Survival of AIDS patients with primary central nervous system lymphoma is dramatically improved by HAART-induced immune recovery.

Objective: To evaluate the impact of immune recovery induced by highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) on the survival of AIDS patients with primary central nervous system lymphoma (PCNSL).

Methods: In a multicentric retrospective analysis, 29 HIV-infected patients with histologically confirmed PCNSL were identified. To evaluate median survival, Kaplan-Meier statistics were used.

Transduction by phiBB-1, a bacteriophage of Borrelia burgdorferi.

We previously described a bacteriophage of the Lyme disease agent Borrelia burgdorferi designated phiBB-1. This phage packages the host complement of the 32-kb circular plasmids (cp32s), a group of homologous molecules found throughout the genus Borrelia. To demonstrate the ability of phiBB-1 to package and transduce DNA, a kanamycin resistance cassette was inserted into a cloned fragment of phage DNA, and the resulting construct was transformed into B.

The role of ecotin dimerization in protease inhibition.

Ecotin is a homodimeric protein from Escherichia coli that inhibits many serine proteases of the chymotrypsin fold, often with little effect from the character or extent of enzyme substrate specificity. This pan-specificity of inhibition is believed to derive from formation of a heterotetrameric complex with target proteases involving three types of interface: the dimerization interface, a primary substrate-like interaction, and a smaller secondary interaction between the partner ecotin subunit and the protease. A monomeric ecotin variant (mEcotin) and a single-chain ecotin dimer (scEcotin) were constructed to study the effect of a network of protein interactions on binding affinity and the role of dimerization in broad inhibitor specificity.

[Addiction as a life style: on the social anthropology of addiction].

Regularly the unsolved problems of addiction- and dependence-research are discussed in the sense of the psycho-body-dichotomy, arguing that the biological mechanisms of reward-systems and their pathobiochemistry have to be confronted with the psychological and philosophical/anthropological dimensions within persons. The present paper, however, tries to demonstrate that this dichotomy is insufficient insofar as social-anthropological components of being addicted, which represent integrative constituents of a theory of addiction, are neglected within such a scheme. The developmental-psychological and philosophical-psychological aspects of socialization are considered and related to internal valuating systems and reality models regarding the problems of drugs and dependency.

Motivational effects on inhibitory control in children with ADHD.

Objective: The problems children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) encounter in tasks measuring inhibitory control are often theoretically related to deficits in cognitive processes. This study investigated the effects of different motivational incentives on the ability of children to inhibit intended or ongoing actions.

Method: In a large German industrial town, 33 children with ADHD were compared with 33 members of a combined group of children with major depressive disorder, anxiety disorders, oppositional defiant disorder, or conduct disorder, and 33 children without any psychiatric disorder with respect to their performances in a stop-signal task.

Dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate and corticotropin levels are high in young male patients with conduct disorder: comparisons for growth factors, thyroid and gonadal hormones.

Childhood conduct disorder (CD) may originate in a stressful upbringing, and be associated with unusual physical or sexual development and thyroid dysfunction. We therefore explored circulating levels of hormones from adrenal, gonadal and growth hormone axes associated with stress, aggression and development in 28 CD patients and 13 age-matched healthy children (10-18 years old). The CD group had higher levels of dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate (DHEA-S), corticotropin (ACTH) and free tri-iodothyronine (fT(3)) if under 14 years.

[Characteristics of communication of schizophrenic, neurotic, and healthy adolescents].

Research on communication skills in psychotic patients demonstrates that in dialogues schizophrenics neglect the needs of the listener. There are only few linguistic studies which investigate the speech of schizophrenic children and adolescents. The verbal and non-verbal communication of schizophrenic, neurotic, and healthy adolescents during a problem solving situation was transcribed and compared by a content analysis.

Nuclear covalently closed circular viral genomic DNA in the liver of hepatocyte nuclear factor 1 alpha-null hepatitis B virus transgenic mice.

The role of hepatocyte nuclear factor 1alpha (HNF1 alpha) in the regulation of hepatitis B virus (HBV) transcription and replication in vivo was investigated using a HNF1 alpha-null HBV transgenic mouse model. HBV transcription was not measurably affected by the absence of the HNF1 alpha transcription factor. However, intracellular viral replication intermediates were increased two- to fourfold in mice lacking functional HNF1 alpha protein.

High frequency of mutations in four different disease genes in early-onset dementia.

Heterozygous mutations in the genes for amyloid precursor protein (APP), the presenilins (PS1, PS2), prion protein (PrP), neuroserpin, and tau are associated with early-onset dementia (EOD) with or without neurological signs in the early disease stage. To investigate the proportion of EOD without early neurological signs attributable to known genes we prospectively (i.e.

Bacteriophages of spirochetes.

Historically, a number of bacteriophage-like particles have been observed in association with members of the bacterial order Spirochetales, the spirochetes. In the last decade, several spirochete bacteriophages have been isolated and characterized at the molecular level. We have recently characterized a bacteriophage of the Lyme disease agent, Borrelia burgdorferi, which we have designated phiBB-1.

Characterization of Borrelia burgdorferi BlyA and BlyB proteins: a prophage-encoded holin-like system.

