An investigation of HLA-encoded genetic susceptibility to multiple sclerosis in subjects of Asian Indian and Afro-Caribbean ethnic origin.

The association of multiple sclerosis (MS) with the HLA class II loci DR and DQ was investigated in populations of Asian Indian and Afro-Caribbean ethnic origin, resident in the United Kingdom. The putative haplotype, DRB1*1501.DQA1*0102.

Written patient information on prescription drugs. The evolution of government and voluntary programs in the United States.

This paper describes the evolution of written patient information on prescription drugs, FDA's patient package insert proposal and its revocation before its implementation in the early 1980s, the status of voluntary and government efforts since that time, and a review of current trends in this area. The burgeoning practice of direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription drugs in the lay press is viewed within the context of these efforts. This paper also reviews the current developments in certain FDA-regulated consumer products--over-the-counter drug labeling and nutrition labeling.

The prevalence of hepatitis B and C in an antenatal population of various ethnic origins.

A total of 3522 samples of serum, collected anonymously from women attending an antenatal clinic, was tested for hepatitis B surface antigen and antibody to hepatitis C. The prevalence of anti-HCV was low; only five confirmed positives were found (0.14%).

The transactivator gene of human T-cell leukemia virus type I is more variable within and between healthy carriers than patients with tropical spastic paraparesis.

Human T-cell leukemia virus type I (HTLV-1) causes T-cell leukemia and tropical spastic paraparesis (TSP) in a minority of infected people, whereas the majority remain healthy. No association between a particular HTLV-I sequence and disease manifestation has been found in previous studies. We studied here the sequence variability of the gene for the HTLV-I Tax protein, which is the dominant target antigen of the very strong cytotoxic T-lymphocyte response to the virus.

Circulating anti-Tax cytotoxic T lymphocytes from human T-cell leukemia virus type I-infected people, with and without tropical spastic paraparesis, recognize multiple epitopes simultaneously.

CD8+ T cells were freshly isolated from a human T-cell leukemia virus type I (HTLV-I)-infected patient with tropical spastic paraparesis. These cells, which were specific for HTLV-I Tax, simultaneously recognized a minimum of five, and possibly as many as seven, distinct peptide epitopes within the protein. A further Tax epitope was recognized after a short period of culture without exogenous peptide stimulation.

Detection of Mycobacterium avium-intracellulare complex in bone marrow specimens of patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.

Thirty-seven bone marrow core biopsy specimens from 21 human immunodeficiency virus-infected patients with Mycobacterium avium-intracellulare complex bacteremia were stained using rabbit polyclonal antibodies against Mycobacterium bovis strain Bacillus-Calmette-Guerin (BCG) and Mycobacterium duvalii, as well as Kenyon and Fite stains, to compare sensitivities of these techniques and evaluate possible response to therapy. The patients in this study had participated in a phase I/II trial of liposome-encapsulated gentamicin therapy. Two biopsy specimens had inadequate tissue for evaluation.

Opportunistic events and p17 expression in the bone marrow of human immunodeficiency virus-infected patients.

Bone marrow biopsies from 114 human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients were stained with an anti-p17 monoclonal antibody to detect active HIV replication and associated factors. Immunoreactive p17 was found as virus-like particles in macrophages and dendritic cells and occasionally in megakaryocytes in 62 of 114 marrows and was considered evidence of active HIV replication. Immunoreactive p17 was not found significantly more often in the marrows of patients with lower CD4 cell counts; however, it was found significantly more in the marrows of patients with concurrent mycobacterial or fungal infections or lymphoma (chi 2 = 12.