Daisuke Tasato

Whole-body 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography images before and after chemotherapy for Kaposi sarcoma and highly active antiretrovirus therapy

Kaposi sarcoma is an acquired immunodeficiency syndrome-related disease that mainly involves the skin, gastrointestinal gut, and lungs. Whole-body 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography and computed tomography (FDG-PET/CT) scanning is useful for simultaneous detection of multiple lesions of Kaposi sarcoma. We present a 67-year-old man with a history of infection with human immunodeficiency virus who presented with numerous cutaneous lesions. FDG-PET/CT images showed lesions in the skin, lung, and lymph nodes. The gastrointestinal lesions were detected using gastric fiberscopy (GF) and colon fiberscopy (CF). After Kaposi sarcoma therapy, the uptake in the lesions of the skin, lung, and lymph nodes decreased, but new lesions were detected in the pancreas and lumbar spine. He had pancreatitis and Candida spondilitis. Whole-body FDG-PET/CT is useful for detecting lesions and determining the extension to which the disease has spread, adding the gastrointestinal lesions by GF and CF. After therapy, FDG-PET/CT can be used to demonstrate which lesions remain active and to determine the overall response to treatment. In this case, we show how useful FDG-PET/CT is and how difficult it is to treat Kaposi sarcoma.

Immunopathological characteristics of immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome caused by Mycobacterium parascrofulaceum infection in a patient with AIDS.

Immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome (IRIS) caused by mycobacterium in patients with AIDS is often experienced in clinical practice. There is, however, a paucity of data documenting the histopathological findings and the pathogenesis. We determined the immunopathological characteristics of IRIS associated with Mycobacterium parascrofulaceum infection in an AIDS patient. A patient presented with pulmonary lymphadenitis and involvement of the pulmonary lingular segment. Portions of the involved lymph nodes and lung were excised, and the immunological properties were analyzed by immunohistochemical assays. The histological characteristics of lymph nodes showed a caseous necrosis. Histopathologically, the pulmonary lesion was composed of exudative and proliferative lesions. CD4(+), CD8(+), CD57(+), and CD25(+)/FoxP3(+) cells were observed in both types of lesions. Clusters of CD20(+) cells and GATA3(+) cells were predominantly observed in exudative lesions, while T-bet(+) cells were dominant in proliferative lesions. ROR-γ(+) cells were also observed in exudative lesions. These results indicate that the cellular immunity to mycobacteria was recovering in the lung tissue. In M. parascrofulaceum pulmonary infection, the exudative lesion had characteristics of Th2 and Th17-type immunities. In contrast, the proliferative lesion had characteristics of Th-1 type immunity. Our data provide the first evidence to reveal the status of the axis of distinctive immunity in the process of granuloma formation caused by a mycobacterium-related infection.

The prevalence of airway obstruction among Japanese HIV-positive male patients compared with general population; a case-control study of single center analysis.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE Previous studies have suggested that human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and/or the airway colonization of Pneumocystis jirovecii (Pcj) impact on the progression of airway obstruction, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). This study was aimed to evaluate the relationship between HIV infection, airway colonization of Pcj and airway obstruction in Japanese male patients. METHODS Case-control study of 49 HIV-positive and 257 HIV-negative men were enrolled in this study. Airway obstruction was determined by spirometry. Cigarette smoking was determined by a self report. Laboratory data were obtained from medical records. Among HIV positive patients, the airway colonization of Pcj was evaluated by induced sputum using the real time polymerase chain reaction method. RESULTS Forty-eight out of 49 (97.9%) HIV-positive patients received antiretroviral therapy, and their median CD4 cell counts were 491/μL (79-935). The prevalence of airway obstruction as determined by spirometry was 10.2% (5/49) in HIV-positive subjects and 2.4% (5/208) in HIV-negative subjects (p = 0.024). Compared with the control group, HIV-positive patients were significantly younger (median age 44 vs 40, p = 0.019). After adjusting for age, pack-years of smoking, HIV infection was an independent risk factor for airway obstruction (OR; 10.93, 95%CI 1.99-60.1, p = 0.006). None of patient was detected the airway colonization of Pcj. CONCLUSIONS HIV infection was an independent risk factor for airway obstruction regardless of airway colonization of Pcj. Health-care providers should be aware of the increased likelihood of airway obstruction among HIV-positive patients.

