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INTRODUCTION: The incidence of ischemic heart disease is higher in patients with HIV/AIDS. However, the frequency of angina pectoris in these patients is still not known. Literature about this subject is still scarce. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the prevalence of angina pectoris and risk factors for coronary disease and to examine the association between traditional risk factors and HIV-related risk factors and angina pectoris. METHOD: An epidemiological cross-sectional study, analyzed as case-control study, involving 584 patients with HIV/AIDS. Angina pectoris was identified by Rose questionnaire, classified as definite or possible. Information regarding risk factors was obtained through a questionnaire, biochemical laboratory tests, medical records and anthropometric measures taken during consultations at AIDS treatment clinics in Pernambuco, Brazil, from June 2007 to February 2008. To adjust the effect of each factor in relation to others, multiple logistic regression was used. RESULTS: There was a preponderance of men (63.2%); mean ages were 39.8 years for men, 36.8 years for women. The prevalence of definite and possible angina were 11% and 9.4%, respectively, totaling 20.4%, with independent associations between angina and smoking (OR = 2.88; 95% CI: 1.69-4.90), obesity (OR = 1.62; 95% CI: 0.97-2.70), family history of heart attack (OR = 1.70; 95% CI: 1.00-2.88), low schooling (OR = 2.11; 95% CI: 1.24-3.59), and low monthly income (OR = 2.93; 95% CI: 1.18-7.22), even after adjustment for age. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that angina pectoris is underdiagnosed, even in patients with medical monitoring, revealing lost opportunities in identification and prevention of cardiovascular morbidity.

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OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic performance of serum HA and LN as serum markers for predicting significant fibrosis in CHB patients. METHODS: Serum HA and LN levels of 87 patients with chronic hepatitis B and 19 blood donors were assayed by RIA. Liver fibrosis stages were determined according to the Metavir scoring-system. The diagnostic performances of all indexes were evaluated by the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. RESULTS: Serum HA and LN concentrations increased significantly with the stage of hepatic fibrosis, which showed positive correlation with the stages of liver fibrosis (HA: r = 0.875, p < 0.001; LN: r = 0.610, p < 0.001). There were significant differences of serum HA and LN levels between F2-4 group in comparison with those in F0-F1 group (p < 0.001) and controls (p < 0.001), respectively. From ROC curves, 185.3 ng/mL as the optimal cut-off value of serum HA for diagnosis of significant fibrosis, giving its sensitivity, specificity, PPV, NPV, LR+, LR- and AC of 84.2%, 83.3%, 90.6%, 73.5%, 5.04, 0.19 and 83.9, respectively. While 132.7 ng/mL was the optimal cut-off value of serum LN, the sensitivity, specificity, PPV, NPV, LR+, LR- and AC were 71.9%, 80.0%, 87.2%, 60.0%, 3.59%, 0.35% and 74.7, respectively. Combinations of HA and LN by serial tests showed a perfect specificity and PPV of 100%, at the same time sensitivity declined to 63.2% and LR+ increased to 18.9, while parallel tests revealed a good sensitivity of 94.7%, NPV to 86.4%, and LR- declined to 0.08. CONCLUSIONS: Serum HA and LN concentrations showed positive correlation with the stages of liver fibrosis. Detection of serum HA and LN in predicting significant fibrosis showed good diagnostic performance, which would be further optimized by combination of the two indices. HA and LN would be clinically useful serum markers for predicting significant fibrosis in patients with chronic hepatitis B, when liver biopsy is contraindicated.

