Chronic administration of nevirapine during pregnancy: impact of pregnancy on pharmacokinetics.

Objectives: To determine the impact of pregnancy on the pharmacokinetics (PK) of nevirapine (NVP) during chronic dosing in HIV-infected women and appropriate NVP dosing in this population.

Methods: Twenty-six pregnant women participating in two open-label Pediatric AIDS Clinical Trials Group studies (P1022 and P1026S) were evaluated. Each patient received 200 mg NVP every 12 h and had PK evaluations during the second or third trimester; these evaluations were repeated postpartum.

Human immunodeficiency virus type-1 infection inhibits autophagy.

Objectives: Human immunodeficiency virus type-1 (HIV-1) induces a series of alterations in the host cell that modify the intracellular environment in favor of viral replication, survival and spread. This research examined the impact of HIV-1 infection on autophagy in HIV-1 infected cells.

Methods: Protein extracts of HIV-1 infected and control CD4+ T-lymphocytes and U937 cells were semi-quantified by western blot.

Undiagnosed respiratory viruses in children.

Objective: An estimated 12 to 32 million upper respiratory infections occur in young children each year. In addition, 20% to 53% of infants will have > or = 1 episode of lower respiratory infection in the first year of life. The current methods of diagnosing respiratory viruses are limited in scope and sensitivity.

Clinical outcomes after an unstructured treatment interruption in children and adolescents with perinatally acquired HIV infection.

Objective: An unstructured treatment interruption in children with perinatally acquired HIV infection is an issue with unresolved significance. The objective of this study was to investigate the actual prevalence and clinical outcomes of a treatment interruption in children and adolescents with perinatally acquired HIV-1 infection.

Methods: Clinical data were analyzed for 72 children and adolescents who had HIV-1 infection and stopped their medications at 4 academic centers in the United States between January 2000 and September 2004.

Effect of Host Genetic Variation on the Pharmacokinetics and Clinical Response of Non-nucleoside Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors.

Non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs) have been used widely for treating human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infected patients as a component of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) and for the prevention of mother-to-child transmission (MTCT). Cytochrome P450 (CYP) 2B6 is an important hepatic isoenzyme responsible for the metabolism of NNRTIs including efavirenz and nevirapine. Recent pharmacogenetic studies have shown that CYP2B6 genetic variants alter hepatic CYP2B6 protein expression and function, and the pharmacokinetics of several CYP2B6 substrates.

CYP2B6 genetic variants are associated with nevirapine pharmacokinetics and clinical response in HIV-1-infected children.

Background: Cytochrome P450 2B6 (CYP2B6)-G516T genotype is associated with altered activity of hepatic CYP2B6 and efavirenz pharmacokinetics, but the relationship between the CYP2B6-G516T genotype and nevirapine (NVP) pharmacokinetics in plasma and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is limited.

Methods: In 126 children who received NVP and protease inhibitors from PACTG 366 and 377 cohorts, CYP2B6 and ATP-binding cassette, sub-family B, member 1 (ABCB1) gene polymorphisms were analyzed using real-time PCR. Plasma NVP pharmacokinetics and clinical data were collected and levels of NVP in CSF were evaluated in children with HIV-related neurologic diseases.

All silicon infrared photodiodes: photo response and effects of processing temperature.

CMOS compatible infrared waveguide Si photodiodes are made responsive from 1100 to 1750 nm by Si(+) implantation and annealing. This article compares diodes fabricated using two annealing temperatures, 300 and 475 degrees C. 0.

Pediatric sinusitis.

Although sinusitis is one of the most common problems encountered in clinical practice, it can be a challenge to diagnose and treat appropriately. Sinusitis refers to inflammation (infectious or noninfectious) in the paranasal sinuses. Infectious sinusitis can be bacterial or viral.

Long-term observation of adolescents initiating HAART therapy: three-year follow-up.

The PACTG 381 cohort included 120 adolescents infected via high-risk behaviors and treated with at least two NRTIs plus either a protease inhibitor or an efavirenz-containing HAART regimen. After 24 weeks of therapy, only 69 of 118 (59%) evaluable subjects had undetectable viral loads. We now present findings of the study after 3 years of follow-up.

Chronic cough: the allergist's perspective.

Cough is a common presenting symptom of many patients managed by allergists. For patients with chronic cough who are nonsmokers, have normal spirometry, and are not being treated with an ACE inhibitor, diagnosis usually focuses on differentiation between postnasal drip syndrome, asthma, gastroesophageal reflux disease, and nonasthmatic eosinophilic bronchitis, alone or in combination. Patients with severe COPD or GERD should be referred to appropriate specialists for those conditions.

Endothelial damage from cytomegalovirus-specific host immune response can be prevented by targeted disruption of fractalkine-CX3CR1 interaction.

Human cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection has been linked to inflammatory diseases, including vascular disease and chronic transplant rejection, that involve vascular endothelial damage. We have previously shown that the host CD4(+) T-cell response to CMV antigen can produce IFNgamma and TNFalpha at levels sufficient to drive induction of fractalkine, a key marker of inflammation in endothelial cells. We have also observed a major pathogenic effect in which endothelial cell damage and loss follow the induction of fractalkine and up-regulation of cell adhesion markers in the presence of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from donors with a high CMV-specific T-cell frequency.

Impact of nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors on mitochondria in human immunodeficiency virus type 1-infected children receiving highly active antiretroviral therapy.

Mitochondrial toxicity induced by nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs) has been reported to be responsible for various adverse effects. The relative impact of NRTIs on the mitochondria of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) type 1 (HIV-1)-infected children receiving highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) is unknown. Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) levels were quantified longitudinally from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) in 31 HIV-1-infected children from Pediatric AIDS Clinical Trial Group Study 382 who were receiving HAART, including nelfinavir, efavirenz, and different NRTIs, and who had had undetectable plasma HIV-1 RNA levels for >2 years.

