Prior cytomegalovirus infection and the risk of restenosis after percutaneous transluminal coronary balloon angioplasty.
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BACKGROUND: Restenosis is a common problem after all revascularization procedures in atherosclerotic coronary arteries. Reactivated human cytomegalovirus (CMV) has been detected in tissues of restenotic vascular lesions and was hypothesized to be a contributing pathogenic factor. Recent data suggest an association of restenosis after optimal coronary atherectomy with CMV serostatus, and a possible role of antiviral therapy was discussed. We therefore tested the hypothesis that prior CMV infection might be a risk factor for restenosis after conventional coronary balloon angioplasty (PTCA). METHODS AND RESULTS: We analyzed 92 consecutive patients who had been admitted for control angiography after previous PTCA within a mean interval of 6 months. Anti-CMV antibodies were measured as an indicator of prior CMV infection and latency. The coronary angiograms before PTCA, directly after, and 6 months later were analyzed quantitatively. Sixty-five percent of the patients were CMV-positive. Before PTCA, the degree (mean+/-SD) of stenosis was 69+/-10% in CMV-positive and 68+/-8.3% in CMV-negative subjects. PTCA resulted in a residual stenosis of 39% in both groups. After 6 months, the late losses of luminal diameter in the CMV-positive and -negative groups were 11+/-13% and 12+/-15%, respectively (P=0.658). In an ANCOVA with 25 potential risk factors for restenosis, CMV serostatus was not significantly associated with restenosis development. CONCLUSIONS: Our data indicate that prior CMV infection, in contrast to optimal atherectomy, is not associated with chronic restenosis after conventional coronary balloon angioplasty. The results do not support a possible benefit from antiviral therapy. (+info)
Long-term hantavirus persistence in rodent populations in central Arizona.
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For 35 months, we monitored hantavirus activity in rodent populations in central Arizona. The most frequently captured hantavirus antibody-positive rodents were Peromyscus boylii and P. truei. Antibody-positive P. boylii were more frequently male (84%), older, and heavier, and they survived longer on trapping web sites than antibody-negative mice. The number of antibody-positive P. boylii was greater during high population densities than during low densities, while antibody prevalence was greater during low population densities. Virus transmission and incidence rates, also related to population densities, varied by trapping site. The spatial distribution of antibody-positive P. boylii varied by population density and reflected the species preference for dense chaparral habitats. The focal ranges of antibody-positive P. boylii also demonstrated a patchy distribution of hantavirus. (+info)
A longitudinal study of Sin Nombre virus prevalence in rodents, southeastern Arizona.
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We determined the prevalence of Sin Nombre virus antibodies in small mammals in southeastern Arizona. Of 1,234 rodents (from 13 species) captured each month from May through December 1995, only mice in the genus Peromyscus were seropositive. Antibody prevalence was 14.3% in 21 white-footed mice (P. leucopus), 13.3% in 98 brush mice (P. boylii), 0.8% in 118 cactus mice (P. eremicus), and 0% in 2 deer mice (P. maniculatus). Most antibody-positive mice were adult male Peromyscus captured close to one another early in the study. Population dynamics of brush mice suggest a correlation between population size and hantavirus-antibody prevalence. (+info)
Statistical sensitivity for detection of spatial and temporal patterns in rodent population densities.
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A long-term monitoring program begun 1 year after the epidemic of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome in the U.S. Southwest tracked rodent density changes through time and among sites and related these changes to hantavirus infection rates in various small-mammal reservoir species and human disease outbreaks. We assessed the statistical sensitivity of the program's field design and tested for potential biases in population estimates due to unintended deaths of rodents. Analyzing data from two sites in New Mexico from 1994 to 1998, we found that for many species of Peromyscus, Reithrodontomys, Neotoma, Dipodomys, and Perognathus, the monitoring program detected species-specific spatial and temporal differences in rodent densities; trap-related deaths did not significantly affect long-term population estimates. The program also detected a short-term increase in rodent densities in the winter of 1997-98, demonstrating its usefulness in identifying conditions conducive to increased risk for human disease. (+info)
Natural history of Sin Nombre virus in western Colorado.