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OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to determine the association between previously documented risk factors such as recurrent pyelonephritis with the incidence of renal scarring after acute pyelonephritis in children. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Children with acute pyelonephritis who were admitted to the Department of Pediatrics of a teaching hospital during 2007-2009 were enrolled in this study. DMSA scans were obtained 4-6 months after the last episode of pyelonephritis in all patients. RESULTS: A total of 80 children with acute pyelonephritis were enrolled in this study. Most of them were girls (77.5%), with a median age of 12 months. Nearly half of the children (n = 44; 55%) had one or more renal scars. The distribution of gender, CRP level and leukocytosis did not differ significantly regardingthe absence or presence of renal scars (p > 0.05). Most of the scars occurred in children who had presented with bilateral pyelonephritis (69.4% vs. 18.2%, p = 0.001). Most of the patients with renal scars had a positive history of vesicoureteral reflux (VUR) (75% vs.13.6%, p = 0.001). The significant roles of recurrent pyelonephritis and presence of VUR were further confirmed by multivariate analysis. CONCLUSIONS: According to our findings, presence of VUR and recurrent pyelonephritis are independently associated with a higher incidence of renal scarring.

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OBJECTIVE: Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is a ubiquitous human γ-herpes virus, which can adapt and evade host immune defense. Dendritic cells (DCs) play a pivotal role in the initiation and maintenance of immune responses. This study investigated the effects of EBV on cord blood monocytes derived DCs (CBDC). METHODS: Monocytes were isolated from cord blood and cultured in medium containing recombinant IL-4 and GM-CSF to induce DCs development. B95-8 supernatant was added in monocytes culture medium for EBV infection at day 0. Phenotypic characterization of DCs, apoptotic cells, and mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) were detected by flow cytometry. The morphology was observed by Hoechst 33258 staining and TUNEL staining, the expression of X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis protein (XIAP) was detected by Western blotting assay and caspase 3, 8 and 9 activity was measured. RESULTS: Phenotypic characterization of DCs was changed in EBV-treated group. Chromatin condensation and DNA fragmentation were observed in EBV induced CBDC apoptosis. In addition, caspase 3, caspase 8, and caspase 9 activation were enhanced in the EBV-treated group. This was accompanied by the loss of MMP. Furthermore, XIAP expression was down-regulated in the EBV-treated group and compared to mock-infected group. CONCLUSION: These results suggested that EBV could inhibit CBDC phenotypic differentiation, and induce CBDC apoptosis in caspase-dependent manner with involvement of the mitochondrial pathway. This might help EBV to evade host immune responses to establish persistent infection.

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Finding a better first antiretroviral regimen is one of the strategies used to improve span and quality of life of HIV/AIDS patients. 891 patients were followed during 24 months or until interruption/abandonment of treatment, changing regimen or death. At the end of 6 months, 69% of the patients were still being treated with the first regimen, 54% at 12 months, 48% at 18 months and 39% at 24 months. AZT-3TC-EFV was the most prescribed regimen and with the lesser discontinuation. NNRTI regimens showed high effectiveness and durability compared to PI regimens. Irregular medication dispensation was the only risk factor for failure/interruption of treatment in multivariate analyses. Intolerance/adverse effects were mainly responsible for first regimen discontinuation, followed by abandonment/non-adherence and virologic failure. Results showed significant difference between causes of interruption of first HAART with higher percentage of intolerance/adverse effects with PI regimens and higher immunologic failure with NNRTI regimens. Even with the availability of more potent and tolerable drugs, lack of adherence to HAART and high level of adverse effects are still the most important barriers to prolonged success of treatment. This study adds relevant information about durability and effectiveness of HAART in the first decade of its use in Brazil.

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OBJECTIVES: To compare epidemiological aspects of young (15 to 49 years old) and older (more than 50 years old) AIDS patients. METHODS: We analyzed 511,633 AIDS cases notified to the Brazilian Ministry of Health in the period of 1980-2008 looking at sex, age ranges, educational level and exposure category. Patients were divided into three age groups: under 15, from 15 to 49 and over 50 years old. Using a comparative approach, we analyzed data with regard to category of exposure, education (expressed in years of schooling), and sex ratio among younger (15-49) and older adults (over 50 years old). Time series data were log-transformed and normalized, and the temporal trend was evaluated. RESULTS: AIDS incidence is increasing among people over 50 years old in Brazil, with those older than 50 being responsible for 9.64 % of AIDS cases. There was no significant difference between educational level and gender (p = 0.468), but there was a significant difference in exposure category with a lower proportion of injecting drug users amongst the older group. CONCLUSION: Based on this analysis over the last 10 years, the percentage of AIDS cases has increased almost three times among people over 50 years old when compared with the 15-49 year-old group. Our findings suggest that public campaigns have to be specially targeted to the older segment of the population, aiming at heterosexual transmission.

