Biomedical subjects

E Seminari

Publications and source records attributed to E Seminari.

22 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

PubMed1996

[Role of clinical pharmacology in the monitoring of therapy of HIV-infected subjects].

The number of subjects with HIV infection or full-blown Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) is increasing throughout the world and the range of related opportunistic conditions (infections, neoplasms or degenerative disorders) is also increasing. Consequently, AIDS patients are likely to be prescribed a great number of different drugs. HIV infection is a progressive phenomenon, characterized by inevitable and often irreversible changes which may influence drug disposition, enhancing the risk of toxic adverse effects and drug interactions. One of the stages for the development of new agents and the establishment of an effective therapy is to conduct pharmacokinetic studies. Even though such studies are difficult to realize in AIDS subjects, the knowledge of altered pharmacokinetics of a drug in disease states offers an unique approach for improving and perhaps optimizing the therapeutic management. The purpose of this article is to review our current understanding of how HIV infection influences the various processes of drug disposition (i.e. absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion).

AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections↗

PubMed1996

[Clinical significance of diplopia in HIV infection. Assessment of a personal caseload and review of the literature].

Diplopia is one of the neuro-ophthalmic manifestations that can be observed during HIV-infection. The etiologic agents of diplopia in HIV-positive patients can be identified with HIV itself or opportunistic pathogens or other related conditions. We reviewed the clinical records of 13 HIV-positive patients with mono or bilateral diplopia, focusing on etiologic agents, clinical evaluation and prognosis. This review encompassed all cases observed from January 1992 to June 1995 at the Infectious Diseases Department, Policlinico S. Matteo, University of Pavia. All patients underwent a complete ophthalmologic examination, including visual acuity, anterior segment evaluation with biomicroscopy, dilated indirect ophthalmoscopy and ocular motility evaluation (with Cover test and Hess-Lancaster test). If requested by clinical findings, radiologic (TC and/or MRI) and cerebrospinal fluid examination were performed in some patients. The most common causes of diplopia-CNS lesions or ocular diseases-, resulted in agreement with those reported in the literature (T. gondii, C. neoformans, non-Hodgkin lymphomas, HIV, JC virus, CMV). We were able to confirm, according to our experience, that diplopia occurrence is often a negative prognostic factor, since it is commonly associated with CNS conditions. In most cases diplopia can herald a near demise (8 patients on 13 died with 60 days from diplopia onset). In those cases where a treatment was available (2 cases of cryptococcosis, 1 case of neurotoxoplasmosis and 1 case of CMV retinitis) a complete resolution of neuro-ophthalmic symptoms was achieved.

Adult↗

PubMed1995

[Not Available].

Rhodococcus equi is a facultative intracellular, obligate aerobe, partially acid fast, gram-positive pathogen that causes cavitary pneumonia in animals and immunocompromised humans. We describe 8 cases of R. equi pneumonia in patients with advanced HIV infection (CD4 counts less than 100/mm3), 7 males and 1 female (mean age 30.8 years), observed between 1991 and 1994. A history of exposure to farm animals was found in 4 patients. The most common presenting symptoms were fever, malaise, dyspnea, cough and hemoptysis, chest pain and weight loss. Chest x-rays showed tipical focal area of consolidation throughout the lung (3 upper, 3 lower and 2 middle fields) associated with cavitation in 4 cases. The definitive diagnosis in our hands was delayed only in the first case in which conflicting data resulted from blood culture (Bacillus sp. isolation) and sputum examen (acid-fast bacterium in the Ziehl-Neelsen stain). Final microbiological diagnosis depended on blood cultures (n=5), bronchoalveolar lavage (n=1), sputum (n=1), lung biopsy (n=1). All the patients were treated with prolonged courses of antibiotic therapy (259 days, range 120-340 in 6 dead patients; more than one year and two months respectively in two patients alive). According to microbial susceptibility TMP/SMX, vancomycin, imipenem, rifampin, aminoglycosides, macrolides and quinolons were more frequently used. Resistant R. equi mutants were selected during therapy with TMP/SMX (n=2), rifampin (n=1) and erythromycin (n=1). Five patient underwent pulmonary lobectomy after exclusion of metastatic bacterial lesions. Only 2 patients are alive, one after 365 days of antibiotic therapy and upper lung lobectomy, one after 60 days of antibiotic therapy. Optimal antimicrobial therapy and the role of surgery remain, in our experience, uncertain.

English Abstract↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Role of hydroxyurea during structured treatment interruptions.

Highly active antiretroviral therapies (HAART) represent a major advance in the treatment of HIV infection. Although with HAART a substantial suppression of viral replication can be obtained, eradication of the virus from the body cannot be achieved. Therefore, HIV-infected subjects have to be treated for the rest of their lives. Long term treatment will increase the frequency of: i) drug-related side effects; ii) onset of drug-resistant viral strains; iii) non-adherence of the patients to the treatment. Structured treatment interruptions (STI)-HAART might represent a feasible alternative and preliminary studies have shown that STI-HAART might induce immune control in patients treated in the early stage of infection. This regimen does not produce similar effects in patients treated during the chronic phase of the infection. However, there are some clinical data suggesting a possible role of hydroxyurea (HU) in inducing control of HIV replication in patients with established infection. In this manuscript in vitro and in vivo data indicating that HU might play a major role in the setting of STI-HAART will be presented.

Adult↗