Psychosocial predictors of life satisfaction among persons living with HIV infection and AIDS

As AIDS becomes a more chronic but manageable illness, understanding quality of life issues among persons living with this disease has become an important goal of health care researchers. However, most quality of life investigations of persons living with HIV disease have relied heavily on clinical samples (e.g., hospitalized patients, psychiatric outpatients). The present study sought to identify psychosocial predictors of general life satisfaction in a community sample of 275 persons living with HIV/AIDS in a large midwestern state. Principal components and multiple regression analyses revealed that improved physical/functional well-being, increased social support, more frequent use of active coping strategies, and fewer incidents of AIDS-related discrimination and stigma predicted higher levels of general life satisfaction (R2 = 39). Intervention strategies likely to produce higher levels of life satisfaction among persons living with HIV disease are discussed.     

Fibrinogen receptor (GPIIb-IIIa) antagonists derived from 5,6-bicyclic templates. Amidinoindoles, amidinoindazoles, and amidinobenzofurans containing the N-alpha-sulfonamide carboxylic acid function as potent platelet aggregation inhibitors

A series of highly potent and specific fibrinogen receptor antagonists have been discovered and optimized through structural modification of the novel amidinoindole and benzofuran compounds, I and II. Systematic linker optimization afforded the amidinobenzofuran-containing inhibitor 29, which displayed an IC50 value of 250 nM in platelet aggregation assays. Attempts to enhance activity by modification of the beta-position of the beta-alanyl carboxylate group of 29 had only a modest effect on inhibitory activity in aggregation assays. Analogues prepared to enhance the activity by conformational restriction were also found to be equally or less potent. In contrast, modification at the alpha-position of the beta-alanyl carboxylate group resulted in the identification of extremely potent and novel amidinobenzofuran-containing derivatives 46-49. Reexamination of 5,6-bicyclic aromatic nucleus led to the further identification of amidinoindole- and amidinoindazole-containing derivatives 53-55. These analogues, 46-49 and 53-55, exhibited potent in vitro activity with IC50 values of 25-65 nM in platelet aggregation assays and an IC50 value of 2 nM in fibrinogen binding assays and demonstrated a selectivity of > 50,000-fold for GPIIb-IIIa versus the most closely related integrin, the vitronectin receptor, alpha v beta 3.     

Correction of hypertriglyceridemia and impaired fat tolerance in lipoprotein lipase-deficient mice by adenovirus-mediated expression of human lipoprotein lipase

Humans homozygous or heterozygous for mutations in the lipoprotein lipase (LPL) gene demonstrate significant disturbances in plasma lipoproteins, including raised triglyceride (TG) and reduced HDL cholesterol levels. In this study we explored the feasibility of adenovirus-mediated gene replacement therapy for LPL deficiency. A total of 5 x 10(9) plaque-forming units (pfu) of an E1/E3-deleted adenovirus expressing either human LPL (Ad-LPL) or the bacterial beta-galactosidase gene (Ad-LacZ) as a control were administered to mice heterozygous for targeted disruption in the LPL gene (n = 57). Peak expression of total postheparin plasma LPL activity was observed at day 7 in Ad-LPL mice versus Ad-LacZ controls (834 +/- 133 vs 313 +/- 89 mU/mL, P < .01), and correlated with human-specific LPL activity (522 +/- 219 mU/mL) and mass (9214 +/- 782 ng/mL), a change that was significant to 14 and 42 days, respectively. At day 7, plasma TGs were significantly reduced relative to Ad-LacZ mice (0.17 +/- 0.07 vs 1.90 +/- 0.89 mmol/L, P < .01) but returned to endogenous levels by day 42. Ectopic liver expression of human LPL was confirmed by in situ hybridization analysis and from raised LPL activity and mass in liver homogenates. Analysis of plasma lipoprotein composition revealed a marked decrease in VLDL-derived TGs. Severely impaired oral and intravenous fat-load tolerance in LPL-deficient mice was subsequently corrected after Ad-LPL administration and closely paralleled that observed in wild-type mice. These findings suggest that liver-targeted adenovirus-mediated LPL gene transfer offers an effective means for transient correction of altered lipoprotein metabolism and impaired fat tolerance due to LPL deficiency.     

HIV risk behaviors among inner-city African American women. The Community Housing AIDS Prevention Study Group

This study examined the prevalence and predictors of HIV risk behaviors among a sample of 875 low-income, African American women residents of inner-city housing developments. The women completed an anonymous questionnaire that revealed that one third of them were at high risk for HIV either because they had multiple partners or because of the high-risk behaviors of their regular partner. HIV risk was highest among women who accurately perceived themselves to be at increased HIV risk, reported weak behavioral intentions to reduce risk, and held stronger beliefs about psychosocial barriers to condom use. Women at high risk were also younger, reported higher rates of substance use, and indicated that their housing development lacked social cohesiveness. These findings suggest that HIV prevention efforts for this population should focus on strengthening women's risk reduction behavioral intentions and self-efficacy through skill development, overcoming psychosocial barriers to condom use, managing the risk related to substance use, and incorporating approaches that take into account the social, psychological, and relationship barriers to change among economically impoverished African American women.     