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Human bocavirus (HBoV) is a parvovirus whose association with respiratory disease is currently under investigation. OBJECTIVE: To determine HBoV prevalence in children with lower acute respiratory infection. METHODS: We investigated HBoV in 433 nasopharyngeal aspirates collected in 2007-2009 from children 0 to 5 years old hospitalized with bronchiolitis or pneumonia in Córdoba, Argentina. RESULTS: The general prevalence of HBoV was 21.5% and the positive cases (HBoV+) were more frequent during winter and spring. The mean age of HBoV+ patients was 6.9 months, with 87.1% of the detections corresponding to infants less than 1 year old (among which the prevalence of HBoV was 26.3% in patients < 3 months of age, 22.1% in 3 to 6 months, 25.3% in 6 to 9 months, and 18.8% in 9 to 12 months). The sequence analysis of the NP1 coding region of 15 isolates showed that all isolates from Cordoba were HBoV1 which exhibited a homology of nearly 100% both among themselves and with the originally discovered virus from 2005. CONCLUSION: Overall, our results indicate that HBoV is a significant pathogen that contributes to acute respiratory infection both on its own and during coinfection with other viruses.

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OBJECTIVE: This observational study described the characterization of bacteria isolated from the lower respiratory tract of ventilated patients hospitalized in intensive care units. The demonstration of isolated microorganism resistance to antibiotics and a time-trend analysis of infection comparing a 48-month period were also other objectives. METHOD: Semi-quantitative assays of 1254 samples taken from 741 ventilated patients were performed, while pathogens were identified using the Enterotube II assay and VITEK 2 Compact equipment. Bacterial resistance to antibiotics was assessed by the Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method and time-trend analysis of infection was based on data recorded by hospital microbiology laboratories. RESULTS: The most prevalent isolated bacteria from the patient's lower respiratory tract were with Gram-negative bacteria (67.8%) mostly represented by: Acinetobacter spp. (25.2%), Pseudomonas spp. (18.3%) and Klebsiellas spp. (9.4%). Acinetobacter spp. showed moderate high to very high resistance to ceftriaxone (CRO), gentamicin (CN), amikacin (AK), meropenem (MRP), aztreonam (ATM) and piperacillin/tazobactam (TZP). Some isolates of Acinetobacter spp. resistant to colistin (CS) were identified in this patient population. Pseudomonas spp. and Klebsiella spp. were very highly resistant to ampicillin/sublactam (AMS) and with moderate or low resistance to CRO, ATM, MRP, AK, CN and TZP. A decrease in the Pseudomonas spp. prevalence rate was observed, whereas an increase in Acinetobacter spp. and Klebsiella spp. prevalence rates were observed in a 48-month period. CONCLUSION: This research corroborated that these nosocomial infections are a relevant medical problem in our context. The most prevalent bacterial infections in the lower respiratory tract of ventilated patients were by Acinetobacter spp., Pseudomonas spp. and Klebsiella spp. The panel of antibiotics used as preventive therapy was not the solution of infections and probably induced drug-resistance mechanisms in these isolated microorganisms.

