysregulation of dendritic cells in primary HIV infection.

Myeloid and plasmacytoid dendritic cells (DCs) are important mediators of both innate and adaptive immunity against pathogens such as HIV. During the course of HIV infection, blood DC numbers fall substantially. In the present study, we sought to determine how early in HIV infection the reduction occurs and whether the remaining DC subsets maintain functional capacity.