(Press-News.org) A study in this week's PLoS Medicine suggests that AIDS patients with cryptococcal meningitis who start HIV therapy are predisposed to immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome (IRIS) — an exaggerated inflammatory immune response that kills up to one-third of affected people — if they have biomarkers (biochemicals) in their blood showing evidence of a damaged immune system that is not capable of clearing the fungal infection.
David Boulware and Paul Bohjanen from the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, USA, and their colleagues, David Meya and Andrew Kambugu, at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda enrolled 101 Ugandans with AIDS and recent cryptococcal meningitis who had not previously received HIV therapy and compared biomarker patterns in individuals who did and did not subsequently develop IRIS after starting HIV therapy. 45% of patients developed IRIS of whom 36% died, while only 21% of patients who did not develop IRIS died. Furthermore, the authors found that patients who later developed IRIS associated with cryptococcal meningitis after starting HIV therapy had 4-fold higher baseline concentrations of cryptococcal antigen and lower levels of several inflammatory cytokines in their blood compared to patients who did not develop CM-IRIS.
The authors say: "This study suggests that prediction of IRIS or death may be possible with measurement of pre-antiretroviral therapy serum biomarkers." They add, "Although requiring validation, these biomarkers might be an objective tool to stratify the risk of CM-IRIS and death, and could be used clinically to guide when to start antiretroviral therapy or use prophylactic interventions."
INFORMATION:
Funding: This work was supported by the University of Minnesota Academic Health Center (PRB, DBM), NIH National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (DRB: T32AI055433-03; L30AI066779; K12RR023247-04; K23AI073192. PRB: R03AI078750), Minnesota Medical Foundation (PRB, DRB, DBM), Tibotec REACH Initiative (PRB, DRB, DBM), University of Minnesota Dean's Grant-in-Aid (DRB), Academic Alliance Foundation (AK, DBM), Mucosal and Vaccine Research Program Colorado (ENJ), and the Veterans Affairs Research Service (ENJ). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
Citation: Boulware DR, Meya DB, Bergemann TL, Wiesner DL, Rhein J, et al. (2010) Clinical Features and Serum Biomarkers in HIV Immune Reconstitution Inflammatory Syndrome after Cryptococcal Meningitis: A Prospective Cohort Study. PLoS Med 7(12): e1000384. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1000384
IN YOUR COVERAGE PLEASE USE THIS URL TO PROVIDE ACCESS TO THE FREELY AVAILABLE PAPER: http://www.plosmedicine.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pmed.1000384
PRESS-ONLY PREVIEW OF THE ARTICLE: www.plos.org/press/plme-07-12-boulware.pdf
CONTACT:
David Boulware
University of Minnesota
Medicine
2001 6th Street SE
Minneapolis, MN 55455
United States of America
612-624-9996
612-625-4410 (fax)
boulw001@umn.edu
Biomarkers could predict death in AIDS patients with severe inflammation
2010-12-22
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Health systems strengthening needs 10 guiding principles
2010-12-22
Despite the growing recognition of the importance of strengthening health systems around the world, there is a considerable lack of shared definitions and guiding principles that are threatening the ability to form strategic policy, practice and evaluations. In this week's PLoS Medicine, Robert Chad Swanson from Brigham Young University, USA and colleagues present a set of 10 guiding principles for health systems strengthening to address this problem, developed from a comprehensive review of the literature and consultation with experts.
"We invite global health leaders ...
Prenatal micronutrient supplementation boosts children's cognition in Nepal
2010-12-22
In developing countries where iron deficiency is prevalent, prenatal iron-folic acid supplementation increased offspring intellectual and motor functioning during school age, according to researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. They examined the intellectual and motor functioning of children whose mothers received micronutrient supplementation during pregnancy and found that aspects of intellectual functioning including working memory, inhibitory control, and fine motor functioning were positively associated with prenatal iron and folic acid ...
Beautiful people convey personality traits better during first impressions
2010-12-22
A new University of British Columbia study has found that people identify the personality traits of people who are physically attractive more accurately than others during short encounters.