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Hepatitis B virus (HBV) genotype and precore and basal core promoter (BCP) mutants in the patients with persistently normal alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and low serum HBV-DNA levels are unclear. The aim of this study was to determine HBV genotypes, precore and BCP mutations, and their association with chronic hepatitis and liver fibrosis in HBV-infected patients with persistently normal ALT, and low serum HBV-DNA levels in northeast China. Patients (n = 89) with normal ALT and serum HBV-DNA levels below 20000 IU/mL but detectable with real-time PCR were included in this study. HBV genotypes were determined by real-time PCR. The precore and BCP mutations were detected by sequencing. All the patients had biopsy results. Of the 89 patients, 11 (12.4%) were genotype B and 78 (87.6%) were genotype C. The most common mutations were G1896A (23.6%), G1764A (9.0%), and A1762T (6.7%). The prevalence of precore mutation was significantly higher in genotype B patients than in genotype C patients (54.5% vs. 19.2%, p < 0.01). There was no significant difference in the prevalence of BCP mutations between genotype B and genotype C (18.2% vs. 10.2%). Multivariate analysis showed that old age (> 40 years) and BCP mutations were independent predictors of liver necroinflammation and fibrosis. Thus, BCP mutations may be associated with liver necroinflammation and fibrosis in patients with persistently normal ALT and low serum HBV-DNA levels in northeast China.

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OBJECTIVE: Isoniazid (INH) and rifampin (RIF) are the most effective first line antibiotics against Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Mutations in several genes determine resistance of M. tuberculosis to INH, with the most common gene target of katG, and resistance to RIF is due to mutation in rpoB gene. The aim of present study was to assess the mutations in the regions related to RIF and INH resistance. METHODS: We characterized 80 clinical isolates of confirmed M. tuberculosis to analyze the most commonly observed INH and RIF mutations. PCR analysis and sequencing were used to detect mutations related to RIF and INH resistance. The multiplex allele-specific-PCR (MAS-PCR) was performed as a comparative assay and for evaluation of this method. RESULTS: The sequencing of the 250-bp region of katG codon 315, revealed point mutations at 5 different codons in 13.7% of the M. tuberculosis isolates. The sequencing of the 270-bp central region of the rpoB gene revealed point mutations at 7 different codons in 12 (15%) of the M. tuberculosis isolates. The results obtained with MAS-PCR are in accordance with PCR-sequencing with high sensitivity and specificity for katG315, inhA15, and rpoB (531, 516, 526). CONCLUSION: The results of this study suggested that molecular techniques can be used as a rapid tool for the identification of drug resistance in clinical isolates of M. tuberculosis. Both DNA sequencing and MAS-PCR yielded high sensitivity for the detection of RIF and INH mutations and detecting multi-drug resistant tuberculosis cases.

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INTRODUCTION: Despite the growing interest in the study of Gram-negative bacilli (GNB) infections, very little information on osteomyelitis caused by GNB is available in the medical literature. OBJECTIVES AND METHODS: To assess clinical and microbiological features of 101 cases of osteomyelitis caused by GNB alone, between January 2007 and January 2009, in a reference center for the treatment of high complexity traumas in the city of São Paulo. RESULTS: Most patients were men (63%), with median age of 42 years, affected by chronic osteomyelitis (43%) or acute osteomyelitis associated to open fractures (32%), the majority on the lower limbs (71%). The patients were treated with antibiotics as inpatients for 40 days (median) and for 99 days (median) in outpatient settings. After 6 months follow-up, the clinical remission rate was around 60%, relapse 19%, amputation 7%, and death 5%. Nine percent of cases were lost to follow-up. A total of 121 GNB was isolated from 101 clinical samples. The most frequently isolated pathogens were Enterobacter sp. (25%), Acinetobacter baumannii (21%) e Pseudomonas aeruginosa (20%). Susceptibility to carbapenems was about 100% for Enterobacter sp., 75% for Pseudomonas aeruginosa and 60% for Acinetobacter baumannii. CONCLUSION: Osteomyelitis caused by GNB remains a serious therapeutic challenge, especially when associated to nonfermenting bacteria. We emphasize the need to consider these agents in diagnosed cases of osteomyelitis, so that an ideal antimicrobial treatment can be administered since the very beginning of the therapy.

