PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

R Skelly

Publications and source records attributed to R Skelly.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

Visceral leishmaniasis (Kala-azar) in two patients with HIV-1 infection: atypical features and response to therapy.

Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is a well recognized opportunistic infection in patients with HIV-1 infection, which may occasionally present with atypical features. We describe two patients with advanced HIV-1 infection (CD4<100/ mm3) in whom visceral leishmaniasis presented with atypical features, and their response to therapy. Atypical features of visceral leishmaniasis in the two infected patients include absence of fever, dissemination to the duodenal mucosa and to the skin as xanthoma-like lesions. Therapy and secondary prophylaxis remain unsatisfactory, and studies to evaluate combinations of amphotericin B and immunotherapy are needed.

AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections↗

Insulin-secreting non-islet cells are resistant to autoimmune destruction.

Transgenic nonobese diabetic mice were created in which insulin expression was targeted to proopiomelanocortin-expressing pituitary cells. Proopiomelanocortin-expressing intermediate lobe pituitary cells efficiently secrete fully processed, mature insulin via a regulated secretory pathway, similar to islet beta cells. However, in contrast to the insulin-producing islet beta cells, the insulin-producing intermediate lobe pituitaries are not targeted or destroyed by cells of the immune system. Transplantation of the transgenic intermediate lobe tissues into diabetic nonobese diabetic mice resulted in the restoration of near-normoglycemia and the reversal of diabetic symptoms. The absence of autoimmunity in intermediate lobe pituitary cells engineered to secrete bona fide insulin raises the potential of these cell types for beta-cell replacement therapy for the treatment of insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus.

Animals↗