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| 2. |
- Hjorth, SV, et al.
(författare)
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Sequence-based typing of Mycoplasma genitalium reveals sexual transmission
- 2006
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Ingår i: Journal of Clinical Microbiology. - 0095-1137 .- 1098-660X. ; 44:6, s. 2078-2083
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Mycoplasma genitalium causes male nonchlamydial, nongonococcal urethritis and is associated with cervicitis and pelvic inflammatory disease in women. Epidemiological studies indicate that M. genitalium is sexually transmitted, and the aim of the present study was to further substantiate this by means of a DNA typing system. A typing assay based on a diagnostic mgpB gene PCR was developed, evaluated, and applied directly to urogenital specimens. The assay had a low limit of detection and hence a high typeability. Sequences of isolates from 52 unrelated patients were divided into 29 different sequence types, giving a discriminatory index of 0.95. Two to six M. genitalium-positive specimens were collected from each of 44 patients over a median interval of 56 days (range, 11 to 1,395). Forty had the same sequence type in consecutive specimens. Specimens collected from two men were repeatedly positive at intervals of 472 and 1,395 days, respectively, but the sequence types had changed. A new strain was introduced in one sexual dyad, and the sequence types changed subsequently. Seventy-nine M. genitalium-positive specimens from 19 couples were investigated, and all partners initially had concordant sequence types, but one couple had discordant types at one time point before a newly introduced strain took over. The present typing system is simple and reproducible and has an excellent discriminatory capacity which might prove useful in studies of sexual networks and for evaluation of treatment failures. In the laboratory, this system may document the uniqueness of newly isolated M. genitalium strains.
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| 3. |
- Hugosson, Anna, et al.
(författare)
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A community outbreak of Legionnaires' disease from an industrial cooling tower: assessment of clinical features and diagnostic procedures.
- 2007
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Ingår i: Scandinavian journal of infectious diseases. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0036-5548 .- 1651-1980. ; 39:3, s. 217-24
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- An outbreak of Legionnaires' disease (LD) occurred in Lidköping, Sweden, in August 2004. A cooling tower was identified as the probable source of infection. During the outbreak period an unexpected 3-6-fold increase in pneumonia patients was noted at the local hospital. During 7 weeks LD was diagnosed in 15 patients by urinary antigen and/or sputum culture. Additionally, 15 LD patients were diagnosed later by serology. Patients with LD were generally younger, more healthy, and more often smokers compared to other pneumonia patients. On admittance they had more severe symptoms with high fever and raised CRP levels, and more often hyponatraemia, gastrointestinal and CNS symptoms. A causative agent besides Legionella was found in 2 patients only. A significant titre rise for Mycoplasma and/or Chlamydophila pneumoniae was found in 13 of 29 tested patients with confirmed LD. We conclude that the clinical diagnosis of LD is difficult and that available diagnostic methods detect only a minority of patients in the acute phase. Therefore in severe pneumonia, empirically targeted therapy should be instituted on clinical grounds irrespective of the results of diagnostic tests. The observation of increased antibody levels for M. and C. pneumoniae suggests an unspecific immune reaction and merits further study.
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| 5. |
- Lenhoff, Stig, et al.
