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.