A new species of Leptotrombidium (Acari:Trombiculidae) collected in active rice fields in northern Thailand

Leptotrombidium (Leptotrombidium) chiangraiensis Tanskul & Linthicum is described and illustrated as new from specimens collected from the rodents Rattus rattus (L., 1758), Rattus argentiventer (Robinson & Kloss, 1916), Rattus losea (Swinhoe, 1870), and Bandicota indica (Bechstein, 1800) in Chiangrai Province northern Thailand. The new species was collected in active rice fields and adjacent fruit plantation areas. The etiological agent of scrub typhus, Orientia (formerly Rickettsia) tsutsugamushi (Hayashi), has been isolated from patients who live and work in the same habitat where L. chiangraiensis is the predominant Leptotrombidium species.     

Dens evaginatus from an orthodontic perspective: report of several clinical cases and review of the literature

The anomaly of dens evaginatus manifests itself as an innocuous-looking tubercle of enamel on the occlusal surface of a premolar tooth. Problems can arise when the tubercle is either worn, ground, or fractured off, resulting in pulpal exposure and possible loss of vitality of the tooth. Orthodontists should be particularly aware of this dental anomaly, which occurs in at least 2% of the Asian and Native Indian population. Premolar extraction cases should be planned to include extraction of the anomalous premolars instead of the normal ones. In addition, the orthodontist should be wary of occlusal changes during treatment or occlusal equilibration that might jeopardize the vitality of teeth with dens evaginatus. Pulp-capping or partial pulpotomy has been postulated as the most reliable form of treatment to prevent loss of vitality of the affected teeth and to allow continued root maturation where necessary.     

Public health issues in aquaculture

Immune surveillance of skin cancer involves the stimulation of effector T cells by tumor-derived antigens and antigen-presenting cells (APCs). An effective APC must not only display processed antigen in the context of MHC molecules but also express co-stimulatory molecules that are required to fully activate T cells. One of the most common cutaneous neoplasms is basal cell carcinoma. To investigate expression of the co-stimulatory molecules CD80 (B7-1) and CD86 (B7-2) on tumor-associated dendritic cells (TADCs), cryosections from basal cell carcinomas were immunostained. In basal cell carcinomas, only 1 to 2% of intratumor and 5 to 10% of peritumor APCs expressed CD80 or CD86. In contrast, biopsies of immunological/inflammatory dermatoses revealed that 38 to 73% of APCs expressed CD80 and CD86. To further evaluate their phenotype and function, TADCs were isolated from tissue samples of basal cell carcinomas; they were non-adherent to plastic, displayed a typical dendritic morphology, and expressed high levels of major histocompatibility class II molecules on their surface. When TADCs were compared with dendritic cells from blood for presentation of superantigens (staphylococcal enterotoxins A and B) to resting autologous T cells, TADCs were consistently weaker stimulators of T cell proliferation than blood dendritic cells. When analyzed by flow cytometry, TADCs expressed high levels of HLA-DR, but only 5 to 10% co-expressed CD80 or CD86. A 3-day culture in granulocyte/macrophage colony-stimulating factor-containing medium partially reconstituted the TADC expression of CD80 and CD86 as well as their immunostimulatory capacity. Thus, in this common skin cancer, although there are prominent collections of HLA-DR-positive APCs in and around tumor cells, the TADCs are deficient in important co-stimulatory molecules as well as being weak stimulators of T cell proliferation. The paucity of co-stimulatory molecule expression and functional activity of TADCs may explain why the local T lymphocytic infiltrate fails to become fully activated to eradicate adjacent tumor cells. From a clinical perspective, these findings suggest a novel immunotherapeutic strategy targeting T cell co-stimulatory molecules on professional APCs in cutaneous oncology.     

Na(+)-dependent L-arginine transport in the pigmented rabbit conjunctiva

The objective of this study was to characterize Na(+)-coupled L-arginine (L-Arg) transport in the pigmented rabbit conjunctiva. The excised pigmented rabbit conjunctiva was mounted in the modified Ussing chamber for measurement of short-circuit current (Isc), 3H-L-arginine (3H-L-Arg) flux, and 22Na flux. L-Arg when added to the mucosal side led to 0.32-2.65 microA cm-2 increases in the Isc at 37 degrees C, but not at 4 degrees C or in a Na(+)-free solution. L-Arg at 1 mM stimulated net Na+ absorption by 0.12 microEq cm-2 h-1. The evidence for carrier-mediated transport of L-Arg includes: (1) temperature dependence and saturability over 0.01-10 mM, (2) Na+ dependence and ouabain sensitivity, (3) 84 +/- 2% reduction in the apparent permeability coefficient (Papp) of 3H-L-Arg in the presence of excess unlabeled L-Arg (1 mM), and (4) 16-fold difference in L-Arg transport (at 0.1 mM) between the mucosal-to-serosal and the serosal-to-mucosal direction. Moreover, L-Arg transport was inhibited by basic amino acids, large neutral amino acids, and nitric oxide synthase inhibitors, but not by acidic and small neutral amino acids. Kinetic analysis revealed the possible existence of both high and low affinity processes for L-Arg transport. A half maximal concentration (Km) and maximal L-Arg flux (Jmax) values of the low and high affinity processes were 5.90 and 0.07 mM, and 1,248 and 111 pmol cm-2 min-1, respectively. Hill analysis of L-Arg transport at 0.1 mM in the presence of varying Na+ concentrations in the mucosal bathing fluid yielded a Hill coefficient of 0.93, suggesting a 1:1 coupling between Na+ and L-Arg. In conclusion, Na(+)-coupled transport process(es) for L-Arg in accordance with a 1:1 stoichiometry appear to be present on the mucosal side of the pigmented rabbit conjunctiva. The pattern of inhibition by basic and large neutral amino acids and Na+ dependency are suggestive of system B0,(+)-mediated L-Arg transport.