Search results for "deficiency"
showing 10 items of 1071 documents
Detection of Mycoplasma sp. in bronchoalveolar lavage of AIDS patients with pulmonary infiltrates.
1996
We examined 486 bronchoalveolar lavages (BAL) including 32 from AIDS patients with pulmonary infiltrates and 20 from patients with leukemia or after transplantation. Mycoplasmas were found in 4/32 (12.5%) HIV-positive patients compared to 4/454 (0.9%) HIV-negative patients (p0.001). All of these four HIV-positive patients suffered from advanced infection (CD4 counts100/microL) and developed complications (Pcp, n = 2, recurrent bacterial pneumonia, n = 1, pulmonary Kaposi sarcoma, n = 1). No mycoplasmas were detected in 20 immunosuppressed patients with leukemia or after transplantation. Our data indicate that AIDS patients may be more often colonised or infected by mycoplasmas than HIV-nega…
Minilaparoscopy-guided spleen biopsy in systemic disease with splenomegaly of unknown origin.
2002
With the advent of a minimally invasive laparoscopy technique, the advantages of diagnostic laparoscopy are being rediscovered. We report here on four patients with systemic disease of unknown origin and splenomegaly, in whom minilaparoscopy-guided splenic biopsy yielded a definitive diagnosis. Four patients with unclear systemic disease were studied using diagnostic minilaparoscopy and guided spleen biopsy, after failure of diagnostic work-up. Minilaparoscopic spleen biopsy revealed the diagnosis of a B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in two cases. In one patient, who had a history of Still's disease, the spleen biopsy showed granulocytic infiltration in the spleen typical of an acute episode …
Circulating 25-Hydroxyvitamin D3 in Pregnancy and Infant Neuropsychological Development
2012
OBJECTIVE:To investigate whether circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 [25(OH)D3] concentration in pregnancy is associated with neuropsychological development in infants.METHODS:The Spanish population-based cohort study INfancia y Medio Ambiente Project recruited pregnant women during the first trimester of pregnancy between November 2003 and February 2008. Completed data on 1820 mother-infant pairs were used. Maternal plasma 25(OH)D3 concentration was measured by high-performance liquid chromatography in pregnancy (mean 13.5±2.1 weeks of gestation). Offspring mental and psychomotor scores were assessed by trained psychologists at age 14 months (range, 11–23) by using the Bayley Scales of Infant…
Iodine intake from supplements and diet during pregnancy and child cognitive and motor development: the INMA Mother and Child Cohort Study
2017
BackgroundThe effect of mild-to-moderate maternal iodine deficiency on the neuropsychological development of their offspring is uncertain. We aimed to assess the association between iodine status during pregnancy and the cognitive and motor development of children at 4–5 years.MethodsWe conducted a prospective cohort study in four Spanish regions with recruitment of pregnant women between 2003 and 2008 and follow-up of their children up to 4–5 years (mean (SD)=4.8 (0.6)). Cognitive and motor function was assessed in 1803 children using the McCarthy Scales of Children’s Abilities. Dietary iodine and supplementation were measured through questionnaires twice during pregnancy. Urinary iodine c…
Estimating minimum adult HIV prevalence: A cross-sectional study to assess the characteristics of people living with HIV in Italy
2015
In 2012, we conducted a retrospective cross-sectional study to assess the number of people living with HIV linked to care and, among these, the number of people on antiretroviral therapy. The health authority in each of the 20 Italian Regions provided the list of Public Infectious Diseases Clinics providing antiretroviral therapy and monitoring people with HIV infection. We asked every Public Infectious Diseases Clinic to report the number of HIV-positive people diagnosed and linked to care and the number of those on antiretroviral therapy during 2012. In 2012, 94,146 people diagnosed with HIV and linked to care were reported. The majority were males (70.1%), Italians (84.4%), and aged betw…
Detection of HIV type 1 non-B subtypes in Sicily, Italy.
2004
To evaluate the presence of HIV-1 non-B subtypes in Sicily, we sequenced and genotyped HIV-1 PR and RT regions of the pol gene using plasma from 169 HIV-1-infected adult patients. All samples were obtained from a study of antiretroviral-associated resistance mutations resulting in virological failure during highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). Eight (4.7%) patients had the non-B HIV-1 subtype including some circulating recombinant forms (CRFs). All of these individuals acquired the infection by heterosexual transmission. The detection of HIV-1 non-B strains was significantly associated with younger age of HIV-1 acquisition. Our findings indicate, for the first time, the presence of…
Cardiorespiratory fitness and lifestyle on severe COVID-19 risk in 279,455 adults : a case control study
2021
Background The impact of cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) and other lifestyle-related factors on severe COVID-19 risk is understudied. The present study aims to investigate lifestyle-related and socioeconomic factors as possible predictors of COVID-19, with special focus on CRF, and to further study whether these factors may attenuate obesity- and hypertension-related risks, as well as mediate associations between socioeconomic factors and severe COVID-19 risk. Methods Out of initially 407,131 participants who participated in nationwide occupational health service screening between 1992 and 2020, n = 857 cases (70% men, mean age 49.9 years) of severe COVID-19 were identified. CRF was estimat…
CD4-mediated regulatory T-cell activation inhibits the development of disease in a humanized mouse model of allergic airway disease
2012
Background Based on their potency to control allergic diseases, regulatory T (Treg) cells represent a promising target for novel strategies to interfere with allergic airway inflammation. We have previously demonstrated that stimulation of the CD4 molecule on human Treg cells activates their suppressive activity in vitro and in vivo . Objective We sought to determine the effect of CD4-mediated Treg-cell activation on pulmonary inflammation in a humanized mouse model of allergic airway inflammation. Methods PBMCs obtained from donors allergic to birch pollen or from healthy donors were injected into NOD-severe combined immunodeficiency γc −/− mice, followed by allergen airway challenges and …
Alteration of the growth hormone axis, visceral fat dysfunction, and early cardiometabolic risk in adults: the role of the visceral adiposity index
2015
The aim of the study is to clarify the relationship between adipose tissue dysfunction, metabolic profile and growth hormone (GH)/insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-I secretion in healthy adult subjects. We investigated the metabolic profile in a cohort of 231 consecutive healthy subjects in relation to GH, IGF-I levels, and visceral adiposity index (VAI). Anthropometric measures, lipid profile, and glucose and insulin levels during oral glucose tolerance test, Homa-IR and ISI Matsuda, IGF-I and GH peak after GHRH plus Arginine test were analyzed. The subjects with high VAI showed lower GH peak (22.8 ± 11.1 vs. 42.2 ± 21.3 µg/L; p = 0.049) and lower IGF-I (presented as IGF-I under normal rang…
Genetic Diversity of HIV-1 Non-B Strains in Sicily: Evidence of Intersubtype Recombinants by Sequence Analysis ofgag,pol, andenvGenes
2007
The molecular epidemiology of HIV-1 strains in Sicily (Italy) was phylogenetically investigated by the analysis of HIV-1 gag, pol, and env gene sequences from 11 HIV-1 non-B strains from 408 HIV-1-seropositive patients observed from September 2001 to August 2006. Sequences suggestive of recombination were further investigated by bootscanning analysis of various fragments. Overall, we identified several second-generation recombinant (SGRs) strains, which contained genetic material of CRF02_AG in at least one gene. Notably, three individuals were found to be infected with subsubtype A3, and one of them showed genetic recombination with subsubtype A4. The current study emphasizes the genetic a…