OBJECTIVE: In this study, we investigated the changes in peripheral blood inflammatory factors and intestinal flora in acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive individuals (AIDS/HIV patients), and explored the relationships among intestinal flora, peripheral blood inflammatory factors, and CD4+ T lymphocytes. METHODS: Thirty blood and stool samples from an AIDS group and a control group were collected. The levels of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and the number of CD4+ T lymphocytes by a FACSCount automated instrument. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was used to determine the messenger RNA (mRNA) levels of Bifidobacterium, Lactobacillus, Escherichia coli, Enterococcus faecalis, and Enterococcus faecium. Correlations among intestinal flora, inflammatory factor levels, and CD4+ T lymphocyte values were evaluated using the Spearman correlation coefficient. RESULTS: The levels of TNF-α and IL-6 in the AIDS group were higher than those in the control group, while the number of CD4+ T lymphocytes was lower. The amounts of Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus in the AIDS group were significantly lower than those in control group, while the amounts of E. coli, E. faecalis, and E. faecium were much higher. The amounts of Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus were negatively correlated with the content of TNF-α and IL-6 and the CD4+ T lymphocyte count, while those correlations were reversed for E. coli, E. faecalis, and E. faecium. CONCLUSIONS The intestinal microbiota of AIDS/HIV patients were disordered, and there was a correlation between the amount of intestinal flora and the number of CD4+ T lymphocytes and the levels of TNF-α and IL-6.
Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome/microbiology* ; Adult ; Aged ; CD4 Lymphocyte Count ; Female ; Gastrointestinal Microbiome ; HIV Infections/microbiology* ; Humans ; Interleukin-6/blood* ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha/blood*

Mycoplasma genitalium (MG) was first isolated by Tully from the urinary tract of the male patient with non-gonococcal urethritis (NGU) in 1981. MG is extremely difficult to be cultured and was rarely studied until the development and application of molecular biology technology. The research on MG in China is still in the primary stage. However, relevant studies abroad have found that it is an important pathogen causing human genitourinary tract infection and spreading worldwide. Male MG infection is reportedly related to NGU, prostatitis, epididymitis, balanoposthitis, male HIV infection, and male infertility. This review outlines the advances in the studies of MG in male urogenital diseases.
Balanitis ; microbiology ; China ; Epididymitis ; microbiology ; HIV Infections ; microbiology ; Humans ; Male ; Male Urogenital Diseases ; microbiology ; Mycoplasma Infections ; Mycoplasma genitalium ; Urethritis ; microbiology

A retrospective analysis was performed in two major HIV/AIDS referral hospitals in Beijing to evaluate the prevalence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) and non-tuberculous mycobacterial (NTM) infections in HIV-infected patients. A total of 627 patients' data were reviewed, and 102 (16.3%) patients were diagnosed with culture-confirmed mycobacterial infection, including 84 with MTB, 16 with NTM, and 2 with both MTB and NTM. The most frequent clinical complication by mycobacterial infection was pulmonary infection (48/102, 47.1%). The overall rates of multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) and extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB) were 11.9% and 3.4%, respectively. This study underlines the urgent need to intensify screening for mycobacteria coinfection with HIV and to prevent the spread of drug-resistant TB among HIV-infected patients.
AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections ; epidemiology ; microbiology ; Adult ; Beijing ; Coinfection ; Extensively Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis ; epidemiology ; microbiology ; Female ; HIV Infections ; epidemiology ; microbiology ; Hospitals, Urban ; Humans ; Male ; Mycobacterium Infections, Nontuberculous ; epidemiology ; microbiology ; Mycobacterium tuberculosis ; isolation & purification ; Nontuberculous Mycobacteria ; isolation & purification ; Prevalence ; Retrospective Studies ; Sputum ; microbiology ; Tuberculosis, Multidrug-Resistant ; epidemiology ; microbiology ; Tuberculosis, Pulmonary ; epidemiology ; microbiology

OBJECTIVETo understand the general feature of patients with Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) co-infectious (TB/HIV) in Guangxi, from 2007 to 2012.

METHODSInformation regarding individuals that the contributory causes of death were due to MTB infection among HIV as the underlying cause of death from the Vital Registration System, together with bacterium smear or culture results, onset of TB, time that TB was diagnosed and entered an Internet base TB surveillance system was collected and checked. Data including information on time of death, age, occupation, the underlying cause of death among TB patients, bacterium distribution, average age of death, interval from onset to death, percentage of TB/HIV co-infection patients among all the patients etc, were all analysed.