The study, published in the December edition of Psychological Science, suggests people pay closer attention to people they find attractive, and is the latest scientific evidence of the advantages of perceived beauty. Previous research has shown that individuals tend to find attractive people more intelligent, friendly and competent than others.
The goal of the study was to determine ...
Science advisor to the US EPA to speak to industry, academic leaders on sustainability innovations
2010-12-22
TUCSON, Ariz. (December 21, 2010) -- A researcher known widely for his groundbreaking work on the design, manufacture and use of minimally toxic, environmentally friendly chemicals will speak to sustainability practitioners on Jan. 12.
Dr. Paul Anastas, science advisor to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and assistant administrator for the EPA's Office of Research and Development (ORD), is speaking at the International Congress on Sustainability Science and Engineering, ICOSSE '11, in Tucson, Ariz. This is only the second meeting of ICOSSE and this conference ...
34 percent of Galician secondary schools exceed maximum recommended radon levels
2010-12-22
Researchers from the University of Santiago de Compostela (USC) have analysed levels of radon, a natural radioactive gas, in 58 secondary schools in Galicia. The results show that 34% of these schools exceed the limit of 400 Bequerels/m3 recommended by the European Union. Excessive inhalation of radon is associated with lung cancer.
"Out of all the secondary schools where samples were taken, 34% had radon levels in excess of 400 Bequerels/m3 in some of their classrooms or offices", Juan José Llerena, co-author of the study and a member of the USC's Radiation Analysis ...
Blue-green algae tested for treating ALS
2010-12-22
Nutritional supplementation with Spirulina, a nutrient-rich, blue-green algae, appeared to provide neuroprotective support for dying motor neurons in a mouse model of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, University of South Florida neuroscientists have found. Although more research is needed, they suggest that a spirulina-supplemented diet may provide clinical benefits for ALS patients.
A spirulina dietary supplement was shown to delay the onset of motor symptoms and disease progression, reducing inflammatory markers and motor neuron ...
Mathematical model forecasts fewer workplace accidents in 2011 and 2012
2010-12-22
The number of workplace accidents in Spain will fall progressively over 2011 and 2012, according to the predictions made by a mathematical model developed by researchers from the University of Castilla-La Mancha. The biggest drop will be in the number of accidents that take place during travel between people's homes and places of work.
Two researchers from the University of Castilla-La Mancha have combined mathematical models (univariate and multivariate) to generate a new one that makes it possible to predict the evolution of workplace accidents at varying levels of ...
Fruit fly study digs deeper into poorly understood details of forming embryos
2010-12-22
CINCINNATI – Using fruit flies as a model to study embryo formation, scientists report in Nature Cell Biology that molecular breakdown of a protein called Bicoid is vital to normal head-to-tail patterning of the insect's offspring.
Published online by the journal Dec. 19, the study shows how Bicoid is targeted for molecular degradation by a newly identified protein the researchers named Fates-shifted (Fsd). Without the interaction between Bicoid and Fsd, fruit fly embryos are improperly formed and misshaped, according to scientists at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical ...
Reading 'Avatar's' DNA
2010-12-22
Tel Aviv -- You know when you're watching a pirated film downloaded from the Internet -- there's no mistaking the fuzzy footage, or the guy in the front row getting up for popcorn. Despite the poor quality, pirated video is a serious problem around the world. Criminal copyright infringement occurs on a massive scale over the Internet, costing the film industry -- and the U.S. economy -- billions of dollars annually.
Now Dr. Alex Bronstein of Tel Aviv University's Department of Electrical Engineering has a new way to stop video pirates. With his twin brother Michael and ...
Preserving a piece of history, whatever the weather
2010-12-22
The Whitworth Meteorological Observatory is a fully-automated, state of the art meteorological facility, replacing the original observatory set up and located in Whitworth Park in August 1892.
The new site, funded by the legacy of Sir Joseph Whitworth, will fulfil his wish to maintain the original observatory as a source of data for scientific, education and popular interest following the demise of the original in 1958.
Data from the new observatory will be used in support of scientific research projects focusing on urban climatology.
They will also be used to support ...