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The antibody and cell-mediated immune responses after influenza vaccination were compared in 33 patients with chronic bronchitis and in 40 hemodialyzed patients. The results suggest a moderate impaired response in the hemodialyzed patients since the antibody titers and the level of cell-mediated immunity were consistently lower in these patients as compared to those suffering from chronic bronchitis. Nevertheless, the vaccine elicited an immune response in all the pre-vaccine seronegative dialyzed patients.

IntroductionThe use of anti-retroviral therapy (ART) has dramatically reduced HIV-1 associated morbidity and mortality. However, HIV-1 infected individuals have increased rates of morbidity and mortality compared to the non-HIV-1 infected population and this appears to be related to end-organ diseases collectively referred to as Serious Non-AIDS Events (SNAEs). Circulating miRNAs are reported as promising biomarkers for a number of human disease conditions including those that constitute SNAEs. Our study sought to investigate the potential of selected miRNAs in predicting mortality in HIV-1 infected ART treated individuals.Materials and MethodsA set of miRNAs was chosen based on published associations with human disease conditions that constitute SNAEs. This case: control study compared 126 cases (individuals who died whilst on therapy), and 247 matched controls (individuals who remained alive). Cases and controls were ART treated participants of two pivotal HIV-1 trials. The relative abundance of each miRNA in serum was measured, by RTqPCR. Associations with mortality (all-cause, cardiovascular and malignancy) were assessed by logistic regression analysis. Correlations between miRNAs and CD4+ T cell count, hs-CRP, IL-6 and D-dimer were also assessed.ResultsNone of the selected miRNAs was associated with all-cause, cardiovascular or malignancy mortality. The levels of three miRNAs (miRs -21, -122 and -200a) correlated with IL-6 while miR-21 also correlated with D-dimer. Additionally, the abundance of miRs -31, -150 and -223, correlated with baseline CD4+ T cell count while the same three miRNAs plus miR-145 correlated with nadir CD4+ T cell count.DiscussionNo associations with mortality were found with any circulating miRNA studied. These results cast doubt onto the effectiveness of circulating miRNA as early predictors of mortality or the major underlying diseases that contribute to mortality in participants treated for HIV-1 infection.

A high positive correlation was found between e antigen (HBe Ag) and DNA polymerase in hemodialyzed patients with acute hepatitis B, chronic carriers of hepatitis B surface antigen undergoing hemodialysis, and patients with chronic hepatitis. In contrast, the correlation was poor in nonhemodialyzed patients with acute hepatitis. Among the patients with chronic hepatitis, HBe Ag and DNA polymerase were were found mostly in those with aggressive hepatitis and rarely in those with persistent hepatitis. This difference was significant (P less than 0.01) and suggests that the persistence of these antigens may be a factor in the progression of the disease. Our data also indicate that the development of antibodies to HBe Ag (anti-HBe) might be a sign of a favorable prognosis, since 50% of the patients with persistent hepatitis vs. 6% of the patients with aggressive hepatitis were anti-HBe-positive. Inhibitors of DNA polymerase, which are possibly antibodies, appeared regularly after acute hepatitis and were transient. Their presence may be associated with viral replication.

We have studied 85 patients who received a renal transplant for CMV infection as well as for herpes simplex (HSV), herpes zoster (HZ), measles, mumps, rubella and hepatitis B. We found no evidence of primary or secondary infections for the non herpetic viruses except for hepatitis B infection that occurred in 17 per cent of the patients. CMV infection occurred in 87 per cent of the patients while antibody rises to HZ and HSV occurred in 30 and 13 per cent of the patients, respectively. The CMV infections occurred 2 to 4 months after the transplantation (mean time 11.1 weeks) and seemed to trigger the first episode of renal rejection that occurred earlier in the CMV infected group (mean time 12.1 weeks) than in the uninfected group (mean time 18.6 weeks). This difference in time is highly significant, p less than 0.001). However these CMV injections did not decrease the longterm survival of the grafted kidneys.