Since the first case of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection was documented in India in 1986, there has been an explosive increase in HIV transmission. In this review we describe the chronology of the HIV epidemic in India, preliminary information about the clinical presentation of the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), the biological and behavioral aspects of HIV transmission in the Indian setting, and projections regarding the future of the HIV epidemic in India. Using recent data obtained by searching the computerized literature and published abstracts, conference proceedings, and publications from the government of India, we show that India is experiencing a major epidemic of HIV transmission in high-risk populations of commercial sex workers, sexually transmitted disease clinic patients, intravenous drug users, and commercial blood donors. There is also evidence of recent spread of the epidemic from these high-risk groups to other risk groups in India, and from urban centers to rural populations. It is estimated that 1.6 million people are currently infected with HIV in India. At the present rate of transmission, India will have the largest number of HIV-infected individuals of any country in the world by the end of this decade, with more than 5 million infected individuals. Because limited data are available, comprehensive and well-designed epidemiologic surveys are urgently needed to adequately characterize the HIV epidemic in India and to help implement targeted and effective educational and prevention-oriented programs.
Ivermectin is a new antifilarial drug that can be given in a single oral dose. To compare the efficacy and side effects of ivermectin with those of diethylcarbamazine, the standard antifilarial treatment, we conducted a randomized, double-blind trial in 40 South Indian men with lymphatic filariasis caused by Wuchereria bancrofti. Patients were randomly assigned to one of three treatments: a single low dose of ivermectin (mean [+/- SE], 21.3 +/- 0.7 micrograms per kilogram of body weight; n = 13) followed by placebo for 12 days; a single high dose of ivermectin (mean, 126.2 +/- 3.7 micrograms per kilogram; n = 13) followed by placebo for 12 days; or diethylcarbamazine for 13 days (6 mg per kilogram per day for 12 days preceded by 3 mg per kilogram for 1 day; n = 14). Eleven patients were initially assigned to receive placebo and after five days were reassigned to one of the three treatment groups. At day 12 there was complete clearance of microfilariae from the blood in all 26 men who took ivermectin and in 11 of the 14 men who took diethylcarbamazine. At six months the numbers of detectable microfilariae (as a percentage of the pretreatment values) were 18.3 percent after low-dose ivermectin and 19.5 percent after high-dose ivermectin, as compared with 6.0 percent after diethylcarbamazine (P less than 0.05). The side effects were confined to the first five days and were similar in the three treatment groups. We conclude that in lymphatic filariasis, the clinical response to a single dose of ivermectin compares favorably with that after the standard 12-day course of diethylcarbamazine. Given the practical advantages of single-dose administration, ivermectin should become a useful medication for the control of bancroftian filariasis.
Drugs used in the chemotherapy of cancer have also been used as ]mmunosuppressive agents for the control of jrnrnune mechanisms involving antibody production, and cell-mediated forms of immunity such as delayed-type hypersensitivity and transplantation immunity (1-5); there are, however, few published reports of their effect on the immune response to microorganisms despite infection being a serious complication of their use in clinical practice. The present report deals with the influence of some immunosuppressive drugs on the ~rnmune response to a facultative intracellular parasite.Tuberculosis, brucellosis, listeriosis, and salmonellosis are examples of infections which give rise to a cell-mediated form of immunity which evolves through similar mechanlqms (6); it is therefore logical to assume that observations on one host-parasite system will have relevance to the others. Listeriosis in the mouse has been chosen as a model for the present study because it offers several advantages. Firstly, the immune response sets in early and runs a short course, so that an immunosuppressive effect is quickly revealed; secondly, a L/ster/a infection, as assessed by bacterial enumeration, provides an accurate and quantitative assessment of immunity and the magnitude of the immunosuppressive effect obtained with drugs. Mice infected with a sublethal dose of Listeria monocytogenes develop an immune response which interrupts the growth of the organism in vivo. The experiments to be described are based upon the premi.~e that effective suppression of the immune response by drugs would result in continued multiplication of L/ster/a, particularly in the spleen and liver. Four drugs, representing four different categories of cytotoxic agents, were chosen for study: (a) cyclophosphamide, a polyfunctional alkylating agent; (b) vinblastine, an antimitotic agent; (c) methotrexate, a folic acid antagonist; and (d) azathioprine, a purine analogue. The present report deals with the effect of these four drugs on the immune response to Listeria infection in mice.
Increased oxidative stress may have a role in the pathogenesis of periodontal disease activity.
Ga-PSMA PET/CT is the upcoming imaging modality for staging, restaging and response assessment of prostate cancer. However, due to neuroendocrine differentiation in some of patients with prostate cancer, they express somatostatin receptors instead of prostate specific membrane antigen. This can be exploited and other modalities like Ga-DOTANOC PET/CT and F-FDG PET/CT should be used in such cases for guiding management. We hereby discuss a similar case of 67-year-old man of adenocarcinoma prostate with neuroendocrine differentiation, which shows the potential pitfall of Ga-PSMA PET/CT imaging and benefit of Ga-DOTANOC PET/CT and F-FDG PET/CT in such cases.
A system involving the passive transfer of committed lymphoid cells from Listeria-immune donors has been used to study the phases of the immune response which are sensitive to the immunosuppressive action of various cytotoxic agents. The agents investigated included cyclophosphamide, vinblastine, methotrexate, azathioprine, and X-irradiation. Complete suppression of passive immunization was obtained by the administration of cyclophosphamide or vinblastine to recipients at the time of cell transfer or by prior X-irradiation of recipients a day before cell transfer. Methotrexate was only partially suppressive, whereas azathioprine had no effect at all. The donor cell responsible for the transfer of immunity to recipients was shown to be a resting cell which is sensitive to the action of cyclophosphamide but not to vinblastine. The results of this investigation suggest that the donor cells undergo multiplication in the tissues of the recipient, presumably in response to specific stimulation by Listeria antigens. This in turn results in the activation of host macrophages. The immunosuppressive action of cyclophosphamide, vinblastine, and irradiation in the cell-transfer system has been discussed in relation to a direct cytotoxic action on the immune lymphoid cells of the donor and specific interference with their proliferation in the recipient, as well as impairment of macrophage production on the part of the recipient itself.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.