[Investigation of the Pathophysiology and Diagnostic Methods Through a Case of Acute HIV Infection in which the Western Blot Method Remained Negative Over the Long Term and the 4th Generation Screening Assay Became Negative for a Certain Period of Time after Initiating Antiretroviral Therapy].

Confirmatory tests using Western blot (WB) and HIV-1 nucleic acid testing (HIV-1 RNA) following a positive screening test are required for the diagnosis of HIV-1 infection according to the current Japanese guidelines for HIV-1/2 diagnosis. We report herein on a rare case in a patient who remained negative for WB over 10 months in spite of being positive by fourth-generation immunoassays (4thGIA) and who subsequently seroreverted by 4thGIA for three months after initiating antiretroviral therapy. Case: A man in his early twenties previously visited a hospital because of fever in October 2012. Laboratory data revealed leukocytopenia, thrombocytopenia and increased serum ferritin, suggesting hemophagocytic syndrome (HPS). During that visit, he tested positive for a 4thGIA, but negative for HIV-1 WB and his result of HIV-1 RNA result was detected invalid because of the presence of some inhibitory material in his RNA preparation. Thereafter, he was diagnosed as having cytomegalovirus-associated HPS treatment was for which initiated. In January 2013, he developed Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia, and his HIV-1 RNA viral load was 7.7 × 105 copies/mL in February 2013. Acute HIV infection was suspected, because the HIV-1 WB remained negative. He was started on antiretroviral therapy in April 2013. His 4thGIA was converted to negative in May 2013 and was reconverted to positive in August 2013. HIV-1 WB, however, continued to be indeterminant until February 2014, in which it turned positive for the first time according to the CDC criteria. Methods and Results: The genetic analyses of HIV-1 were done on the gag, env, nef and pol region of the HIV-1 gene from the patient. There was no clear element to delay antibody production on the virus side. Preserved specimens of the patient were measured with eight kinds of HIV screening assay. It was thought that the fourth generation assay was positive only by the presence of the antigen until March 2013 because the antibody had not been detected. Discussion: We encountered a case of acute HIV infection in which the WB result was negative for 10 months after the first positive response of the 4thGIA. The 4thGIA is essential for the early diagnosis and early treatment of HIV infection; therefore, the 4thGIA should be strictly recommended to avoid the use of older generations of immunoassay in the diagnostic guidelines. The role of the WB test should be examined closely from various aspects for use as a confirmatory test under recent laboratory situations in which highly sensitive and specific methods, e.g. the 4th GIA, have become available. In addition, unnecessary confusion due to the diversities of antibody formation should be avoided. The antibody detection tests for HIV are still necessary and indispensable for the confirmation of the disease or the diagnosis of the acute infection stage. Therefore development of a newer antibody measuring method which could achieve an easier operation and should have a higher sensitivity and specificity for HIV confirmation is strongly expected.

[Syphilis Testing and High Rate of Infection Among HIV-infected Patients].

Background: The incidence of syphilis has globally increased over the last decade, particularly among men who have sex with men coinfected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). HIV infection may make the clinical symptoms and seroreactivity of syphilis atypical, which requires careful consideration in terms of diagnoses and treatments by clinicians. Syphilis is known as a great imitator, and is often difficult to be diagnosed or it can be overlooked if clinicians depend only on its symptoms or signs. It is also highly contagious and could be transmitted without sexual intercourse, and reinfection is common. Guidelines recommend that all HIV-infected persons be provided with STD screening, including syphilis, at least annually. However, to our knowledge, there are no published data on the actual frequency of testing and instances of syphilis among HIV-infected persons in Japan. Materials and Methods: We collected data from HIV infected male patients who had sex with men (MSM) at Tokyo Medical University Hospital from June 2011 to June 2012. Data from the patients, who had been tested with the rapid plasma reagin assay (RPR) at least once during the study period, were retrospectively obtained from clinical records and were analyzed. Results: Among 1000 patients with HIV infection, 935 patients were MSM. 723 patients (77.4%) were tested using the Treponema pallidum latex agglutination test (TPLA) and RPR more than once during the study period. Out of the 723 patients, 443 patients (61.3%) were reactive for TPLA and 238 patients (32.9%) had reactive tests for RPR. All patients who were reactive for RPR were reactive for TPLA. Among the patients who were reactive for RPR, 93 patients (12.9%) were considered newly diagnosed or with a repeat infection. In this cohort, all patients were MSM with a median age of 37 years, and a median CD4+T-lymphocyte cell count of 465/uL. A total of 76 patients had been prescribed antiretroviral therapy, and 61 patients had a documented HIV-1 RNA viral load of <40 copies/mL at their most recent test. Two patients both developed two episodes of syphilis during the study period. Of the 95 episodes, 44% were symptomatic syphilis and the most common symptom among them was a skin rash at the second stage. Nearly half of the patients (47%) were diagnosed at regular screenings. Two thirds (67%) had syphilis infections before the study period, whereas at least 20% of them were newly diagnosed during the study period. Conclusions: A substantial percentage of the participants were newly or recurrently diagnosed with syphilis during the study period. More public health awareness should be encouraged regarding the current epidemic of syphilis among HIV-infected persons in Japan. It is also important for clinicians to provide HIV-infected persons with periodical syphilis screening, regardless of the apparent clinical signs or symptoms to achieve earlier treatment intervention.

Genotypic and phenotypic features of Japanese patients with mild to moderate hemophilia A.

