1,720,974 research outputs found
Occurrence of Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia in HIV-1-infected patients responding to highly active antiretroviral therapy: is prophylaxis discontinuation a safe tool?
No full textSkin Perfusion of Fingers Shows a Negative Correlation with Capillaroscopic Damage in Patients with Systemic Sclerosis
No full text[No abstract available
IN-VITRO INCREASED RATE OF DEATH BY APOPTOSIS IN PBMC ISOLATED FROM PATIENTS WITH IDIOPATHIC OR HIV-ASSOCIATED CD4 LYMPHOCYTOPENIA
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RECURRENT INFECTIONS IN PATIENTS WITH NICKEL ALLERGIC HYPERSENSIVITY
No full textNickel (Ni) is the most common contact allergen among the general population in the industrialized world. Ni has been shown to exhibit immunomodulatory, if note immunotoxic, effects in several experiments conducted on humans and on rodents. This study tests the incidence of different infectious diseases in 100 patients with Ni hypersensivity and compares it to data from 100 healthy volunteers. One hundred subjects with Ni hypersensivity were enrolled. A group of 100 matched healthy volunteers with negative European standard patch test were enrolled as healthy controls. In patients with Ni hypersensivity a higher incidence of recurrent herpes labialis (RHL), urinary tract infections (RUTI), genital candidiasis, and upper respiratory tract infections (RURTI) was detected. Fifteen patients with nickel allergic hypersensivity (NAH) followed a Ni-poor diet. After a one-year diet a net reduction of incidence of RHL was found. Indeed, the number of episodes of RHL per year decreased from 6 +/- 2.75 to 2.4 +/- 1.2. Conversely, among the matched control group with NAH following a normal daily dietary nickel intake the RHL number did not show any statistically significant changes (6.1 +/- 1.7 vs 6 +/- 1.5). In conclusion, our study demonstrates a higher incidence of recurrent infections among patients with NAH. A low-Ni diet reduces the number of RHL episodes per year
Delayed hypersensitivity to bosentan.
No full textThis is the first case of a cell-mediated hypersensitivity to bosentan diagnosed on the basis of positive responses to the lymphocyte transformation test and a challenge. However, the latter provoked a severe reaction (DRESS
Long-term N-acetylcysteine therapy in systemic sclerosis interstitial lung disease: A retrospective study
No full textSystemic sclerosis (SSc) is associated with interstitial lung diseases. The primary endpoints of this study were changes between baseline and month 24 in single-breath carbon monoxide diffusing capacity (DLco). The secondary endpoints were: vital capacity (VC), forced expired volume in 1 sec (FEV1), total lung capacity (TLC), scores of high resolution computed tomography (HRCT) of the chest, number of adverse effects. In this study, we retrospectively investigated data from SSc patients who had undergone therapy with high-dose intravenous N-acetylcysteine (NAC) at a dosage of 15 mg/Kg/h for 5 consecutive hours every 14 days. After NAC therapy median values of DLco (69.5% vs 77.7%), VC (99% vs 101.3%) and TLC (93% vs 98.3%) significantly increased. We did not observed any significant changes from baseline in FEV1 value and HRTC score. The improvement in lung function was more evident in SSc patients without radiological signs of pulmonary fibrosis than in patients with pulmonary fibrosis. In SSc patients with mild-moderate pulmonary fibrosis intravenous NAC administration slows the rate of deterioration of DLco, VC and TLC. In conclusion, this retrospective study demonstrates that long-term therapy with intravenous NAC ameliorates pulmonary function tests in SSc patients. Copyright © by BIOLIFE, s.a.s.Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is associated with interstitial lung diseases. The primary endpoints of this study were changes between baseline and month 24 in single-breath carbon monoxide diffusing capacity (DLco). The secondary endpoints were: vital capacity (VC), forced expired volume in 1 sec (FEV1), total lung capacity (TLC), scores of high resolution computed tomography (HRCT) of the chest, number of adverse effects. In this study, we retrospectively investigated data from SSc patients who had undergone therapy with high-dose intravenous N-acetylcysteine (NAC) at a dosage of 15 mg/Kg/h for 5 consecutive hours every 14 days. After NAC therapy median values of DLco (69.5% vs 77.7%), VC (99% vs 101.3%) and TLC (93% vs 98.3%) significantly increased. We did not observed any significant changes from baseline in FEV1 value and HRTC score. The improvement in lung function was more evident in SSc patients without radiological signs of pulmonary fibrosis than in patients with pulmonary fibrosis. In SSc patients with mild-moderate pulmonary fibrosis intravenous NAC administration slows the rate of deterioration of DLco, VC and TLC. In conclusion, this retrospective study demonstrates that long-term therapy with intravenous NAC ameliorates pulmonary function tests in SSc patients. Copyright © by BIOLIFE, s.a.s
Laser Doppler perfusion imaging in systemic sclerosis impaired response to cold stimulation involves digits and hand dorsum.
No full textObjectives. To assess by Laser Doppler perfusion imaging (LDPI) skin blood perfusion of hands in patients with SSc and primary RP (PRP) at baseline and after cold stimulation (CS). In SSc patients, the associations between skin perfusion and nailfold video capillaroscopy (NVC) patterns were also evaluated. Methods. Forty patients with SSc, 38 patients with PRP and 32 healthy controls were recruited. Skin blood flow of the hands was detected by Lisca Laser Doppler Perfusion Imager at baseline and after CS. Further laser Doppler scanning was performed for each hand at 0 (T 1), 3 (T 2), 7 (T 3) and 15 min (T 4). Results. Baseline mean perfusion is significantly (P < 0.000 l) lower in SSc patients than in healthy controls. In SSc patients, mean perfusion is reduced after CS (P < 0.0001) and skin flow recovery (significant difference between T 0 and T 4, P < 0.0001) is incomplete. In SSc patients with low vascular damage (early and active capillaroscopic groups), the abnormal microvascular response to CS involves only the digits, while the perfusion of hands dorsum is normal. With the progression of vascular damage (late capillaroscopic groups), the abnormal microvascular response to CS also appears in the hand dorsum skin. In PRP patients, baseline hand perfusion is very low and the skin flow recovery after CS is absent (P < 0.05). Conclusion. In early SSc, the thermoregulation of finger skin is impaired, but only in advanced stages of microangiopathy does the skin of the hand dorsum show a vasomotor control failure. © The Author 2011. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Society for Rheumatology. All rights reserved
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
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