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A mark-recapture longitudinal study of immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibody to Sin Nombre virus (SNV) in rodent populations in western Colorado (1994-results summarized to October 1997) indicates the presence of SNV or a closely related hantavirus at two sites. Most rodents (principally deer mice, Peromyscus maniculatus, and pinyon mice, P. truei) did not persist on the trapping webs much beyond 1 month after first capture. Some persisted more than 1 year, which suggests that even a few infected deer mice could serve as transseasonal reservoirs and mechanisms for over-winter virus maintenance. A positive association between wounds and SNV antibody in adult animals at both sites suggests that when infected rodents in certain populations fight with uninfected rodents, virus amplification occurs. At both sites, male rodents comprised a larger percentage of seropositive mice than recaptured mice, which suggests that male mice contribute more to the SNV epizootic cycle than female mice. In deer mice, IgG antibody prevalence fluctuations were positively associated with population fluctuations. The rates of seroconversion, which in deer mice at both sites occurred mostly during late summer and midwinter, were higher than the seroprevalence, which suggests that the longer deer mice live, the greater the probability they will become infected with SNV. (+info)
Long-term studies of hantavirus reservoir populations in the southwestern United States: a synthesis.
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A series of intensive, longitudinal, mark-recapture studies of hantavirus infection dynamics in reservoir populations in the southwestern United States indicates consistent patterns as well as important differences among sites and host-virus associations. All studies found a higher prevalence of infection in older (particularly male) mice; one study associated wounds with seropositivity. These findings are consistent with horizontal transmission and transmission through fighting between adult male rodents. Despite very low rodent densities at some sites, low-level hantavirus infection continued, perhaps because of persistent infection in a few long-lived rodents or periodic reintroduction of virus from neighboring populations. Prevalence of hantavirus antibody showed seasonal and multiyear patterns that suggested a delayed density-dependent relationship between prevalence and population density. Clear differences in population dynamics and patterns of infection among sites, sampling periods, and host species underscore the importance of replication and continuity of long-term reservoir studies. Nevertheless, the measurable associations between environmental variables, reservoir population density, rates of virus transmission, and prevalence of infection in host populations may improve our capacity to model processes influencing infection and predict increased risk for hantavirus transmission to humans. (+info)
A serosurvey of Borna disease virus infection in wild rats by a capture ELISA.
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For a serological diagnostic test for Borna disease (BD), we developed a capture ELISA with specificity and sensitivity based on detection of antibodies against BD virus (BDV) p40 protein. Using our capture ELISA system, the antibody response of rats inoculated intracerebrally with BDV at 4 weeks after birth showed a sharp increase from 1 to 4 weeks postinoculation (p.i.) and a steady level after 5 weeks p.i. To investigate prevalence of BDV infection among wild rats, we examined sera of Rattus norvegicus in Kami-iso town, Oshima district, Hokkaido, suggesting that rats in this area had not been infected by BDV. (+info)
Non-purulent meningoencephalomyelitis of a Pacific striped dolphin (Lagenorhynchus obliquidens). The first evidence of morbillivirus infection in a dolphin at the Pacific Ocean around Japan.
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On March 22, 1998, a mature, male, hyposthenic Pacific striped dolphin (Lagenorhynchus obliquidens) was stranded at Aoshima Beach in Miyazaki prefecture, Japan. A necropsy performed 14 hr after death revealed mild diffuse congestion and edema of the leptomeninges and mild pulmonary atelectasis. Histopathologically, non-purulent inflammatory were observed throughout the cerebrum, thalamus, midbrain, pons, medulla oblongata, and spinal cord. Hematoxylin and eosin stain revealed no viral inclusion bodies. Immunohistochemistry using a monoclonal antibody against nucleoprotein of canine distemper virus (CDV-NP) revealed a number of CDV-NP-positive granular deposits in the cytoplasm and cell processes of the degenerating or intact neurons. The present paper is a first report of spontaneously occurred morbillivirus infection in a dolphin at the Pacific Ocean around Japan. (+info)