Chlamydia pneumoniae infection in HIV-positive patients: prevalence and relationship with lipid profile.

OBJECTIVES: The aims of this study were to evaluate the prevalence and impact of Chlamydia pneumoniae infection in HIV-positive patients and to establish the relationship between C. pneumoniae infection and lipid profile. METHODS: Detection of C. pneumoniae was by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) on Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells (PBMCs) collected from 97 HIV-positive patients. Samples were collected after overnight fast in EDTA-treated tubes. On the same day, patients were also tested for routine chemistry, HIV viral load, CD3, CD8 and CD4 cell counts and lipid profile [cholesterol, high-density lipoproteins (HDLs), low-density lipoproteins (LDLs) and triglycerides]. RESULTS: The overall prevalence of C. pneumoniae was 39%. The prevalence of C. pneumoniae was inversely related to the CD4 lymphocyte count (P=0.03). In the naive group, C. pneumoniae-positive patients had both significantly higher HIV load (71 021+/-15 327 vs. 14 753+/-14 924 HIV-1 RNA copies/mL; P=0.03) and lower CD4 cell count (348.0+/-165.4 vs. 541.7+/-294.8; P=0.04) than C. pneumoniae-negative patients. Moreover, treatment-naive patients with C. pneumoniae infection had significantly higher mean levels of cholesterol (185.3+/-56.2 vs. 124.8+/-45.9 mg/dL; P=0.01), triglycerides (117.2+/-74.7 vs. 68+/-27.6 mg/dL; P=0.04) and LDL (122.4+/-60.1 vs. 55.6+/-58 mg/dL; P=0.05) than C. pneumoniae-negative patients. CONCLUSIONS: These data indicate that, in HIV-positive subjects, C. pneumoniae infection is relatively frequent and is associated with both low CD4 cell count and high HIV load. Furthermore, C. pneumoniae appears to be associated with hyperlipidaemia and might therefore represent a further risk factor for cardiovascolar disease in HIV-positive patients.

[Rare association of a mixed tumor of the skin with a carcinoma of low grade malignancy. Clinical case]. / Rara associazione di un tumore misto della cute con un carcinoma a basso grado di malignità. Caso clinico.

Chondroid syringoma, previously called mixed tumor of the skin is a fairly uncommon type of sweat gland tumor, most often diagnosed in the sixth and seventh decade of life. It presents as a well encapsulated dermal or subcutaneous module and it is most frequently found in the skin of the head and neck. The neoplasm is asymptomatic and is featured by a slow rate of growth. At histopathological examination, the tumor consists of an epithelial component, with glandular or ductal differentiation, either eccrine or apocrine, and a stromal component with myxoid or chondroid elements. Surgical removal is the treatment of choice and recurrence may occur. Malignant chondroid syringoma has been reported rarely, most frequently arising in previously benign lesions. They behave as lethal tumors and often metastasize to the regional lymph nodes and lung. We report a most unusual case of a mixed tumor of the skin localized in the sacral area associated with a peripheral low grade malignant component of the adenocystic type. Association of these two types of sweat gland tumors has never been previously described, to our knowledge.

Octatropine-methyl-bromide and sulglycotide salt in the short-term treatment of active duodenal ulcer. A double blind endoscopic study of 40 outpatients.

Forty outpatients with endoscopically confirmed duodenal ulcers were entered in a double blind trial. They were randomly allocated to octatropine-methyl-bromide and sulglycotide salt (GVP) or placebo. The results show that the combination of the two drugs is less efficacious than the two constituent substances taken separately, is not more efficacious than placebo in ulcer healing, and is ineffective with regard to ulcer pain.

Study of parotid and mixed saliva in the diagnosis of chronic pancreatitis.

A study on the diagnostic value of the parotid and mixed saliva assay after stimulation with 1% pilocarpine hydrochloride was carried out in 36 controls and 26 patients affected with chronic pancreatitis. No statistical difference between the two groups was found as far as saliva volume, bicarbonate and amylase (concentration and output) are concerned. No correlation was found between the results of the saliva test and those of the secretin-pancreozymin test or endoscopic retrograde pancreatography. These data excluded any diagnostic role of the saliva test in chronic pancreatitis.

[Duodenal ulcer therapy with cimetidine. A clinical endoscopic study in 76 patients (author's transl)]. / Therapie mit Cimetidin beim Ulcus duodeni. Klinisch-endoskopische Studie an 76 Patienten.

34 patients were treated with cimetidine and placebo in a double blind trial and 42 were treated with cimetidine alone. Criteria investigated were the pain response, consumption of antacids when required and especially the endoscopically demonstrated scarring of the duodenal ulcer. Compared with placebo, cimetidine is capable of soothing pain and also reducing the consumption of antacids more quickly and to a greater extent. The differences are statistically significant. Complete anatomical healing of the ulcer was established in the double blind study in 80% of the patients in the cimetidine group and in 40% of the placebo group. Similar results were also shown in the group which received cimetidine alone.