Hemophilia A is the most common inherited bleeding disorder. To better understand the genotypic and phenotypic features of Japanese patients with mild to moderate hemophilia A, we studied 29 unrelated patients with more than 1 % FVIII activity (FVIII:C). Differences were observed in nine of 21 patients in measured FVIII:C levels between the one-stage clotting and chromogenic assays. We identified a mutation in F8 in 28 of the 29 patients. Mutations in two amino acids, Y492 and R550, were detected at a much higher frequency in our patients than in the international hemophilia A mutation database. We demonstrated that all five patients with the Y492C mutation have an identical F8 haplotype that is unique to them, suggesting that the mutation may have originated from a common ancestor. Because non-severe, moderate to mild, hemophilia patients have a longer lifespan, mutations that cause non-severe phenotypes tend to persist in the population. We believe that the Y492C mutation is a distinctive feature of Japanese patients with mild hemophilia A. The identification of a high frequency of R550 mutation that underlies the discrepancies in FVIII:C measurements in the present study suggests that Japanese patients with mild hemophilia may require careful characterization.

[Prevalence of chronic kidney disease among HIV-infected individuals in Japan--a report from two tertiary hospitals].

BACKGROUND: The improved survival of subjects with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has been accompanied by an increased prevalence of chronic kidney disease (CKD). Epidemic of CKD among those with HIV has not yet been evaluated in multiple tertiary hospitals in Japan. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted in 2011 at Tokyo Metropolitan Komagome Hospital (TMKH) and Tokyo Medical University Hospital (TMUH). A total of 1482 HIV-infected subjects (1384 men, 98 female, mean age: 44.2 +/- 11.4 years old) were consecutively enrolled in the study. Random urine and blood samples were collected to study prevalence of CKD. CKD was diagnosed as a decrease in glomerular function and/or proteinuria and classified into 5 stages based on National Kidney Foundation guidelines. The estimated glomerular filtration rate based on serum creatinine was calculated using the 3-variable equation, constructed by the Japanese Society of Nephrology. Proteinuria was defined as > or = 1+ on urine dipstick examination. All electronic medical charts were reviewed to determine comorbidities, including hypertension and diabetes mellitus (DM). The proportion of subjects receiving tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) was investigated. Risk factors for CKD were determined using multivariate logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: The mean CD4 cell count was 487 +/- 216/microL and 80.5% had undetectable HIV-RNA level in the combined cohort. Of the 90.2% of subjects taking antiretroviral agents, 61.5% was using TDF. The prevalence of overall CKD and CKD > or = stage 3 was 12.9% and 6.7%, respectively, both of which were nearly 3-fold higher in the TMKH cohort (p < .0001). Mean age and proportional prevalent hypertension and DM were significantly higher in the TKMH cohort than in the TMUH cohort. Multivariate analysis showed significant CKD to be associated with age > or =50 years (odds ratio [OR], 2.81), hypertension (OR, 3.04), and DM (OR, 2.05). CONCLUSIONS: CKD prevalence was 12.9% among combined cohorts, but differed significantly between them. Differences in age distribution and the proportion of comorbidities, including hypertension and DM, are likely involved.

[Double mutation, a 2-bp deletion and Val211Ile, in the blood coagulation factor IX gene of a patient with severe hemophilia B].

Hemophilia B is an X-linked bleeding disorder caused by the absence or reduced activity of coagulation factor IX (FIX). Here, we report a double mutation in the FIX gene (F9) in a Japanese patient with severe hemophilia B. FIX activity (FIX:C) was measured with a one-step functional assay. FIX antigen (FIX:Ag) levels were determined by ELISA. Genomic DNA was amplified by PCR with Taq DNA polymerase. Purified products were sequenced with a Thermo Sequenase Pre-mixed Cycle Sequencing Kit. To determine whether the sequence changes were a mutation or polymorphism, PCR products from 54 Japanese individuals were investigated using PCR-Ase I restriction enzyme digestion. Both FIX:C and FIX:Ag levels in the patient were below 1%. Levels of FIX:C and FIX:Ag in the patient's mother were 42% and 46% of normal, respectively. Sequence analysis of F9 of the patient revealed two distinct mutations. The first mutation was a G-to-A transition at position 30084 in exon7, which caused a Val211Ile in the region which encodes the protease domain of FIX. The patient's mother was heterozygous for this mutation. This substitution was not detected by restriction enzyme digestion from 54 Japanese alleles. The second mutation was a 2-bp deletion in exon 2 (nt. 6396-6399, del. AG). The patient's mother was also heterozygous for this deletion. The authors identified a rare double mutation of a 2-bp deletion and Val211Ile in the F9 of a patient with severe hemophilia B. The Val211Ile was confirmed as a novel missense mutation of F9.

[Characterization of a large deletion that leads to congenital factor XIII deficiency].

Congenital factor XIII deficiency is a rare bleeding disorder that is inherited in an autosomal recessive manner with a frequency of 1 per 2 million individuals in the human population. In Japan, 53 cases of factor XIII deficiency were registered in the national survey for blood coagulation disorders in 2006. One hundred twenty-three cases were listed in the international Factor XIII Registry (http://www.f13-database.de/) by October 2007. The most frequent genomic abnormalities among the registered cases are point mutations; nucleotide deletions have been identified in only 16 cases. Most deletions are less than 20 bp; only 2 large deletions have been reported. However, detailed studies in either of these 2 cases have not been performed. We analyzed a case of congenital factor XIII deficiency. The patient is Japanese born to consanguineous parents, and his factor XIII A antigen and activity levels are both less than 10% of normal. The LA-PCR product for exons 4-6 of the factor XIII gene was 5 kb smaller than expected. The deletion is exactly 5984 bp long, including the entire exon 5. This finding suggests that the deletion caused a frameshift that produced a premature termination codon in exon 6. Deletions usually occur in repetitive sequences, but repetitive sequences were not found around this deletion. The semiquantified F13A1 mRNA level in the patient sample was only 1% of normal, and suggests that the mRNA surveillance system (nonsense-mediated mRNA decay) may be involved.