Are MMSE and HDS-R neuropsychological tests adequate for screening HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders?

HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND) are one of major comorbidities in patients with HIV-1 infection. There are currently no standardized tests for screening HAND in such patients. The sensitivity of the cognitive function tests routinely used in clinical practice, such as the Mini-Mental State Examination and the Revised Hasegawas Dementia Scale, is inadequate to rule out HAND, even in patients with clear abnormal behavior. We report a 41-year-old man with HIV-associated dementia, the most severe form of HAND, in whom the simplified methods did not show abnormal results, and a comprehensive battery of neuropsychological tests which covering several cognitive domains was needed to detect cognitive impairment.

Comparison of two screening tests for HIV-Associated Neurocognitive Disorder suspected Japanese patients with respect to cART usage

In this study, we demonstrated the pervasiveness of HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND) among a selection of Japanese patients as well as evaluated and compared the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) and the International HIV Dementia Scale (IHDS) for use as a screening tool among combination anti-retroviral therapy (cART)-naïve and cART experienced patients. The MMSE and the IHDS have both been used as HAND screening tests around the world with variable success. It has been reported the increased usage of cART the utility of these screening tests may have been diminished due to the decreased severity of impairment and the altered pattern of neurocognitive impairments in cART era HAND patients. It is therefore possible the MMSE and the IHDS may still be useful among cART-naïve patients even in the cART era. However, only one study has investigated and compared the screening results of the IHDS among cART-naïve and cART experienced patients. All HIV positive patients who visited, or were admitted, to the Ryukyu University Hospital between January 2009 and March 2014 were evaluated for inclusion. Selected patients (n = 49) had data without omission for all tests. The overall prevalence of HAND in our cohort was 44%. The area under the curve (AUC), for all subjects using the MMSE and the IHDS, were 0.60 and 0.69, respectively. However, the AUC among cART-naïve patients were 0.58 and 0.76 for the MMSE and the IHDS, respectively. Whereas, cART experienced patients had an AUC of 0.60 and 0.61, respectively. Overall, the MMSE demonstrated a poor screening ability for HAND, regardless of cART usage (the cut-off value of 27 had a Youdens J-Index of 0.1, in all groups). Alternatively, the IHDS was moderately useful for HAND screening among cART-naïve patients (the cut-off value of 11 had a Youdens J-Index of 0.4), but performed poorly as a screening test among cART experienced patients (the cut-off value of 11 had a Youdens J-Index of 0.1).

Interleukin-17A in Legionella pneumonia: A retrospective study

Interleukin (IL)-17A affects the immune system of the lung. Legionella infection can potentially lead to severe pneumonia. The present study aimed to evaluate the role of IL-17A in Legionella pneumonia. Serum IL-17A levels were quantified in both patients with Legionella pneumonia and control subjects; IL-17 was detected in sera from 4 out of 31 patients with Legionella pneumonia but in any controls. There were no differences in peripheral white blood cell counts or other serum biomarkers (C-reactive protein, and lactate dehydrogenase) between IL-17A-positive and IL-17A-negative patients. All IL-17A-positive patients in this cohort survived, where 8 of 27 IL-17A-negative patients did not. IL-17A was detected in available bronchoalveolar (BA) fluid samples from 7 patients with Legionella pneumonia within our cohort. However, the IL-17A and IFN-γ concentrations in BA fluids did not correlate with each other. IL-17A might play a significant role in some cases of Legionella pneumonia.