RESULTS203 patients died from HIV associated with TB from the Guangxi Vital Registration System were identified between 2007 and 2012. The average percentage of TB/HIV co-infection cases accounted for 8.24% (ranging from 3.94% in 2007 to 13.27% in 2012) among all the deaths of HIV infection while it accounted for 9.90% (ranging from 2.56% to in 2007 to 26.88% in 2012) among patients with MTB infection in the same period. The average percentage of deaths from TB/HIV co-infection in 2010 and 2012 accounted for 10.66% (ranging from 8.83% to 13.27%)and 22.17% (ranging from 20.60% to 26.88%)among patients died of HIV and TB infection respectively. The male-female ratio was 4.21 for 1, with the average age of death as 44.65 (44.65 ± 15.52) years;median time from TB symptoms onset to diagnosis as 37 (mean 94.31, standard deviation 206.07) days, record as (94.31 ± 206.07); median time from diagnosis to death as 46 (165.22 ± 282.19) days, 54.68% TB/HIV patients died within two months of being diagnosed with TB and the median time from TB symptoms onset to death as 131 (257.68 ± 340.79) days. 16.26% of the TB/HIV cases were bacterium confirmed TB cases.

CONCLUSIONCompare to those TB patients without HIV, less bacterium evidence was found in TB/HIV patients. High burden caused by HIV disease was seen if they were co-infected with TB. An increasing proportion of deaths was noticed among patients co-infected with HIV and TB in the last three years, suggesting that the coverage of antiretroviral therapy be scaled up together with the strengthening of the capability on early TB case-finding among people live with HIV.

Adult ; China ; epidemiology ; Coinfection ; mortality ; Female ; HIV Infections ; microbiology ; mortality ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Tuberculosis ; mortality ; virology ; Young Adult

Penicillium marneffei may cause life-threatening systemic fungal infection in immune-compromised patients and it is endemic in Southeast Asia. A 39-yr-old HIV-infected male, living in Laos, presented with fever, cough, and facial vesiculopapular lesions, which had been apparent for two weeks. CT scans showed bilateral micronodules on both lungs; Pneumocystis jirovecii was identified by bronchoscopic biopsy. Despite trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole and anti-tuberculosis medications, the lung lesions progressed and the facial lesions revealed central umbilications. Biopsy of the skin lesions confirmed disseminated penicilliosis, with the culture showing P. marneffei hyphae and spores. The P. marneffei was identified by rRNA PCR. A review of the bronchoscopic biopsy indicated penicilliosis. The patient completely recovered after being prescribed amphotericin-B and receiving antiretroviral therapy. This is the first case of penicilliosis in a Korean HIV-infected patient. It is necessary to consider P. marneffei when immunocompromised patients, with a history of visits to endemic areas, reveal respiratory disease.
Adult ; Amphotericin B/therapeutic use ; Anti-HIV Agents/therapeutic use ; Antifungal Agents/therapeutic use ; Bronchoscopy ; Dermatomycoses/drug therapy/microbiology/pathology ; HIV Infections/*diagnosis/drug therapy ; Humans ; Immunocompromised Host ; Laos ; Lung Diseases/drug therapy/*microbiology ; Male ; Penicillium/genetics/*isolation & purification ; Pneumocystis jirovecii/isolation & purification ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

Much controversy surrounds the issue of whether HIV infection is a risk factor for developing multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB). In this study, we evaluated the prevalence of and risk factors for MDR-TB in HIV-infected patients at the National Medical Center of Korea. We reviewed the medical records of HIV/TB co-infected patients from January 2005 to May 2011; the drug susceptibility profiles were available for 55 patients. Of these, 32.7% had MDR-TB, which was approximately 3.6 times higher than the prevalence among the general population. Additionally, there were more additional AIDS-defining clinical illnesses in the MDR-TB group than in the non-MDR-TB group (27.8% vs 5.4%, P = 0.032). These results suggest that HIV infection and HIV-related immunosuppresion may contribute to the development of MDR-TB.
Adult ; Aged ; Coinfection ; Female ; HIV Infections/*complications/*epidemiology/microbiology ; Humans ; Immunosuppression ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Mycobacterium tuberculosis/isolation & purification ; Prevalence ; Republic of Korea/epidemiology ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Tuberculosis, Multidrug-Resistant/*complications/*epidemiology/microbiology