The conserved cp32 plasmid family of Borrelia burgdorferi was recently shown to be packaged into a bacteriophage particle (C. H. Eggers and D.

[HIV-1 associated encephalopathy and myelopathy].

HIV-1-associated encephalopathy (HIVE) remains an important manifestation of advanced HIV infection despite recent progress in antiretroviral therapy. This is in part due to particular pharmacological and virological characteristics of the central nervous system (CNS). HIVE is characterized by a "subcortical" dementia with psychomotor slowing as well as memory and concentration deficits.

Rapid clearance of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 from ventricular cerebrospinal fluid during antiretroviral treatment.

To understand the pathogenesis of human immunodeficiency virus-induced neuropathology, it is critical to know the dynamics of viral replication in the central nervous system. Viral decay kinetics were mathematically analyzed from multiple serial specimens of ventricular cerebrospinal fluid and plasma during antiretroviral therapy in a patient with asymptomatic human immunodeficiency virus infection and an external ventricular catheter for hydrocephalus. A rapid exponential decay of virus with an elimination half-life of 4.

Schizophrenia with onset before the age of eleven: clinical characteristics of onset and course.

This study reports on the long-term course of 11 patients (6 girls, 5 boys) with childhood onset schizophrenia (COS, age at onset < 10 years). Patients were examined twice (mean follow-up period 38 years after onset). The premorbid development is assessed in terms of the Modified Premorbid Adjustment Scale (M-PAS) and additionally described by distinct psychopathological categories.

Disruption of the Borrelia burgdorferi gac gene, encoding the naturally synthesized GyrA C-terminal domain.

The C-terminal domain of the A subunit of DNA gyrase, which we term Gac, is naturally synthesized in Borrelia burgdorferi as an abundant DNA-binding protein. Full-length GyrA, which includes the C-terminal domain, is also synthesized by the spirochete and functions as a subunit of DNA gyrase. We have disrupted synthesis of Gac as an independent protein and demonstrated that it is not essential for growth in a coumarin-resistant background.

High prevalence of pathogenic mutations in patients with early-onset dementia detected by sequence analyses of four different genes.

Clinical differential diagnosis of early-onset dementia (EOD) includes familial Alzheimer disease (FAD) and hereditary prion disease. In both disease entities, postmortem brain histopathological examination is essential for unambiguous diagnosis. Mutations in the genes encoding the presenilins (PS1 and PS2) and amyloid precursor protein (APP) are associated with FAD, whereas mutations in the prion protein (PrP) gene are associated with prion disease.

In vivo regulation of hepatitis B virus replication by peroxisome proliferators.

The role of the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha (PPARalpha) in regulating hepatitis B virus (HBV) transcription and replication in vivo was investigated in an HBV transgenic mouse model. Treatment of HBV transgenic mice with the peroxisome proliferators Wy-14,643 and clofibric acid resulted in a less than twofold increase in HBV transcription rates and steady-state levels of HBV RNAs in the livers of these mice. In male mice, this increase in transcription was associated with a 2- to 3-fold increase in replication intermediates, whereas in female mice it was associated with a 7- to 14-fold increase in replication intermediates.

Symptom dimensions in the course of childhood-onset schizophrenia.

The symptom dimensions of childhood-onset schizophrenia (COS) are described by focussing on the clinical features of 44 patients at onset of illness during the first episode and at follow-up investigation 42 years after onset. All subjects were re-diagnosed according to DSM IV. The symptomatology was evaluated with the Positive and Negative Symptom Scale (PANSS) at onset and at follow-up.

The ESSEN study of childhood-onset schizophrenia: selected results.

Introduction: We present the results of a 42 year long-term follow-up of 44 patients (19 males, 25 females) with childhood-onset schizophrenia (COS, age at onset: 7-14 years) who could be traced for a second follow-up examination 27 years after the first follow-up.

Method: Data from interviews, clinical records, premorbid and social disability assessments were evaluated for statistical analyses. The symptomatology observed during the whole course of illness was rediagnosed by DSM-IV criteria.

Some remarks on etiological aspects of early-onset schizophrenia.

Neurophysiological, neuropsychological, neuroanatomical, and neuroradiological findings in schizophrenic psychoses demonstrate that subcortical (e.g., mesolimbic and diencephalic regions) as well as neocortical structures (e.

Quantification of JC virus DNA in the cerebrospinal fluid of patients with human immunodeficiency virus-associated progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy--a longitudinal study.

In progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) the JC virus (JCV) load in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is discussed as a parameter for disease progression. To investigate the evolution of viral shedding into the CSF, the JCV DNA concentration was quantified by competitive polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in multiple CSF samples from prior to and during an unsuccessful intrathecal salvage therapy in 2 human immunodeficiency virus-infected patients with biopsy-proven PML. With continuous clinical progression the virus load varied considerably intra- and interindividually, ranging from nondetectable to 1.

Formation of the compact confomer of kinesin requires a COOH-terminal heavy chain domain and inhibits microtubule-stimulated ATPase activity.

Full-length Drosophila kinesin heavy chain from position 1 to 975 was expressed in Escherichia coil (DKH975) and is a dimer. The sedimentation coefficient of DKH975 shifts from 5.4 S at 1 M NaCl to approximately 6.