(författare)
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Intensive therapy for multiple myeloma in patients younger than 60 years. Long-term results focusing on the effect of the degree of response on survival and relapse pattern after transplantation
- 2006
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Ingår i: Haematologica. - 0390-6078 .- 1592-8721. ; 91:9, s. 1228-1233
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background and Objectives. From 1994 to 1997 we conducted a population-based, prospective study on intensive therapy in newly diagnosed symptomatic myeloma patients younger than 60 years, comparing their survival to that of a conventionally treated historic population. Long-term results are presented, including the impact of the degree of response on survival and relapse pattern after transplantation. Design and Methods. The prospective population was formed of 397 patients and the historic population of 313 patients. Both populations were calculated to comprise more than 75% of the expected number of new cases. Results. After a median follow-up of 7 years survival was longer in the prospective population than in the historic one (median 60 versus 39 months; p=0.0002). When comparing only patients eligible for intensive therapy the median survival was 63 versus 44 months (p < 0.0001). Attaining a complete response was associated with prolonged event-free survival but not overall survival. The pattern of relapse after transplantation was heterogeneous but could be divided into four major groups; insidious, classical, plasmacytoma form and transformed disease. The median survival after relapse was 29 months. The relapse pattern and time to relapse predicted outcome. Patients relapsing with an insidious or classical form of disease with skeletal events only, or after a long lasting first response were likely to respond well to conventional salvage therapy. In contrast, relapse with multiple symptoms, transformed disease or a short duration of first response implied bad prognosis. Interpretation and conclusions. The relapse pattern after autologous transplantation is heterogeneous and response to salvage therapy is variable. The degree of response and event-free survival after transplantation are not reliable surrogate markers for survival.
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| 6. |
- Porkka, Kimmo, et al.
(författare)
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Dasatinib crosses the blood-brain barrier and is an efficient therapy for central nervous system Philadelphia chromosome-positive leukemia
- 2008
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Ingår i: Blood. - : American Society of Hematology. - 0006-4971 .- 1528-0020. ; 112:4, s. 1005-12
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Although imatinib, a BCR-ABL tyrosine kinase inhibitor, is used to treat acute Philadelphia chromosome-positive (Ph(+)) leukemia, it does not prevent central nervous system (CNS) relapses resulting from poor drug penetration through the blood-brain barrier. Imatinib and dasa-tinib (a dual-specific SRC/BCR-ABL kinase inhibitor) were compared in a preclinical mouse model of intracranial Ph(+) leukemia. Clinical dasatinib treatment in patients with CNS Ph(+) leukemia was assessed. In preclinical studies, dasatinib increased survival, whereas imatinib failed to inhibit intracranial tumor growth. Stabilization and regression of CNS disease were achieved with continued dasa-tinib administration. The drug also demonstrated substantial activity in 11 adult and pediatric patients with CNS Ph(+) leukemia. Eleven evaluable patients had clinically significant, long-lasting responses, which were complete in 7 patients. In 3 additional patients, isolated CNS relapse occurred during dasatinib therapy; and in 2 of them, it was caused by expansion of a BCR-ABL-mutated dasatinib-resistant clone, implying selection pressure exerted by the compound in the CNS. Dasatinib has promising therapeutic potential in managing intracranial leukemic disease and substantial clinical activity in patients who experience CNS relapse while on imatinib therapy. This study is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov as CA180006 (#NCT00108719) and CA180015 (#NCT00110097).
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| 7. |
- Wisloff, Finn, et al.
(författare)
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Serum calcium is an independent predictor of quality of life in multiple myeloma
- 2007
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Ingår i: European Journal of Haematology. - 1600-0609. ; 78:1, s. 29-34
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Bone disease is an important feature of multiple myeloma, and hypercalcaemia is a frequent complication of this disease. We examined the association between serum calcium and quality of life (QOL) scores of 686 multiple myeloma patients at the time of diagnosis. Data from two Nordic studies using the EORTC QLQ-C30 questionnaire were analysed by means of linear regression analysis and a curve fitting program. Serum calcium was independently related to appetite loss, nausea/vomiting and physical functioning (P < 0.001) and to cognitive functioning (P = 0.001), i.e. scores reflecting symptoms that are well known in non-malignant hypercalcaemia. In addition, we found a highly significant independent relationship between serum calcium and the scores for fatigue and pain (P < 0.001). Serum calcium appeared to be as strong a predictor for fatigue as the concentration of haemoglobin. A cubic model (y = a + bx(3)) fitted the data slightly better than the simple linear model (y = a + bx) and suggested worsening QOL scores at levels of serum calcium above 2.5-3.0 mmol/L. Hypercalcaemia in patients with multiple myeloma seems to be associated with the same symptoms as in non-malignant hypercalcaemia. In addition, an increased level of serum calcium may aggravate the pain and fatigue caused by the skeletal disease itself.
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