Isolated bone marrow infection by nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) is extremely rare. Recently, we encountered a case of bone marrow Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) infection, which presented as a fever of unknown origin shortly after starting continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD). The patient was diagnosed with MAC infection on the basis of PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis and sequencing of DNA obtained from bone marrow specimens. Although this was a case of severe MAC infection, there was no evidence of infection of other organs. End-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients undergoing dialysis can be considered immunodeficient; therefore, when these patients present with fever of unknown origin, opportunistic infections such as NTM infection should be considered in the differential diagnosis.
Aged ; Anti-Bacterial Agents/therapeutic use ; Bacterial Proteins/genetics ; Bone Marrow/microbiology/pathology ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Female ; HIV Infections/diagnosis ; Humans ; Kidney Failure, Chronic/therapy ; *Mycobacterium avium Complex/genetics/isolation &purification ; Mycobacterium avium-intracellulare Infection/*diagnosis/drug therapy/microbiology ; *Peritoneal Dialysis, Continuous Ambulatory ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length ; Sequence Analysis, DNA

The oral carriage rate of Candida in healthy humans ranges from 40% to 60%. However for a prolonged period, the oral candidal prevalence in humans was documented essentially using data from studies in the West as their prevalence in inhabitants in different regions of the world, including Asia was not known. Yet, recent reports from a number of studies indicate the quality, quantity and prevalence of oral yeasts differ between Asia and other regions for reason that are still unclear. This mini review on such data from Asian studies on oral carriage of Candida provides another intriguing facet of the behavior of this ubiquitous yeast.
Areca ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Candida ; classification ; isolation & purification ; Cohort Studies ; Colony Count, Microbial ; HIV Infections ; microbiology ; Humans ; Leprosy ; microbiology ; Mouth ; microbiology

OBJECTIVETo observe the effect of xiaomi granules (XMG) for treatment of HIV/AIDS oral candidiasis.

METHODSForty patients in the treated group were treated by XMG and 40 patients in the control group were treated with anticandine. The therapeutic course for both groups was two weeks. Changes of clinical symptoms, oral candida microscopic examination and cultured before and after treatment as well as the safety of treatment were observed, and a follow-up study was implemented two weeks after ending medication to compare the relapse rate between groups.

RESULTSSymptoms as oral greasy-sticky, thirsty, asthenia, abdominal distension and anorexia were improved after treatment in both groups (P < 0.05). The improvements of oral greasy-sticky and thirsty in the treated group were better than those in the control group (P < 0.05). The effective rate and relapse rate in the treated group was 90.0% (36/40) and 11.1% (4/36) respectively, while in the control group, 72. 5% (29/40) and 31.0% (9/29) respectively.

CONCLUSIONXMG could improve the clinical symptoms with high efficacy and low relapse rate, shows a better effect than that of anticandine in treating HIV/AIDS oral candidiasis.

AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections ; drug therapy ; Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome ; microbiology ; Adult ; Candidiasis, Oral ; drug therapy ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; HIV Infections ; microbiology ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Treatment Outcome

OBJECTIVETo analyze Helicobacter pylori infection in the gastric mucosa of patients with HIV/AIDS in different clinical stages.

METHODSThis study involved 170 patients with HIV/AIDS and 34 HIV-negative patients. All the patients underwent upper endoscopy and antral gastric biopsy to determine the status of Helicobacter pylori infection using aniline red staining and rapid urease test. The patients with HIV/AIDS were stratified based on CD4(+)T lymphocyte counts and clinical setting into asymptomatic HIV infection (A1, A2) group, symptomatic HIV infection (B1, B2) group and AIDS (A3, B3, C1-3) group.

RESULTSThe prevalence of Helicobacter pylori infection in HIV/AIDS patients was 16.5% (28/170), and in the 3 groups classified, the infection rates were 23.4% (11/47), 14.0% (8/57), and 13.6% (9/66), respectively; the infection rate was 47.1% (16/34) in the control group. Helicobacter pylori infection rate in the gastric mucosa of the patients with HIV/AIDS in different clinical stages was significantly lower than that of the control group (P<0.05); the infection rates in symptomatic HIV-infected (B1, B2) group and AIDS (A3, B3, C1-3) group were significantly lower than that in asymptomatic HIV-infected (A1, A2) group (P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONThe low Helicobacter pylori infection rate in HIV/AIDS patients may result from severe immunodeficiency in the gastric mucosa.

AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections ; microbiology ; pathology ; Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome ; microbiology ; pathology ; Adult ; Female ; Gastric Mucosa ; microbiology ; Gastroscopy ; HIV Infections ; microbiology ; pathology ; Helicobacter Infections ; epidemiology ; pathology ; Helicobacter pylori ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged