Is soluble mesothelin-related protein an upfront predictive marker of pleural mesothelioma? A prospective study on Italian workers exposed to asbestos.

Objective: Soluble mesothelin-related peptide (SMRP) may be useful in the diagnosis and detection of early stage mesothelioma. We investigated the SMRP upfront predictive role for mesothelioma in asbestos-exposed workers.

Methods: A total of 1,715 subjects underwent a first visit and were invited for a follow-up after 1 and 2 years, with a clinical examination and blood sampling.

Bovine Serum Albumin: a double allergy risk.

We analyse two cases of Bovine Serum Albumin (BSA) allergy. The first regards a female laboratory technician with a history of bronchial asthma due to cat allergy, who developed an exacerbation of bronchial symptoms as a consequence of BSA powder inhalation at work. To date, sensitization to BSA as a cause of occupational asthma has rarely been reported in the scientific literature.

Individual predictors of increased serum mesothelin in asbestos-exposed workers.

The soluble mesothelin-related peptide (SMRP), a candidate marker for screening of subjects with asbestos exposure, is influenced by some individual and clinical factors. The aim of this study was to quantify the role of age, smoking, weight, presence of diseases and exposure to asbestos on serum SMRP levels in a large series of subjects exposed to asbestos, possible candidates for mesothelioma screening. One thousand seven hundred and four participants underwent clinical examination and were interviewed on medical anamnesis, occupation, smoking and weight.

Airway distensibility with lung inflation after allogeneic haematopoietic stem-cell transplantation.

The ability to reverse induced-bronchoconstriction by deep-inhalation increases after allogeneic haematopoietic stem-cell transplantation (HSCT), despite a decreased total lung capacity (TLC). We hypothesized that this effect may be due to an increased airway distensibility with lung inflation, likely related to an increment in lung stiffness. We studied 28 subjects, 2 weeks before and 2 months after HSCT.

Exposure to asbestos: correlation between blood levels of mesothelin and frequency of micronuclei in peripheral blood lymphocytes.

Inhalation of asbestos, a mineral extensively used in a variety of applications, is strongly associated with malignant mesothelioma (MM), a fatal cancer of the pleura. Soluble mesothelin-related peptides (SMRP) are a promising biomarker suggested for the screening of MM in healthy asbestos-exposed subjects. In the present study a comparison of micronucleus (Mn) frequencies in peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) between 44 asbestos-exposed and 22 control individuals has been performed, and the correlation with serum SMRP has been examined.