CD3+CD4-CD8- Double-Negative Lymphocytes Are Increased in the Aqueous Humor of Patients with Retinitis Pigmentosa: Their Possible Role in Mediating Inflammation.

Recently, evidence has supported a significant role for immune and oxidative-mediated damage underlying the pathogenesis of different types of retinal diseases, including retinitis pigmentosa (RP). Our study aimed to evaluate the presence of immune cells and mediators in patients with RP using flow cytometric analysis of peripheral blood (PB) and aqueous humor (AH) samples. We recruited 12 patients with RP and nine controls undergoing cataract surgery.

Seasonal patterns of myositis-specific and myositis-associated autoantibodies in Italy: Seasonal patterns of myositis autoantibodies.

Objective: Idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIM) are a heterogeneous group of systemic autoimmune disorders affecting skeletal muscles but also other organs. There are different forms of IIM, each with peculiar clinical manifestations and prognosis. Accordingly, several autoantibodies have been described in IIM, with different prevalence in the different forms of the disease.

The B-cells paradigm in systemic sclerosis: an update on pathophysiology and B-cell-targeted therapies.

Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is considered a rare autoimmune disease in which there are alterations of both the innate and adaptive immune response resulting in the production of autoantibodies. Abnormalities of the immune system compromise the normal function of blood vessels leading to a vasculopathy manifested by Raynaud's phenomenon, an early sign of SSc . As a consequence of this reactive picture, the disease can evolve leading to tissue fibrosis.

Effect of antimetabolite regimen on cellular and humoral immune response to SARS-COV-2 vaccination in solid organ transplant recipients.

Objective: Novel mRNA-based vaccines have been proven to be powerful tools in combating the global pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 protecting individuals, especially the immunocompromised, from COVID-19. Still, it remains largely unknown how solid organ transplant and different immunosuppressive medications affect development of vaccine-induced immunity.

Methods: In this work, we monitored humoral and cellular memory responses after mRNA SARS-CoV-2 two-doses and booster doses vaccination in cystic fibrosis lung transplanted patients (CFT) and compared them with both cystic fibrosis patients without lung transplant (CF) and with kidney transplant recipients (KT).

HPLC and flow cytometry combined approach for HbF analysis in fetomaternal haemorrhage evaluation.

Introduction: Recently, a flow cytometric (FC) based test has been developed for detection of circulating fetal cells to replace the less accurate and reproducible Kleihauer-Betke test.FC test is easier to perform, it can distinguish the origin of fetal cells, but it is expensive and available in highly specialized laboratories. We evaluated the introduction of high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) approach as initial screening to identify patients who need an additional FC test to better discriminate the nature of haemoglobin-F (HbF) positive cells.

Disseminated nocardiosis and anti-GM-CSF antibodies.

Infections that are unusually severe or caused by opportunistic pathogens are a hallmark of primary immunodeficiency (PID). Anti-cytokine autoantibodies (ACA) are an emerging cause of acquired immunodeficiency mimicking PID. Nocardia spp.

Utility of bronchoalveolar lavage for COVID-19: a perspective from the Dragon consortium.

Diagnosing COVID-19 and treating its complications remains a challenge. This review reflects the perspective of some of the Dragon (IMI 2-call 21, #101005122) research consortium collaborators on the utility of bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) in COVID-19. BAL has been proposed as a potentially useful diagnostic tool to increase COVID-19 diagnosis sensitivity.

Bendamustine impairs humoral but not cellular immunity to SARS-CoV-2 vaccination in rituximab-treated B-cell lymphoma-affected patients.

Background: Patients with B-cell lymphoma are a fragile category of subjects, particularly exposed to infections and characterized by an impaired vaccination response due to the disease itself and, even more, to the chemotherapy regimen. For this reason, extensive knowledge of the immune response status of these subjects is of fundamental importance to obtain possible indications for a tailored immunization strategy.

Methods: We enrolled two cohorts of patients with B-cell lymphoma under rituximab treatment or 3-24 months after treatment.

T lymphocytes-related cell network in the pathogenesis of juvenile idiopathic arthritis: a key point for personalized treatment.

Purpose Of Review: Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) is a heterogeneous group of arthritis of unknown origin occurring in children under 16 years of age and persisting for at least 6 weeks. Given that JIA is an inflammatory disorder, treatment strategies, including also biologicals, are focused on suppressing excessive inflammation. The finding that different patients display different responses to biological drugs supports the concept that different pathogenic mechanisms can exist in JIA, with specific cellular and molecular mechanisms driving inflammation in each patient.

Optimization of the diagnosis and characterization of gibberellin-regulated protein sensitization: An Italian cohort study.

Background: Pru p 7 was the first gibberellin-regulated protein (GRP) to be identified as a food allergen as the basis of a pollen food allergy syndrome.

Objective: To clinically and biologically characterize a group of patients with suspected allergy to Pru p 7 to optimize the diagnostic workup of GRP sensitization.

Methods: Allergy to Pru p 7 was suspected in the presence of a systemic allergic reaction to plant food, positive skin prick test results for cypress pollen and lipid-transfer protein-enriched peach extract, and absence of Pru p 3-specific immunoglobulin E.