Effect of omalizumab on patients with chronic urticaria.

Background: Chronic urticaria (CU) is often difficult to treat. Approximately 40% to 50% of patients with no apparent cause are believed to have an associated autoimmune profile that may play a pathogenetic role.

Objectives: To describe 3 patients with CU refractory to conventional treatment who responded to omalizumab therapy.

Neoadjuvant, surgery and adjuvant chemotherapy without radiation for esophageal cancer.

Background: A phase II trial to evaluate neoadjuvant (NAD), surgery and adjuvant (AD) combination chemotherapy without radiation therapy (RT) for patients with esophageal adenocarcinoma staged with endoscopic ultrasound and CT as T3N1 was carried out.

Methods: Thirty-three eligible patients were enrolled. NAD therapy was administered in two 49-day cycles and included cisplatin, floxuridine, paclitaxel and leucovorin.

Long-term safety and efficacy of a once-daily regimen of emtricitabine, didanosine, and efavirenz in HIV-infected, therapy-naive children and adolescents: Pediatric AIDS Clinical Trials Group Protocol P1021.

Background: Compliance with complex antiretroviral therapy regimens is a problem for HIV-1-infected children and their families. Simple, safe, and effective regimens are important for long-term therapeutic success.

Methods: A novel, once-daily dosing regimen of 3 antiretroviral drugs, emtricitabine, didanosine, and efavirenz, was tested in 37 therapy-naive HIV-infected children and adolescents between 3 and 21 years of age (inclusive).

Are we training our residents to perform open gall bladder and common bile duct operations?

Introduction: In the new era of resident work hour restrictions and an emphasis on minimally invasive surgery, experience in performing open biliary surgery is diminishing. We sought to review our resident operative experience to determine if it appears adequate for a well-trained general surgeon.

Methods: The case logs of the General Surgery, Oncology, and Trauma/Emergency General Surgery (EGS) services were reviewed for a 1-year period.

Pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of efavirenz and nelfinavir in HIV-infected children participating in an area-under-the-curve controlled trial.

Fifty human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected children participated in an area-under-the plasma concentration-time curve (AUC)-controlled trial of efavirenz and nelfinavir. Pharmacokinetic evaluations were performed at weeks 2, 6, and 56. Efavirenz and nelfinavir doses were adjusted to achieve AUC values of 60-120 and > or = 10 mg h/l, respectively.

High T-cell response to human cytomegalovirus induces chemokine-mediated endothelial cell damage.

Human cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection has been linked to inflammatory diseases that involve vascular endothelial damage, including vascular disease and chronic transplant rejection. We previously reported that the host CD4(+) T-cell response to CMV antigen presented by endothelial cells can produce interferon-gamma and tumor necrosis factor-alpha at levels sufficient to drive induction of fractalkine, a key marker of inflammation, in endothelial cells. In this work, we report that donors with high frequencies of antigen-specific T cells to CMV (high responders) induce higher levels of activation-associated chemokines such as fractalkine, RANTES (regulated on activation, normal T cell expressed and secreted), and macrophage inflammatory protein-1beta, together with cell-adhesion markers in endothelial cells compared with donors with low levels of CMV-specific T cells (low responders).

Prevalence of primary HIV-1 drug resistance in pregnant women and in newly diagnosed adults at Tijuana General Hospital, Baja California, Mexico.

At Tijuana General Hospital, between March 2003 and June 2005, pregnant women and other adults, recently identified as HIV infected, antiretroviral naïve, were enrolled to examine the prevalence of primary HIV drug resistance. All subjects had the Calypte HIV-1 BED Incidence enzyme immunoassay test to identify recent infection. Genotypic analysis of HIV-1 protease and reverse transcriptase regions in plasma was performed.

The effect of fexofenadine hydrochloride on productivity and quality of life in patients with chronic idiopathic urticaria.

The present study examined the impact of once-daily fexofenadine hydrochloride (HCl) 180 mg on health-related quality of life (HRQL) in subjects with chronic idiopathic urticaria (CIU). This was a multicenter, randomized, double-blind. parallel-group, placebo-controlled study.

Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 subtype C Tat fails to induce intracellular calcium flux and induces reduced tumor necrosis factor production from monocytes.

Over 50% of all human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infections worldwide are caused by subtype C strains, yet most research to date focuses on subtype B, the subtype most commonly found in North America and Europe. The HIV-1 trans-acting regulatory protein (Tat) is essential for regulating productive replication of HIV-1. Tat is secreted by HIV-infected cells and alters several functions of uninfected bystander cells.

Efavirenz pharmacokinetics in HIV-1-infected children are associated with CYP2B6-G516T polymorphism.

Background: The CYP2B6-G516T polymorphism has been shown to alter plasma efavirenz (EFV) concentrations in adults. The impact of CYP2B6-G516T polymorphisms on EFV concentrations may be different in children because of differences in liver maturation and drug dosage.

Methods: The CYP2B6-G516T polymorphisms were analyzed in 71 HIV-1-infected children receiving highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) containing EFV for >or=6 months.

Performance of rapid HIV testing using Determine HIV-1/2 for the diagnosis of HIV infection during pregnancy in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the performance of the rapid antibody test Determine HIV-1/2, in pregnant women at Tijuana General Hospital. Pregnant women seeking prenatal care or admitted in labour had blood drawn for a rapid HIV test (Determine HIV-1/2), enzyme immunoassay (EIA) and Western blot. Between March and November 2003, 1068 women in labour and 1529 women in prenatal care were enrolled.