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A male patient with psoriatic arthritis and visceral Leishmania infantum infection was treated with oral miltefosine 50 mg three times a day for 4 weeks at the Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Miltefosine plasma concentrations were measured with liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry. The parasite load was followed by quantitative nucleic acid sequence-based amplification (QT-NASBA) assay in blood. Miltefosine elicited a prompt therapeutic effect. After an initial worsening of symptoms and an increase of QT-NASBA values during the first week, recovery was rapidly achieved. QT-NASBA values declined exponentially and were negative after 6 weeks. Miltefosine plasma concentrations continued to accumulate during the 4 weeks of treatment. The terminal elimination half-life was 14.8 days.

Plasma nelfinavir concentration ratios (CRs) were calculated for all pregnant (n=27) and nonpregnant (n=48) human immunodeficiency virus type 1-infected women receiving the drug who visited our outpatient clinic. In pregnant women, mean and median nelfinavir CRs were significantly lower (P=.02 and P=.04, respectively), and 51% of the CRs were below the clinically relevant threshold of 0.90, compared with 35% of the CRs in nonpregnant women. After we adjusted for confounders, we found that the mean nelfinavir CR was 34% lower in pregnant women (P=.02). With targeted interventions, subsequent CRs in pregnant women showed a significant increase (median increase, 0.31; P=.01).

Serum concentrations of soluble receptors for tumor necrosis factor-alpha (sTNF alpha R) types I and II, beta 2-microglobulin, and CD4 cell counts were determined at entry and 3-5 months before AIDS diagnosis in 20 untreated, asymptomatic human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1)-seropositive subjects, who progressed to AIDS within 5.5 years of study entry, and in an equal number of HIV-seronegative and untreated seropositive controls, who remained asymptomatic. At entry, concentrations of sTNF alpha R type II and beta 2-microglobulin were elevated and increased further in progressors. The odds ratio (OR) for sTNF alpha R type II concentrations > or = 6.5 ng/mL was 18.4 and for beta 2-microglobulin concentrations > or = 3 mg/L was 6.6; CD4 cell counts were not predictive. Five months before diagnosis, the OR was 102.0 for sTNF alpha R type II concentrations > or = 7.5 ng/mL, 13.5 for beta 2-microglobulin concentrations > or = 4 mg/L, and 6.9 for CD4 cell counts < 250/mm3 (counts < 500/mm3 were not predictive). Of the three variables, sTNF alpha R type II was proved by bivariate analysis to be the strongest and earliest predictor of disease progression.