Role of serum P1NP measurement for monitoring treatment response in osteoporosis.

Osteoporosis is a generalized, essentially age related, skeletal disorder characterized by fragile bone. It is a major public health problem because of the high cumulative risk of bone fractures in affected populations. Although there is currently no cure for osteoporosis, there are effective treatments that can prevent additional bone loss by inhibiting the degradation of mature bone (antiresorptive therapy) or, ideally, reverse bone loss and thus increase bone density by stimulating the formation of new bone (anabolic therapy).

Analysis of hepatitis G virus (HGV) RNA, antibody to HGV envelope protein, and risk factors for blood donors coinfected with HGV and hepatitis C virus.

Serologic, biochemical, and molecular analyses were used to study hepatitis G virus (HGV), antibody to the HGV envelope protein (anti-E2), risk factors, clinical significance, and the impact of HGV on coexistent hepatitis C virus (HCV). Among 329 donors with confirmed HCV infection, 12% were HGV RNA-positive and 44% were anti-E2-positive (total exposure, 56%). HGV RNA and anti-E2 were mutually exclusive except in 9 donors (1.

High-level viremia in adults and children infected with human immunodeficiency virus: relation to disease stage and CD4+ lymphocyte levels.

Sixty-eight adults and nine children infected with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) were evaluated consecutively for the presence and amount of cell-free infectious virus in their plasma. Viremia was detected in 18 of 68 adults and in five of nine children; titers ranged from 10 to 100,000,000 TCID/ml plasma. Among the adults, none of 19 asymptomatic patients, 4 of 34 AIDS-related complex patients, and 14 of 15 AIDS patients had cell-free infectious virus in their plasma.

Plasma viremia in human immunodeficiency virus infection.

To determine which markers of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV) replication correlate most closely with progressive disease, we compared the following: (1) the frequency of isolation of HIV from peripheral-blood mononuclear cells (PBMC), (2) the frequency of isolation of the virus from cell-free plasma (plasma viremia), (3) the presence and titer of p24 antigen in plasma, and (4) the presence and titer of antibody to p24 antigen. We studied 213 persons who were positive for HIV antibody and 71 who were negative. HIV was isolated from PBMC from 207 of the 213 antibody-positive patients (97 percent), regardless of the clinical stage of the infection.

Effect of zidovudine on serum human immunodeficiency virus core antigen levels. Results from a placebo-controlled trial.

We assessed the effect of antiviral therapy on serum human immunodeficiency virus core antigen (HIV-Ag) levels in patients enrolled in the phase II trial on zidovudine for acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and AIDS-related complex. Human immunodeficiency virus core antigen was detected in 45% of subjects at entry (59% with AIDS and 37% of patients with AIDS-related complex). Median HIV-Ag levels in zidovudine-treated subjects fell from 111 pg/mL at entry to 46 pg/mL at four weeks, while levels in placebo recipients did not change significantly.

False-positive results of screening for antibodies to human immunodeficiency virus in chronic hemodialysis patients.

Eighty-three chronic hemodialysis patients were tested for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. Testing included screening enzyme immunoassay (EIA) for HIV antibodies, competitive EIA for envelope and core antibodies, EIA for HIV antigen, and lymphocyte culture. Five (6%) of the patients had positive screening EIA at low reactivity.

Treatment of the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and AIDS-related complex with a regimen of 3'-azido-2',3'-dideoxythymidine (azidothymidine or zidovudine) and acyclovir. A pilot study.

On the basis of observation that acyclovir potentiates the in-vitro antiviral activity of 3-azido-2',3'-dideoxythymidine (also known as azidothymidine or zidovudine) against human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), we administered a regimen of azidothymidine and acyclovir to eight patients with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) or AIDS-related complex. An oral regimen of 100 mg of azidothymidine and 800 mg of acyclovir every 4 hours was in general well tolerated, with the principal toxicity being megaloblastic erythroid changes. The pharmacokinetics of the two drugs were independent of each other.

HIV-1 inhibition by azidothymidine in a concurrently randomized placebo-controlled trail.

Two independent measures of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection, virus isolation, and serum levels of p24 antigen were evaluated in a double-blind randomized clinical trial of the safety and efficacy of a nucleoside analogue, 3'-azido-3'-deoxythymidine (AZT) versus placebo in a single center. Pretreatment studies from 38 AIDS and AIDS-related complex (ARC) patients were comparably positive for virus isolation from their lymphocytes; all patients were qualitatively virus positive. Before AZT treatment, there was significantly decreased virus recovery in patients with higher numbers of CD4-positive lymphocytes.

Long-term evaluation of HIV antigen and antibodies to p24 and gp41 in patients with hemophilia. Potential clinical importance.

To investigate the relation between human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) antigenemia and clinical manifestations of HIV infections, we studied 96 patients with hemophilia who were positive for HIV antibody, for a median of 34 months. Every 4 to 10 months a clinical and laboratory examination was performed and serum samples were tested for three HIV markers: HIV antigen, antibody to p24, and antibody to gp41. Twenty-two subjects (23 percent) were found to be positive for HIV antigen: 8 were positive upon entry and remained so (Group 1), and 14 became positive during the study, 4 to 26 months after HIV antibody appeared (seroconversion), 13 of whom remained positive for HIV antigen (Group 2).

Long latency precedes overt seroconversion in sexually transmitted human-immunodeficiency-virus infection.

Signs of latent HIV infection were sought in stored serum samples collected before overt seroconversion, confirmed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), from 9 subjects with human-immunodeficiency-virus (HIV) infection, in serum from 25 seronegative sexual partners of HIV-seropositive men and from 23 other seronegative, homosexually active men. Free HIV antigen and/or low-titre antibodies to recombinant structural (core, env) or non-structural (3' orf, sor, tat) proteins were seen 6-14 months before seroconversion in all 9 subjects who seroconverted. Antibodies against core proteins detected by western blot were usually the first sign of latent HIV infection.

Detection of HIV antigen and specific antibodies to HIV core and envelope proteins in sera of patients with HIV infection.

The sera of well-characterized populations were examined for three markers of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection; HIV antigen (HIV Ag), and antibodies to HIV envelope (gp41) and core (p24) proteins. Of 563 serum samples tested, 251 were from HIV-infected patients diagnosed as having AIDS manifested by opportunistic infections (AIDS-OI), AIDS-associated Kaposi's sarcoma (AIDS-KS), or AIDS-related complex (ARC). One hundred seventy-six specimens tested were from asymptomatic high-risk individuals, and 136 were from heterosexual control subjects or patients with non-AIDS-related disease.

Herpes simplex virus binding and entry modulate cell surface protein mobility.

Fluorescence photobleaching recovery measurements showed that herpes simplex virus type 1 attachment to target cells rapidly induced an anchorage modulation of cell surface protein mobility, an activity mediated by the cytoskeleton and associated with the multivalent attachment of other ligands (e.g., cells, lectins, or anti-immunoglobulin) to cell surfaces.

Changes in lectin receptor lateral mobilities accompany lymphocyte stimulation.

Changes in lateral mobilities of rabbit lymphocyte membrane components in response to succinyl concanavalin A (S Con A) have been studied by fluorescence photobleaching recovery (FPR). During hrs 0 to 3 after exposure to S Con A, lectin receptor mobilities on both T and B cells fall about 2-fold. Reduced mobility of T cell lectin receptors persists until hr 18.

Fluorescence photobleaching recovery measurement of protein absolute diffusion constants.

The technique of fluorescence photobleaching recovery [Axelrod et al., Biophys. J.