Transmission of zidovudine-resistant human immunodeficiency virus type 1 variants following deliberate injection of blood from a patient with AIDS: characteristics and natural history of the virus.

We describe the development and persistence of severe immunodeficiency in a previously healthy young woman shortly after she was deliberately injected with blood that was drawn from a patient with AIDS. The heterogenous populations of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in donor and recipient were as closely related as those reported in previous cases of proven transmission. The relatively large proportion of non-syncytium-inducing (NSI) clones in the recipient suggests a selective but not complete suppression of syncytium-inducing (SI) viruses.

Isolation of a novel RFamide peptide from the midgut of the American cockroach, Periplaneta americana.

In insects (FM)RFamide-immunoreactive endocrine cells are ubiquitously present in the midgut, but the identity of the peptide(s) produced by these cells is unknown. The major RFamide-immunoreactive peptide from the midgut of the American cockroach, Periplaneta americana, was isolated and identified as Ala-Asn-Arg-Ser-Leu-Arg-Leu-Arg-Pheamide. This is a novel member of an arthropod peptide family, previously known only from mosquitoes and horseshoe crabs.

The predictive value of T cell function in vitro and pre-AIDS zidovudine use for survival after AIDS diagnosis in a cohort of homosexual men in Amsterdam.

The best independent predictors of survival after AIDS diagnosis were determined in 160 homosexual men from the Amsterdam Cohort Study (1987 CDC case definition). In a Cox model, all pre-AIDS laboratory markers gathered during follow-up in the study did not independently predict survival after AIDS. A second analysis, using data available only at AIDS diagnosis, revealed that T cell reactivity after stimulation with phytohemagglutinin and monoclonal CD3 antibodies and the CD4+ cell count at diagnosis were independent predictors of survival.

Induction of net mass lipid transfer reactions in plasma by wine consumption with dinner.

Moderate alcohol consumption is associated with a reduced risk of coronary heart disease. Alcohol may exert protection through its effects on the metabolism of plasma lipoproteins. In the present study we investigated the effects of moderate wine consumption with an evening dinner on lipoprotein composition and parameters of reverse cholesterol transport (plasma lipid transfer reactions and cholesterol esterification) in eight healthy middle-aged men.

The N-terminal region of the adenovirus type 5 E1A proteins can repress expression of cellular genes via two distinct but overlapping domains.

The transforming E1A 12S and E1A 13S proteins of human adenovirus type 5 (Ad5) contain two and three conserved regions, respectively. In the present study, the contribution of sequences in the nonconserved N-terminal region of the E1A proteins to morphological transformation and to down-regulation of a number of mitogen-inducible genes was investigated. As described previously, transformation of NRK cells (an established normal rat kidney cell line) results in denser cell growth and a cuboidal cellular morphology.

Beta-tubulin genes from the parasitic nematode Haemonchus contortus modulate drug resistance in Caenorhabditis elegans.

Resistance to antimitotic chemotherapeutics in pathogenic nematodes, fungi and mammalian cells is closely associated with structural changes in cytoskeletal beta-tubulin. We investigated the possibility of using the well-characterised free-living nematode Caenorhabditis elegans as a model for studying the mechanism of resistance against benzimidazole (BZ) drugs in the parasitic nematode Haemonchus contortus. Functional analysis of a conserved beta-tubulin isotype (tub-1) mutation near GTP-binding domain II, which is linked to BZ resistance, was carried out in C.

Syncytium-inducing (SI) phenotype suppression at seroconversion after intramuscular inoculation of a non-syncytium-inducing/SI phenotypically mixed human immunodeficiency virus population.

Two distinct biological phenotypes of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) have been described: the non-syncytium-inducing (NSI) phenotype, best characterized by the inability to infect MT-2 cells, and the syncytium-inducing (SI) phenotype, with the ability to infect MT-2 cells. The earliest virus population observed following HIV transmission is generally of the NSI phenotype, even after exposure to inocula of mixed NSI/SI phenotype. In this study, the issue of intrapatient selection of virus phenotype following transmission was addressed by studying two cases of accidental transmission.

Isolation of two AKH-related peptides from cicadas.

Two peptides related to locust adipokinetic hormone and crustacean red pigment concentrating hormone were isolated by high performance liquid chromatography from the cicadas Cacama valavata and Diceroprocta semicincta. Both species have the same peptides. The structure of one of the peptides is pGlu-Val-Asn-Phe-Ser-Pro-Ser-Trp-Gly-Asn-amide.

Postembryonic development of corazonin-containing neurons and neurosecretory cells in the blowfly, Phormia terraenovae.

An antiserum against the cockroach cardioactive peptide corazonin was used to investigate the distribution of immunoreactive neurons and neurosecretory cells in the nervous system of the blowfly, Phormia terraenovae, during postembryonic development. A small number of corazonin-immunoreactive neurons was found at larval, pupal, and adult stages. At all postembryonic stages two cell groups were found in the protocerebrum of the brain: 1) two lateral cell clusters and 2) two median cells.

Leucokinin and diuretic hormone immunoreactivity of neurons in the tobacco hornworm, Manduca sexta, and co-localization of this immunoreactivity in lateral neurosecretory cells of abdominal ganglia.

Because leucokinins stimulate diuresis in some insects, we wished to identify the neurosecretory cells in Manduca sexta that might be a source of leucokinin-like neurohormones. Immunostaining was done at various stages of development, using an antiserum to leucokinin IV. Bilateral pairs of neurosecretory cells in abdominal ganglia 3-7 of larvae and adults are immunoreactive; these cells project via the ipsilateral ventral nerves to the neurohemal transverse nerves.

