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Inflammation is a common process involved in aging, multiple sclerosis (MS), and age-related neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Parkinson's disease (PD), but there is limited evidence for the effects of aging on inflammation in the central nervous system. We collected cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from 105 healthy control subjects representing a wide age range (23–86), and analyzed levels of cytokines associated innate immunity (TNF-α) and different T-helper subtypes: interferon–gamma induced protein 10 (IP-10) for Th1, interleukin-10 (IL-10) for Th2, and interleukin 8 (IL-8/CXCL8) for Th17. We show that CSF levels of TNF-α, IP-10, and IL-8 all increased linearly with age, but levels of IL-10 demonstrated a U-shaped relationship with age. We further found greater age-related increases in TNF-α, IL-10, and IL-8 relative to increases in IP-10 levels, consistent with a shift from Th1 to other inflammatory phenotypes. Finally, when we analyzed the same four cytokines in people with neurological disorders, we found that MS and AD, but not PD or dementia with Lewy bodies, further accentuated the age-related shift from Th1- to non-Th1-related cytokines. We propose that CSF cytokine levels represent powerful surrogates of brain inflammation and aging, and some, but not all, neurological disorders accelerate the shift away from Th1 phenotypes.

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BackgroundAcute kidney injury (AKI) occurs frequently in hospitalized patients and has been associated with the administration of certain medications. Concerns have been raised in recent reports that the antibiotic combination of vancomycin and piperacillin/tazobactam (combV/P) may be more associated with AKI than monotherapy with either drug.MethodsTo compare the incidence of and risk factors for AKI in patients receiving combV/P versus monotherapy with either drug, a retrospective study was conducted in non-critically ill inpatients at a large urban teaching hospital. AKI was defined as either: (1) Increase in serum creatinine ≥0.5 mg/dl OR (2) ≥1.5-fold creatinine increase from admission baseline. In addition to standard multivariable regression adjustment, propensity score weighting was used as a robust approach to reduce the effects of covariate confounding when estimating the adjusted odds of AKI.ResultsA total of 228 patients were evaluated. The overall incidence of AKI was 11.8 % (27 of 228 patients). AKI occurred in 4 of 101 patients in the vanc group (4.0 %), 4 of 26 patients in the piptazo group (15.4 %), and 19 of 101 patients in the combV/P group (18.8 %). The univariable odds of AKI was significantly lower in the vanc group compared to both the combV/P group (OR 0.178, 95 % CI 0.058–0.544, p = 0.003) and piptazo (OR 0.227, 95 % CI 0.053–0.978, p = 0.047) group. A multivariable model accounting for baseline characteristics again showed that vanc monotherapy was associated with lower odds of AKI than combV/P (OR 0.14, 95 % CI 0.04–0.52, p = 0.004). Male sex was also associated with lower odds of AKI (OR 0.28, 95 % CI 0.10–0.79, p = 0.02) in the multivariable model. In the propensity score analysis using inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW), vanc monotherapy and male sex were again associated with lower odds of AKI (OR 0.17; 95 % CI 0.04–0.62, p = 0.008 and OR 0.28, 95 % CI 0.09–0.89, p = 0.03, respectively).ConclusionThis study substantiates recent reports that combV/P may be more associated with AKI than vanc monotherapy in hospital inpatients. AKI also appears to be more likely in females during therapy with these antimicrobials. While severity of illness is difficult to account for, these findings are further justification for narrowing antibiotic coverage when possible after this combination has been initiated in hospitalized patients.

Although discontinuation of suppressive antifungal therapy for acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS)-associated histoplasmosis is accepted for patients with immunologic recovery, there have been no published studies of this approach in clinical practice, and minimal characterization of individuals who relapse with this disease. We performed a multicenter retrospective cohort study to determine the outcome in AIDS patients following discontinuation of suppressive antifungal therapy for histoplasmosis.Ninety-seven patients were divided into a physician-discontinued suppressive therapy group (PD) (38 patients) and a physician-continued suppressive therapy group (PC) (59 patients). The 2 groups were not statistically different at baseline, but at discontinuation of therapy and at the most recent follow-up there were significant differences in adherence to therapy, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) RNA, and urinary Histoplasma antigen concentration. There was no relapse or death attributed to histoplasmosis in the PD group compared with 36% relapse (p < 0.0001) and 5% death (p = 0.28) in the PC group. Relapse occurred in 53% of the nonadherent patients but not in the adherent patients (p < 0.0001). Sixty-seven percent of patients with initial central nervous system (CNS) histoplasmosis relapsed compared to 15% of patients without CNS involvement (p = 0.0004), which may be accounted for by nonadherence. In addition, patients with antigenuria above 2.0 ng/mL at 1-year follow-up were 12.82 times (95% confidence interval, 2.91–55.56) more likely to relapse compared to those with antigenuria below 2.0 ng/mL.Discontinuation of antifungal therapy was safe in adherent patients who completed at least 1 year of antifungal treatment, and had CD4 counts >150 cells/mL, HIV RNA <400 c/mL, Histoplasma antigenuria <2 ng/mL (equivalent to <4.0 units in second-generation method), and no CNS histoplasmosis.