Polyploid tubular cells initiate a TGF-β1 controlled loop that sustains polyploidization and fibrosis after acute kidney injury.

Polyploidization of tubular cells (TC) is triggered by acute kidney injury (AKI) to allow survival in the early phase after AKI, but in the long run promotes fibrosis and AKI-chronic kidney disease (CKD) transition. The molecular mechanism governing the link between polyploid TC and kidney fibrosis remains to be clarified. In this study, we demonstrate that immediately after AKI, expression of cell cycle markers mostly identifies a population of DNA-damaged polyploid TC.

Case Report: A child with NFKB1 haploinsufficiency explaining the linkage between immunodeficiency and short stature.

We report the case of a patient with common variable immunodeficiency (CVID) presenting with short stature and treated with recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH). Whole exome sequencing revealed a novel single-nucleotide duplication in the gene (c.904dup, p.

Effect of age and treatment on predictive value of measurable residual disease: implications for clinical management of adult patients with acute myeloid leukemia.

Measurable residual disease (MRD) is a powerful predictor of outcome in acute myeloid leukemia. In the early phases of treatment, MRD refines initial disease risk stratification and is used for the allocation to allogeneic transplant. Despite its well-established role, a relatively high fraction of patients eventually relapses albeit achieving MRDneg status.

APP and Bace1: Differential effect of cholesterol enrichment on processing and plasma membrane mobility.

High cholesterol levels are a risk factor for the development of Alzheimer's disease. Experiments investigating the influence of cholesterol on the proteolytic processing of the amyloid precursor protein (APP) by the β-secretase Bace1 and on their proximity in cells have led to conflicting results. By using a fluorescence bioassay coupled with flow cytometry we found a direct correlation between the increase in membrane cholesterol amount and the degree of APP shedding in living human neuroblastoma cells.

Clonally expanded PD-1-expressing T cells are enriched in synovial fluid of juvenile idiopathic arthritis patients.

Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) is the most common chronic rheumatic condition in childhood. The disease etiology remains largely unknown; however, a key role in JIA pathogenesis is surely mediated by T cells. T-lymphocytes activity is controlled via signals, known as immune checkpoints.

Musculin does not modulate the disease course of Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis and DSS colitis.

Previous evidences show that Musculin (Msc), a repressor member of basic helix-loop-helix transcription factors, is responsible in vitro for the low responsiveness of human Th17 cells to the growth factor IL-2, providing an explanation for Th17 cells rarity in inflammatory tissue. However, how and to what extent Musculin gene can regulate the immune response in vivo in an inflammatory context is still unknown. Here, exploiting two animal models of inflammatory diseases, the Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis (EAE) and the dextran sodium sulfate (DSS)-induced colitis, we evaluated the effect of Musculin gene knock-out on clinical course, performing also a deep immune phenotypical analysis on T cells compartment and an extended microbiota analysis in colitis-sick mice.

Fourth Dose of mRNA COVID-19 Vaccine Transiently Reactivates Spike-Specific Immunological Memory in People Living with HIV (PLWH).

: People Living With HIV (PLWH), with advanced disease, lower CD4+ T cell counts or an unsuppressed HIV viral load can have a suboptimal vaccine response. For this reason, in the current COVID-19 pandemic, they represent a prioritized population for the SARS-CoV-2 fourth (or second booster) vaccine dose. This work aims to investigate the effects of a second booster on the reactivation of the spike-specific humoral and cell-mediated immune responses in PLWH.

Infection with SARS-CoV-2 Variants Is Associated with Different Long COVID Phenotypes.

COVID-19 has been associated with a broad range of long-term sequelae, commonly referred to as "long-COVID" or "post-COVID-19" syndrome. Despite an increasing body of literature, long COVID remains poorly characterized. We retrospectively analysed data from electronic medical records of patients admitted to the post-COVID-19 outpatient service of the Infectious and Tropical Diseases Unit, Careggi University Hospital, Florence, Italy, between June 2020 and June 2021, 4-12 weeks after hospital discharge.

Therapeutical Targets in Allergic Inflammation.

From the discovery of IgE to the in-depth characterization of Th2 cells and ILC2, allergic inflammation has been extensively addressed to find potential therapeutical targets. To date, omalizumab, an anti-IgE monoclonal antibody, and dupilumab, an anti-IL-4 receptor α monoclonal antibody, represent two pillars of biologic therapy of allergic inflammation. Their increasing indications and long-term follow-up studies are shaping the many different faces of allergy.

Disease correlates and clinical relevance of hereditary α-tryptasemia in patients with systemic mastocytosis.

Background: Systemic mastocytosis (SM) encompasses a heterogeneous group of clonal disorders characterized by abnormal expansion of mast cells (MCs). Beyond KIT and other genes recurrently mutated in myeloid neoplasms, several genetic variants have been described as predisposing to the development of the disease and influencing its clinical phenotype. Increased copy number variants of the TPSAB1 gene were identified as a cause of nonclonal elevated tryptasemia and defined as hereditary α-tryptasemia (HαT).