This study attempts to evaluate the adequacy of the erythropoietin (EPO) response in 42 anaemic patients with advanced human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection [30 with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and 12 with AIDS-related conditions] by comparing their serum EPO levels with those found in a non-HIV reference population consisting of 36 patients with anaemia of chronic disorders (ACD) and 57 with iron deficiency anaemia (IDA). Although the average Hb concentration was similar in the three groups, the EPO level for HIV patients (mean +/- SEM, 64.3 +/- 7.7 mU/ml) did not differ significantly from that in ACD patients (45.3 +/- 8.3 mU/ml, P > 0.1), and both groups had a lower mean EPO level (P < 0.05 and P < 0.01 respectively) than IDA subjects (133.5 +/- 18.7 mU/ml). Thirteen HIV patients on zidovudine therapy showed similar mean Hb and EPO levels to those in the untreated patients. A significant inverse correlation between the log of serum EPO and the Hb values was observed in the three groups. However, this relationship was found to be stronger in IDA patients than in either HIV or ACD subjects (P < 0.001), with no difference between the two latter groups (P > 0.2). These data suggest that the EPO response is blunted in the anaemia associated with advanced HIV infection.

Cytokines are a group of hormone-like polypeptides that play a variety of regulatory roles in host defense against infection. Because of the possible different involvement of these mediators in bacterial infections and tuberculosis, enzyme immunoassay was used to measure comparatively the plasma levels of the proinflammatory cytokines interleukin-1 beta (IL-1beta), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and interferon gamma (IFN-gamma) in 25 immunocompetent patients divided into two groups: in 12 patients clinical and microbiological diagnosis showed a chronic bacterial infection and 13 patients had pleuropulmonar tuberculosis. After resolution of the infectious disorders (> or = 3 months), these measurements were repeated for each patient. High levels of IL-1b, TNF-alpha and IL-6 were observed at study entry, but no significant difference was found between the groups. In contrast, plasma levels (mean +/- SEM) of IFN-gamma were significantly higher in patients with tuberculosis when compared with the bacterial group (0.753 +/- 0.201 vs 0.325 +/- 0.105 IU/ml; P = 0.020). This different pattern of plasma proinflammatory cytokines could be ascribed to a prevaling role of the mediators of so-called Th-1 immune response (IFN-gamma) in host defense against infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

This study investigates the market valuation of income smoothing via a long-run analysis of the relationship between income smoothing and return and risk in the Spanish stock market. The results suggest that firms that smooth income appear to yield higher stock returns than firms that do not; they also appear to carry a lower risk associated with size and book-to-market factors. The study concludes that the Spanish market is not efficient in this question because it overvalues firms that artificially smooth income, and because it is possible to reduce the stock's risk by manipulating accounting profits.

We report a case of systemic polyarteritis nodosa (PAN) leading to the discovery of an as yet asymptomatic, surgically curable gastric adenocarcinoma. PAN is rarely associated with malignancies and in such cases these are more often malignant haematological diseases than solid neoplasms. The immunopathological findings, the temporal relationship between both conditions, and the spontaneous resolution of vasculitis after tumour removal suggest a paraneoplastic origin of the systemic angitis.

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