Aetiological factors for oral manifestations of HIV

OBJECTIVES: Describe the oral diseases in HIV-infected individuals in London, UK and identify social and medical factors related to the presence of specific oral diseases.
DESIGN: Cross-sectional analytic study.
SETTING: Dental clinics.
SUBJECTS: Consecutive sample of 456 patients with HIV infection.
METHODS: Social and medical history and clinical examinations. Univariate and logistic regression analysis.
OUTCOMES: Presence of HIV-associated oral disease.
RESULTS: 80% of patients with AIDS and 50% of patients with HIV had a specific oral disease. The most common diseases were hairy leukoplakia (30%), erythematous candidiasis (24%), pseudomembranous candidiasis (14%), angular chielitis (6%), necrotising periodontal disease (8%) and non-recurrent ulceration (6%).
CONCLUSIONS: The presence of erythematous candidiasis was not related to advanced HIV disease. Pseudomembranous candidiasis, hairy leukoplakia and mucosal ulceration were significantly associated with advanced HIV disease. Smoking was also identified as a strong aetiological factor in oral diseases. Longitudinal studies are required to further explore the prognostic significance of oral diseases in HIV infection.     

New molecular marker for Trypanosoma (Duttonella) vivax identification.

Trypanosoma vivax is a widespread hemoparasite in tropical areas and is pathogenic to ruminant domestic livestock as well as wild ruminants. The accurate identification of parasites in both hosts and vectors is crucial for epidemiological studies and disease control programs. We describe here the development of molecular markers specific for T. vivax identification. These markers were used to identify mouthpart infections in field-collected tsetse flies from Cameroon. The markers target the genomic sequence of a species-specific antigen from the bloodstream stages. No cross amplification with other trypanosome species was observed, which makes the markers a reliable tool to detect T. vivax infections, both in hosts and vectors. The PCR-amplified sequence contains a (CA)_n microsatellite repeat for which 11 different alleles were identified. This microsatellite, which showed high polymorphism, provides a suitable marker for population genetic studies.     

Lymphome non hodgkinien Ki-1 positif révélé par des ulcérations cutanéomuqueuses et une glomérulonéphrite

Malignant lymphoma particularly of T phenotype can be associated with specific or non specific cutaneous lesions. These cutaneous manifestations can occur at the onset of the disease being sometimes the revealing sign or they can appear during the course of the lymphoreticular malignancies. Glomerulonephritis was also described in lymphoma. Ki- positive large cell lymphoma was recently identified. A new case is reported with lymphadenopathy and intestinal localisation revealed by cutaneous and mucosal ulcerations principally in the mouth and a focal segmental glomerulonephritis with endo- and extracapillary proliferation. The absence of lymphoma in cutaneous and renal lesions and the clinical presentation support the hypothesis of paraneoplastic manifestations, may be related to a vasculitis.     

Monitoring the susceptibility of Glossina palpalis gambiensis and G. morsitans morsitans to experimental infection with savannah-type Trypanosoma congolense, using the polymerase chain reaction

Teneral Glossina palpalis gambiensis and G. morsitans morsitans (Diptera: Glossinidae) were fed on mice infected with savannah-type Trypanosoma (Nannomonas) congolense. The infection was monitored by checking the post-feeding diuresis fluid (midgut infection) and saliva (mature infection) of individual flies for parasites, at different times post-infection, using microscopical examination and a PCR-based assay. The results indicated that both tsetse species supported established midgut infections by 10 days post-infection and that maturation occurred after 24 days in G. m. morsitans. Although, for both diuresis fluid and saliva, the results of the microscopy showed good concordance with those of the PCR, the PCR identified more positive samples. Monitoring allowed determination of the status of the infection in individual flies, which was confirmed, 48 days post-infection, by the microscopical examination of the midguts and probosces dissected out of the flies and by the PCR-based amplification of any trypanosome DNA in these organs. Again, in terms of the detection of trypanosomes in the dissected organs, there was good concordance between the results of the PCR and those of the microscopy, although PCR revealed many more mature infections than did microscopical examination, particularly in the G. p. gambiensis investigated. There was a higher prevalence of immature infection in G. p. gambiensis than in G. m. morsitans (P<0.05) but the inter-specific differences seen in the prevalences of any infection and of mature infection were not statistically significant. The intrinsic vectorial capacity for T. congolense of both tsetse species therefore appeared quite similar, although the true vectorial competence of G. p. gambiensis remains to be determined.     

傣药小灯台中的吲哚生物碱

从傣药小灯台(Winchia catophylla A. DC.)中分到4个吲哚生物碱,经理化常数测定,光谱分析和化学转化,分别鉴定为echitamine chloride(Ⅰ),echitamidine(Ⅱ),N_B-demethyl-echitamine(Ⅲ)和22-O-acetyl-N_b--demethyl-echitamine(Ⅳ),其中Ⅳ为新的吲哚生物碱。     

DNA amplifications at 20q13 and MDM2 define distinct subsets of evolved breast and ovarian tumours.

DNA amplification seems to be particularly frequent in human breast tumours and has been associated with cancer evolution and aggressiveness. Recent data indicate that new events should be added to the list, such as the amplifications at chromosome 20q13 or the MDM2 gene. The present work aimed at determining the incidence and clinicopathological signification of these amplifications in a large series of breast and ovarian tumours. We tested 1371 breast and 179 ovarian tumours by Southern blotting and observed amplification of 20q13 in 5.4% breast and 2.8% ovarian carcinomas, whereas MDM2 was found amplified in 5.3% and 3.8% of breast and ovarian tumours respectively. MDM2 RNA expression levels were analysed in a subset of 57 breast tumours and overexpression was observed in 4/57 (7%) of the tumours. Elevated expression levels coincided with amplification of the gene. In breast cancer, 20q13 and MDM2 amplifications seem to define subsets of aggressive tumours. Indeed, 20q13 was correlated to axillary nodal involvement and occurred preferentially in younger patients (< 50 years). Furthermore, 20q13 correlated, as did MDM2 amplification, to aneuploidy. In parallel, we had also tested our tumour DNAs for amplification of CCND1, ERBB-2 and MYC, which made it possible to test for correlations with 20q13 or MDM2 amplifications. Whereas 20q13 showed a very strong correlation to CCND1 amplification, that of MDM2 was prevalent in MYC-amplified tumours. Interestingly, 20q13 and MDM2 amplifications showed some degree of correlation to each other, which may possibly be owing to the fact that both events occurred preferentially in aneuploid tumours. In ovarian cancer, no statistically significant correlation was observed. However, 20q13 amplification occurred preferentially in stage 3 tumours and MDM2 was correlated to ERBB-2 amplification. This may suggest that in ovarian tumours also, 20q13 and MDM2 amplifications occur in late or aggressive cancers.