A cohort autopsy study defines COVID-19 systemic pathogenesis.

Severe COVID-19 disease caused by SARS-CoV-2 is frequently accompanied by dysfunction of the lungs and extrapulmonary organs. However, the organotropism of SARS-CoV-2 and the port of virus entry for systemic dissemination remain largely unknown. We profiled 26 COVID-19 autopsy cases from four cohorts in Wuhan, China, and determined the systemic distribution of SARS-CoV-2.

Changes in trabecular bone score and bone mineral density in Chinese HIV-Infected individuals after one year of antiretroviral therapy.

Objective: Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and antiretroviral therapy (ART) have been associated with reduced bone mineral density (BMD) in persons with HIV (PWH). BMD provides information only about bone mineral quantity. Trabecular bone score (TBS) is a noninvasive tool that estimates bone microarchitecture.

Very high baseline HIV viremia impairs efficacy of non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor-based ART: a long-term observation in treatment-naïve patients.

Background: It is not completely clear whether a very high pre-therapy viral load (≥ 500 000 copies/ml) can impair the virological response. The aim of this study was to examine the influence of very high baseline HIV-RNA levels on long-term virological responses under one type of regimen.

Methods: A retrospective study was performed based on data from two multicenter cohorts in China from January to November 2009, and from May 2013 to December 2015.

Circulating activated lymphocyte subsets as potential blood biomarkers of cancer progression.

The objective of this study was to predict the value of lymphocyte subsets in cancer progression. Peripheral blood was obtained from 327 untreated patients with cancer and 158 healthy volunteers. Levels of lymphocyte subsets were determined by flow cytometry.

Imaging Findings of Common Opportunistic Infections and Malignant Tumors in Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome Patients.

The incidence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection has gradually increased in recent years.HIV mainly destroys the body's immune system,leading to decreased body resistance and thus the development of a variety of opportunistic infections and neoplastic diseases,especially in the digestive system. However,the clinical manifestations,laboratory findings,and physical examination results of these conditions are not specific.

Association of Body Composition and Other Clinical Factors with Incomplete Immune Response after Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy.

Objective To explore whether baseline body composition and other clinical factors are associated with incomplete immune response after highly active antiretroviral therapy(HAART)in Chinese men with human immunodeficiency virus(HIV)or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome(AIDS).Methods A retrospective study was conducted among HIV/AIDS male patients who achieved viral suppression(maintained HIV-1 RNA levels<400 copies/ml)after a year of HAART between 2007 and 2015.Clinical,immunological,and virological data were collected from patients' files,including weight,height,and whole body composition measured within one month prior to staring HAART.

Delays in HIV diagnosis and associated factors among patients presenting with advanced disease at a tertiary care hospital in Beijing, China.

Delayed diagnosis of HIV infection is associated with advanced immunosuppression and increased risk of onward transmission. Little data exists regarding factors associated with diagnostic delays among patients presenting with advanced HIV disease in China. Medical records of patients with HIV/AIDS hospitalized at a 2000-bed tertiary hospital in Beijing, China between 1997 and 2012 were retrospectively reviewed.

Dendritic cells maturated by co-culturing with HIV-1 latently infected Jurkat T cells or stimulating with AIDS-associated pathogens secrete TNF-α to reactivate HIV-1 from latency.

Elucidation of mechanisms underlying the establishment, maintenance of and reactivation from HIV-1 latency is essential for the development of therapeutic strategies aimed at eliminating HIV-1 reservoirs. Microbial translocation, as a consequence of HIV-1-induced deterioration of host immune system, is known to result in a systemic immune activation and transient outbursts of HIV-1 viremia in chronic HIV-1 infection. How these microbes cause the robust HIV-1 reactivation remains elusive.

Good outcome of severe lupus patients with high-dose immunosuppressive therapy and autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation: a 10-year follow-up study.

Objectives: This study aimed to examine the long-term efficacy, remission and survival of patients with severe systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) after the combination treatment with high-dose immunosuppressive therapy (HDIT) and autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (APBSCT).

Methods: Chinese patients with severe SLE receiving combination therapy with HDIT and APBSCT in Peking Union Medical College Hospital were enrolled from July 1999 to October 2005. Disease activity, treatment, and adverse effects of these patients were evaluated.

Factors Associated with the Size of HIV DNA Reservoir.

Objective: To review the recent literatures related to the factors associated with the size of the HIV reservoir and their clinical significance.

Data Sources: Literatures related to the size of HIV DNA was collected from PubMed published from 1999 to June 2016.

Study Selection: All relevant articles on the HIV DNA and reservoir were collected and reviewed, with no limitation of study design.

Baseline Naive CD4+ T-cell Level Predicting Immune Reconstitution in Treated HIV-infected Late Presenters.

Background: Among HIV-infected patients initiating antiretroviral therapy (ART), early changes in CD4+ T-cell subsets are well described. However, HIV-infected late presenters initiating treatment present with a suboptimal CD4+ T-cell reconstitution and remain at a higher risk for AIDS and non-AIDS events. Therefore, factors associated with CD4+ T-cell reconstitution need to be determined in this population, which will allow designing effective immunotherapeutic strategies.

HIV-1 gp120 Glycoprotein Interacting with Dendritic Cell-specific Intercellular Adhesion Molecule 3-grabbing Non-integrin (DC-SIGN) Down-Regulates Tight Junction Proteins to Disrupt the Blood Retinal Barrier and Increase Its Permeability.

Approximately 70% of HIV-1 infected patients acquire ocular opportunistic infections and manifest eye disorders during the course of their illness. The mechanisms by which pathogens invade the ocular site, however, are unclear. Under normal circumstances, vascular endothelium and retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), which possess a well developed tight junction complex, form the blood-retinal barrier (BRB) to prevent pathogen invasion.

Fatal pulmonary Kaposi sarcoma in an HIV seronegative AIDS patient.

Introduction: Although HIV antibody tests have been widely accepted in clinical diagnosis of HIV infection, they may not be sufficient to diagnose all subjects with HIV infection. Except negative result of antibody test in the well-known" acute window phase", in rare cases, patients do not develop HIV antibodies despite demonstrable infection. Primary pulmonary Kaposi sarcoma (KS) without mucocutaneous involvement accounts for only 0-15% of all AIDS-related KS.

Major causes of fever of unknown origin at Peking Union Medical College Hospital in the past 26 years.

Background: Despite the recent advances in medicine, fever of unknown origin (FUO) remains a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge even to expert physicians. To increase the knowledge of FUO, we conducted a retrospective study to investigate the causes of FUO and the change of major causes of FUO during the past 26 years.

Methods: The clinical data were retrospectively analyzed from 997 patients with FUO hospitalized at the Peking Union Medical College Hospital (PUMCH) between January 2004 and October 2010.