Macrophage-tropic variants initiate human immunodeficiency virus type 1 infection after sexual, parenteral, and vertical transmission.

Macrophage-tropic, non-syncytium-inducing, HIV-1 variants predominate in the asymptomatic phase of infection and may be responsible for establishing infection in an individual exposed to the mixture of HIV-1 variants. Here, genotypical and phenotypical characteristics of virus populations, present in sexual, parenteral, or vertical donor-recipient pairs, were studied. Sequence analysis of the V3 domain confirmed the presence of a homogeneous virus population in recently infected individuals.

Tumour lysis syndrome and acute renal failure in Burkitt's lymphoma. Description of 2 cases and a review of the literature on prevention and management.

Two patients with Burkitt's lymphoma and acute renal failure are described, one with acute uric acid nephropathy and the other with acute renal failure due to hyperphosphataemia. Renal insufficiency caused by the precipitation of calcium phosphate salts only occurs after starting treatment of the lymphoma; uric acid nephropathy can also be present in an untreated patient. A uric acid/creatinine ratio in a random urine sample may help to confirm the diagnosis of acute uric acid nephropathy.

Isolation and structure of the Drosophila corazonin gene.

A recombinant DNA clone containing the corazonin gene was isolated from a genomic library of Drosophila melanogaster. Its nucleotide sequence predicts a preprocorazonin consisting of an 19 amino acid putative signal peptide, the 11 amino acid corazonin sequence, a Gly used for amidation, a Lys-Arg proteolytic processing site, and a 39 amino acid corazonin-precursor-related peptide (CPRP). CPRP has an internal Arg-Arg sequence and thus could possibly be further processed into a tripeptide and a 34-mer.

Isolation and identification of three leucokinins from the mosquito Aedes aegypti.

Three leucokinins were isolated from the mosquito Aedes aegypti. The amino acid sequences of the Aedes leukokinins 1, 2 and 3 have been determined to be Asn-Ser-Lys-Tyr-Val-Ser-Lys-Gln-Lys-Phe-Tyr-Ser-Trp-Gly-amide, Asn-Pro-Phe-His-Ala-Trp-Gly-amide and Asn-Asn-Pro-Asn-Val-Phe-Tyr-Pro-Trp-Gly-amide, respectively.

Activation of the cytokine network in a patient with AIDS and the recalcitrant erythematous desquamating disorder.

An AIDS patient with the recalcitrant erythematous desquamating (RED) disorder, a presumed variant of the Staphylococcus aureus toxic shock syndrome that is characterized by relapses, skin involvement, and variable multiple-organ involvement, is described. A strain of S. aureus producing toxic shock syndrome toxin 1 was isolated from the patient, but no antibodies to this exotoxin were detectable before and during the most severe episode of the RED disorder.

Effect of moderate dose of alcohol with evening meal on fibrinolytic factors.

Objectives: To evaluate the effects of moderate consumption of alcoholic beverages on the fibrinolytic system and to assess whether these effects could help explain the relation between moderate alcohol consumption and reduced coronary heart disease.

Design: Four treatments were allocated in a randomised controlled order on four days over a period of 11 days.

Setting: Metabolic ward of research institute.

Seasonal variations in the occurrence of Vibrio vulnificus along the Dutch coast.

The seasonal variation in the occurrence of V. vulnificus in relation to water temperature and salinity was studied along the Dutch coast. In two consecutive years V.

A comparative study of leucokinin-immunoreactive neurons in insects.

Antisera were raised against leucokinin IV, a member of the leucokinin peptide family. Immunohistochemical localization of leucokinin immunoreactivity in the brain of the cockroach Nauphoeta cinerea revealed neurosecretory cells in the pars intercerebralis and pars lateralis, several bilateral pairs of interneurons in the protocerebrum, and a group of interneurons in the optic lobe. Several immunoreactive interneurons were found in the thoracic ganglia, while the abdominal ganglia contained prominent immunoreactive neurosecretory cells, which projected to the lateral cardiac nerve.

Disseminated Penicillium marneffei infection as an imported disease in HIV-1 infected patients. Description of two cases and a review of the literature.

Two cases of disseminated Penicillium marneffei infection, as an imported disease, in HIV-1-infected patients with a severe immunodeficiency are reported. These patients had a history of travel in Southeast Asia where P. marneffei is endemic.

Relationship between elevated creatine phosphokinase and the clinical spectrum of rhabdomyolysis.

The incidence, causes and complications of severe rhabdomyolysis (creatine phosphokinase (CK) > or = 5000 U/l) were studied during a 7-year study period in a large university hospital population. This condition was present in 0.074% of all admitted patients.

Molecular aspects of drug resistance in parasitic helminths.

Parasitic helminths (worms) cause serious infectious diseases in humans and animals. As control of these infections relies mostly on chemotherapeutics, the anthelmintics, resistance has developed against most of these drugs in several parasite species. These resistant parasites are being used to elucidate the molecular mechanisms of drug action.

Localization of corazonin in the nervous system of the cockroach Periplaneta americana.

Antisera raised to the cardioactive peptide corazonin were used to localize immunoreactive cells in the nervous system of the American cockroach. Sera obtained after the seventh booster injection were sufficiently specific to be used for immunocytology. They recognized a subset of 10 lateral neurosecretory cells in the protocerebrum that project to, and arborize and terminate in the ipsilateral corpus cardiacum.