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The development of diagnostic tests which can readily differentiate between vaccinated and tuberculosis-infected individuals is crucial for the wider utilization of bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) as vaccine in humans and animals. BCG_0092 is an antigen that elicits specific delayed type hypersensitivity reactions similar in size and morphological aspects to that elicited by purified protein derivative, in both animals and humans infected with the tubercle bacilli. We carried out bioinformatics analyses of the BCG_0092 and designed a diagnostic test by using the predicted MHC class I epitopes. In addition, we performed a knockout of this gene by homologous recombination in the BCG vaccine strain to allow differentiation of vaccinated from infected individuals. For that, the flanking sequences of the target gene (BCG_0092)were cloned into a suicide vector. Spontaneous double crossovers, which result in wild type revertants or knockouts were selected using SacB. BCG_0092 is present only in members of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex. Eight predicted MHC class I epitopes with potential for immunological diagnosis were defined, allowing the design of a specific diagnostic test. The strategy used to delete the (BCG_0092) gene from BCG was successful. The knockout genotype was confirmed by PCR and by Southern blot. The mutant BCG strain has the potential of inducing protection against tuberculosis without interfering with the diagnostic test based on the use of selected epitopes from BCG_0092.

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AIDS-related lymphomas (ARL) present high biological heterogeneity. For better characterization of this type of lymphoma, the objectives of the present study were to evaluate the expression of immunohistochemical markers of cell differentiation (CD10, Bcl-6, MUM-1) and determine cell origin profile according to Hans' classification of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma in AIDS patients. This study included 72 consecutive patients with ARL diagnosed at the University Hospital, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) and at the Brazilian Instituto Nacional de Câncer (INCA) from 2000 to 2006. The morphologic distribution of the lymphomas was the following: 61% were diffuse large B-cell lymphomas (DLBCLs), 15% were Burkitt's lymphomas, 13% were plasmablastic lymphomas, 10% were high-grade lymphomas and 1% was follicular lymphoma. The positivity for each immunohistochemical marker in DLBCLs, Burkitt's lymphoma and plasmablastic lymphoma was respectively: CD20, 84%, 100%, and 0; CD10, 55%, 100%, and 0; Bcl-6, 45%, 80%, and 0; MUM-1, 41%, 20%, and 88%. A higher positivity of CD20 (84% x 56%, p = 0.01) was found in DLBCL compared to non-DLBCL; in Burkitt's lymphomas a higher positivity of CD10 (100% x 49%, p = 0.04) and Bcl-6 (80% x 39%, p = 0.035) were found compared to non-Burkitt's lymphomas. Germinal center (GC) profile was detected in 60% of DLBCLs. Our study suggests particular findings in ARL, as the most frequent phenotype was GC, different from HIV-negative patients.

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In the present study we used two groups of Candida dubliniensis strains: one containing fluconazole-susceptible clinical isolates and another containing fluconazole-resistant laboratory derivative from the former to examine the changes on susceptibility accompanying the development of resistance to fluconazole. Our findings confirmed the ability of C. dubliniensis isolates to become resistant to fluconazole and indicated that this resistance was crossed with ketoconazole, itraconazole, ravuconazole and terbinafine. We also tested combinations of terbinafine, amphotericin B, itraconazole and voriconazole against both groups of isolates in a checkerboard assay. Surprisingly, most combinations evidenced indifferent interactions, and the best synergism appeared when terbinafine and itraconazole were combined against the fluconazole-resistant group.

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Lyme disease has not been officially reported in Cuba. However, clinical cases have been serologically reported. Seroprevalence survey of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto antibodies in humans in the country has not been conducted. OBJECTIVE: To estimate the prevalence of borrelial antibodies in inhabitants of a village with historically high level of tick infestation. METHODS: Serum specimens from 247 persons randomly selected from the population of the village were examined by IgG Western blot using B31 strain for estimating the prevalence of antibodies profile. RESULTS: A seroprevalence value interval (95% CI) of 0.6%-7.2% was estimated for the studied population. The prevalent borrelial protein bands on immunoblots were 41, 72, 90/93, 34, 47, 60, 58, 56, 65/66 and 31 kDa in a decreasing order of significance. CONCLUSION: These results support the previous serological findings, suggesting the presence of this borreliosis in Cuba.

