Social support and depressive symptomatology among HIV-positive women: the mediating role of self-esteem and mastery

Women constitute an increasing proportion of individuals contracting HIV in the United States and, once diagnosed, are living longer lives since the advent of combination antiretroviral therapies. HIV-positive women, who are disproportionately ethnic minority, face unique challenges to their psychosocial adaptation. Findings from a survey of 373 mainly indigent African-American and Puerto Rican women living with HIV/AIDS in the New York City area indicated high levels of depressive symptomatology, which were inversely related to HIV-related social support from friends, relatives, partner, and groups/ organizations. In line with the Cognitive Adaptation Model, structural equation modeling indicated that psychological resourcefulness (i.e., self-esteem and mastery) mediated the effects of social support on depressive symptomatology. Findings suggest the need to assess HIV-positive women for social isolation and depression and to provide them with interventions such as support groups that capitalize on their existing strengths, including their psychological resourcefulness.     

A Subset of Type I Conventional Dendritic Cells Controls Cutaneous Bacterial Infections through VEGFα-Mediated Recruitment of Neutrophils

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Magnetic resonance imaging of injuries to the ankle joint: can it predict clinical outcome?

 Objective. To predict clinical outcome after ankle sprains on the basis of magnetic resonance (MR) findings. Design and patients. Twenty-nine consecutive patients (mean age 32.9 years, range 13–60 years) were examined clinically and with MR imaging both after trauma and following standardized conservative therapy. Various MR abnormalities were related to a clinical outcome score. Results. There was a tendency for a better clinical outcome in partial, rather than complete, tears of the anterior talofibular ligament and when there was no fluid within the peroneal tendon sheath at the initial MR examination (P=0.092 for either abnormality). A number of other MR features did not significantly influence clinical outcome, including the presence of a calcaneofibular ligament lesion and a bone bruise of the talar dome. Conclusion. Clinical outcome after ankle sprain cannot consistently be predicted by MR imaging, although MR imaging may be more accurate when the anterior talofibular ligament is only partially torn and there are no signs of injury to the peroneal tendon sheath.     

Is interferon alpha in cutaneous T-cell lymphoma a treatment of choice?

This study was designed to evaluate the therapeutic efficacy and toxicity of recombinant interferon alpha-2a (rIFN alfa-2a) given as initial systemic therapy in untreated mycosis fungoides and/or Sezary's syndrome patients, at a slowly escalating schedule up to the maximal tolerated dose. At the same time this schedule was administered in patients who had relapsed or were refractory to previous treatment; 28 newly diagnosed and 15 previously treated patients entered the study. IFN was given daily with dose escalation from 3 to 18 MU. The last follow-up in June 1990 indicates that 90% of previously untreated patients who obtained a complete remission remain in continuous complete remission after 18 to 40 months and that 75% of previously untreated patients who obtained partial remission remain in partial remission after 20–44 months. The event-free survival projected, calculated using the Kaplan and Meier product limit technique, was 21% of all patients at 54·7 months (40% in the previously untreated groups and 14% in the previously treated group: P =0·12).
In conclusion, interferon is very effective as a single agent in cutaneous T-cell lymphomas.     

Neuroprotection by complement (C1) inhibitor in mouse transient brain ischemia.

The authors investigated the effect of the C1 inhibitor (C1-INH), the only known inhibitor of complement C1, in a murine model of transient focal ischemia. Ischemia was induced by intraluminal occlusion of the middle cerebral artery. After 2 hours, reperfusion was produced by removing the nylon monofilament occluding the artery. The effect of 15 U C1-INH (intravenously) was evaluated in terms of general and focal neurologic deficits, ischemic volume, neutral red staining (to identify the brain areas subject to ischemic damage), and glial fibrillary acidic protein immunoreactivity (to show astrocytic response). Forty-eight hours after ischemia, C1-INH significantly improved general and focal deficits by 36% and 54%, respectively, and significantly reduced infarct volume (CI-INH, 6.69% +/- 2.93%; saline, 24.24% +/- 8.24%) of total brain. Neutral red staining further showed the strong protective effect of C1-INH in cortex, hippocampus, and striatum. Astrocyte activation induced by ischemia was not affected by C1-INH. These findings show that C1-INH displayed a potent neuroprotective action by effectively reducing ischemia-reperfusion injury.     

Termino-terminal arteriovenous fistula at the anatomic snuffbox for chronic hemodialytic treatment]

Between January 1979 and December 1989, an end-to-end arteriovenous fistula for chronic haemodialysis was performed at the anatomical snuffbox (AVF-AS) in 140 patients (49 females and 91 males) with mean age 51 years (range 14-81) referred to our Center from 12 different Hospitals. The choice of the site, on the non dominant arm, depends on the characteristics of the vessels and on the arterial blood pressure. No operative mortality no major complications occurred no distal symptoms related to venous hypertension or arterial steal syndrome or ischaemia. The median survival was 36 months with a patency rate of 77.3% at 1 year, 36.3% at 5 and 18.9% at 10 years. The high incidence of thromboses (52.9%) reflects an excessive compliance with this technique and a lack of expertise on the choice of the proper vessels or an inadequate management of the vascular access. Compared to the graft vascular access, the patency rate is superimposable but with higher rate of complications and lower cost-benefit rate for the grafts. In our experience, the AVF-AS should be, whenever possible, the first step as vascular access for chronic haemodialysis, but the surgical procedure should be reserved only to experienced surgeons. It is safe, cheap and allow to save and use for a longer period the patient's own vessels.     

Elevated levels of endotoxin, oxygen-derived free radicals, and cytokines during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation.

It has been demonstrated that the initiation of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is associated with an increase in the circulating plasma levels of inflammatory mediators. We have expanded the study of these substances to include measurements of complement activation, prostaglandin production, endotoxin appearance, oxygen-derived free radical generation, and cytokine release before, during, and after ECMO. A reproducible second phase of complement activity and prostaglandin synthesis was associated with the appearance of detectable circulating endotoxin (0.04 U/mL pre-ECMO to 0.07 U/mL at 36 hours, P less than .05). Oxygen-derived free radical activity also increased (2 ng/mL to 3 ng/mL at 36 hours, P less than .05), as did plasma levels of tumor necrosis factor (40 pg/mL to 70 pg/mL at 36 hours, nonsurvivor group: P less than .05). Interleukin-1 was elevated above normal, but there were no significant variations noted during the time period studied. Small amounts of interleukin-6 were also detected in the occasional patient. None of these mediators differed significantly between survivors and nonsurvivors. These data indicate that ECMO is associated with a previously undescribed, endotoxin-related, generalized inflammatory state after 36 hours of support. The pulmonary, renal, and cardiac dysfunctions documented with prolonged bypass can all be related to a classic sepsis syndrome.