ObjectiveThe predictors of Fanconi syndrome (FS) accompanied by renal function decline with use of the antiretroviral tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) have not been assessed. In addition, the natural history of renal recovery from FS after TDF discontinuation is not well-described.DesignWe prospectively enrolled HIV-infected patients receiving TDF with newly identified FS (defined as at least two markers of proximal tubulopathy and either a >25% decline in creatinine clearance (CrCl) from pre-TDF values or a CrCl <60 mL/min in those without a known pre-TDF CrCl) in a multicenter observational study. These case participants were matched 1∶2 to controls; characteristics between the two groups were compared. Case participants with known pre-TDF CrCl values were then followed over 48 weeks to assess renal recovery.ResultsNineteen cases and 37 controls were enrolled. In multivariable analysis, previous or concurrent use of lopinavir/ritonavir [OR 16.37, 95% CI (2.28, 117.68); P = 0.006] and reduced creatinine clearance prior to initiation of TDF [OR 1.44 for every 5 mL/min reduction, 95% CI (1.09, 1.92); P = 0.012; OR 19.77 for pre-TDF CrCl lower than 83 mL/min, 95% CI (2.24, 174.67); P = 0.007] were significantly associated with FS. Of the 14 cases followed for resolution, 7 (50%) achieved at least partial resolution (defined as recovering CrCl >70% of pre-TDF values) although most participants had full normalization of proximal tubulopathy markers within two months of TDF discontinuation.ConclusionsFS, defined by specific CrCl decreases and markers of tubulopathy, is more likely in those who have received or are currently receiving concomitant lopinavir/ritonavir or who had lower CrCl prior to TDF initiation. Half of those with protocol-defined FS had CrCl recover to near pre-TDF values during the first year after TDF discontinuation.

Background HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND) persist despite combination antiretroviral therapy (cART), supporting the need to better understand HIV neuropathogenesis. Magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) of the brain has demonstrated abnormalities in HIV-infected individuals despite cART. We examined the associations between MRS metabolites and selected cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers reflecting monocyte/macrophage activation and chemotaxis. Methods A multicenter cross-sectional study involving five sites in the United States was conducted. The following CSF biomarkers were measured: soluble CD14 (sCD14), monocyte chemotactic protein 1 (MCP-1), interferon inducible protein 10 (IP-10), and stromal cell derived growth factor 1 alpha (SDF-1α). The following MRS metabolites were measured from basal ganglia (BG), frontal white matter (FWM) and frontal gray matter (FGM): N-acetyl-aspartate (NAA), Myo-inositol (MI), Choline (Cho), and Creatine (Cr). CSF biomarkers were compared to absolute MRS metabolites as well as metabolite/Cr ratios using linear regression. Results 83 HIV-infected individuals were included, 78% on cART and 37% with HAND. The most robust positive correlations were between MCP-1 and Cho in BG (R2 0.179, p<0.001) as well as MCP-1 and MI in FWM (R2 0.137, p=0.002). Higher Cr levels in FWM were associated with MCP-1 (R2 0. 075, p=0.01) and IP-10 (R2 0.106, p=0.003). Comparing biomarkers to MRS metabolite/Cr ratios impacted some relationships, e.g., higher sCD14 levels were associated with lower Cho/Cr ratios in FGM (R2 0.224, p<0.001), although higher MCP-1 levels remained associated with Cho/Cr in BG. Conclusion These findings provide evidence that monocyte activation and chemotaxis continue to contribute to HIV-associated brain abnormalities in cART-treated individuals.

HIV-associated neurocognitive disorder (HAND) persists in the combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) era and is associated with diminished quality of life. The disorder remains challenging to diagnose given the requirement for comprehensive neuropsychological testing. Blood biomarkers are needed to facilitate the diagnosis of HAND and to gauge neurological response to antiretroviral therapy. We performed a study of plasma neurofilament light chain (NFL) that included 37 HIV-infected and 54 HIV-negative adults. In the univariate mixed-effect model involving HIV-infected participants, there was a statistically significant linear relationship between composite neuropsychological score (NPT-11) and plasma NFL (slope = - 9.9, standard error = 3.0 with 95% confidence interval - 3.2 to - 16.6 and p = 0.008 when testing slope = 0). Similarly, in the multivariate mixed-effect model, higher plasma NFL was significantly associated with worse NPT-11 (slope = - 11.5, standard error = 3.3 with 95% confidence interval - 3.7 to - 19.0 and p = 0.01 when testing slope = 0). The association between NPT-11 and NFL appeared to be driven by the group of individuals off cART. In a subset of participants who had visits before and after 24 weeks on cART (n = 11), plasma NFL declined over time (median = 22.7 versus 13.4 pg/ml, p = 0.02). In contrast, plasma NFL tended to increase over time among HIV-negative participants (median 10.3 versus 12.6 pg/ml, p = 0.065, n = 54). Plasma NFL therefore shows promise as a marker of neuropsychological performance during HIV. Larger studies are needed to determine if NFL could serve as a diagnostic tool for HAND during suppressive cART.