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The aims of this study were to determine the presence of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and to assess the clinical features of the disease in infants with acute low respiratory tract infection hospitalized at pediatric intensive care units (PICU) of two university teaching hospitals in São Paulo State, Brazil. Nasopharyngeal secretions were tested for the RSV by the polymerase chain reaction. Positive and negative groups for the virus were compared in terms of evolution under intensive care (mechanical pulmonary ventilation, medications, invasive procedures, complications and case fatality). Statistical analysis was performed using the Mann Whitney and Fisher's exact tests. A total of 21 infants were assessed, 8 (38.1%) of whom were positive for RSV. The majority of patients were previously healthy while 85.7% required mechanical pulmonary ventilation, 20/21 patients presented with at least one complication, and the fatality rate was 14.3%. RSV positive and negative groups did not differ for the variables studied. Patients involved in this study were critically ill and needed multiple PICU resources, independently of the presence of RSV. Further studies involving larger cohorts are needed to assess the magnitude of the impact of RSV on the clinical evolution of infants admitted to the PICU in our settings.

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An 18-year-old female came to our clinic with complaints of a tender lump just under her jaw on the left side and another lump in front of her left ear, ecchymosis around the eye and some redness in the eye at the same side. After administering antibiotic therapy for two days we suspected of tularemia and referred the patient to the Infectious Diseases Department. A serum sample was taken and a fine needle aspiration biopsy was performed. The patient was diagnosed with tularemia, the oculoglandular syndrome of Parinaud. Tularemia should also be kept in mind for differential diagnosis in patients with both ocular and glandular symptoms in endemic regions like Turkey and the appropriate therapy should be initiated immediately.

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Dengue virus is the most important mosquito-borne viral disease in the world. Co-circulation of the four types of dengue viruses and expansion of dengue epidemic gave rise to infection enhancement and a big expansion of clinical aspects of the disease. Herein we report a case of a 25-year-old white woman with dengue fever and numerous associated autoimmune features. Our patient had proteinuria, an extensive right pleural effusion, a thin pericardial effusion and ascites. She had a low C3 level and positive antinuclear antibody; cryoglobulins were also positive. The numerous autoimmune features of this patient were a diagnostic challenge, since she was a young woman and could be easily mistaken for a rheumatologic patient in a newly open disease. Dengue infection probably was a triggering event causing an abnormal immune response. Therefore, dengue should be suspected in patients with hematological disorders and autoimmune features in endemic regions or those who have travelled to those regions.

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Cat scratch disease (CSD), the typical clinical manifestation of Bartonella infections usually follows a typical benign self-limited course. Nevertheless, a variety of unusual clinical manifestations and confusing imaging features can lead to misinterpretations and render the disease a diagnostic dispute. Routine laboratory tests exhibit varying reported sensitivity and are usually unhelpful in diagnosis, as serology fails in terms of specificity and/or sensitivity. Herein we report a case of seronegative Bartonella infection presenting as symptomatic suppurative lymphadenitis with abscess formation, which was surgically drained. Diagnosis was established by PCR analysis from lymph nodes samples obtained during the procedure. PCR detection of specific DNA fragments from lymph node biopsy provides a sensitive detection of disease. The technique should be considered for patients with suspected CSD and negative serology, since serological assays exhibit low sensitivity. In ambiguous cases, surgical exploration may provide tissue for diagnosis; it is well tolerated and affords improved recovery.

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Endocarditis due to Bacteroides fragilis is a rare disorder. This article describes a case of Bacteroides fragilis endocarditis associated with portal and superior mesenteric venous thrombosis in a patient without preexisting valvular heart disease and review the cases of endocarditis due to this anaerobic bacterium in medical literature since 1980.