Effects of omalizumab treatment on serum cytokine concentrations of atopic patients with chronic spontaneous urticaria: a preliminary report.

Omalizumab has recently obtained indication for chronic spontaneous urticaria both in the US and Europe. However, the mechanism of action of this drug has yet to be fully elucidated. Previous studies have shown elevations in cytokine serum levels in patients with chronic spontaneous urticaria, and it is not known whether omalizumab treatment may affect cytokine serum levels in this condition.

Omalizumab for difficult-to-treat dermatological conditions: clinical and immunological features from a retrospective real-life experience.

Background: Omalizumab, a therapeutic monoclonal antibody specific for human IgE, has thus far been used as add-on therapy for moderate-to-severe allergic asthma in adults and children.

Objective: The objective of this study was to test omalizumab efficacy in other conditions in which the IgE-mast cell axis is supposed to play a role.

Methods: Nine patients with dermatological manifestations possibly related to activation of the IgE-mast cell axis (six chronic spontaneous urticaria and three atopic dermatitis patients) were administered off-label omalizumab because of refractoriness to standard therapy.

Clinical and phenotypic features of CD5-negative B cell chronic lymphoproliferative disease resembling chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) B cells are phenotypically identified by surface expression of CD5 and CD23 antigens. Infrequently, patients with a monoclonal B cell lymphocytosis clinically resembling classic B-CLL have been found to harbor leukemic B cells lacking expression of the CD5 antigen. Little information is available concerning such CLL-like lymphoproliferative syndromes.

Lupus mastitis in systemic lupus erythematosus: a rare condition requiring a minimally invasive diagnostic approach.

Breast involvement is a rare event in SLE patients. The most frequent presentation is lupus panniculitis with skin erythema, tenderness, and parenchymal nodules. However, when breast masses are detected in SLE patients without significant superficial inflammation, it is mandatory to rule out breast carcinoma.

Behavior of circulating CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ regulatory T cells in colon cancer patients undergoing surgery.

CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ regulatory T cells (Treg) specialize in suppressing immune responses. In this study, 47 consecutive colon cancer patients were subjected to circulating Treg frequency assessment by flow cytometry before and after cancer resection. Thirty-two healthy subjects served as controls.

A scleroderma-like cutaneous syndrome associated with a marked Th2-type immune response occurring after a prosthetic joint implant.

A scleroderma-like cutaneous syndrome, occurring after implantation of a prosthetic knee joint in an elderly woman, is reported. This case did not seem to typically fit into any of the known scleroderma-like disorders of the skin described to date. The patient was shown to be sensitized to metals contained in the prosthesis and to mount a Th2-type immune response concomitantly with development of skin fibrosis.

T-lymphocytes expressing CC chemokine receptor-5 are increased in frail older adults.

Objectives: To evaluate the frequencies of T-lymphocytes expressing CC chemokine receptor-5 (CCR5(+) T-cells) and their relationship with frailty in older adults.

Design: Case-control study with an age-, race-, and sex-matched design.

Setting: General Clinical Research Center.

T cell polarization identifies distinct clinical phenotypes in scleroderma lung disease.

Objective: Lung involvement is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in systemic sclerosis (SSc; scleroderma), and interstitial lung disease (ILD) is the most common pulmonary manifestation. An abnormal profibrotic Th2/Tc2-polarized T cell response is postulated to mediate tissue damage and fibrosis. The aim of this study was to investigate whether a polarized T cell phenotype in SSc is associated with lung disease or other clinical manifestations of SSc.

Posttranscriptional regulation of IL-13 in T cells: role of the RNA-binding protein HuR.

Background: IL-13, a critical cytokine in allergy, is regulated by as-yet-elusive mechanisms.

Objective: We investigated IL-13 posttranscriptional regulation by HuR, a protein associating with adenylate-uridylate-rich elements in the 3' untranslated regions (UTRs) of mRNA, promoting mRNA stability and translation.

Methods: IL-13 mRNA decay was monitored in human T(H)2-skewed cells by using the transcriptional inhibitor actinomycin D.

GATA3 up-regulation associated with surface expression of CD294/CRTH2: a unique feature of human Th cells.

GATA-3 and T-box expressed in T cells (T-bet) play central roles in Th-cell development and function. Consistently, studies in mice document their selective expression in Th1 and Th2 cells, respectively. In contrast, it is not clear whether these genes are regulated in human Th cells.

T-helper cell type-2 regulation in allergic disease.

Substantial experimental evidence now supports the notion that allergic diseases are characterised by a skewing of the immune system towards a T-helper cell type-2 (Th2) phenotype. Studies using both human and mouse model systems have provided key evidence for the role that Th2 cytokines play in driving many of the hallmarks of allergic inflammation. Furthermore, the signalling pathways by which Th2 cytokines exert their effects on airway target cells are rapidly being elucidated, and antagonists of the Th2 pathway are under active development.

Induction of CD95 upregulation does not render chronic lymphocytic leukemia B-cells susceptible to CD95-mediated apoptosis.

B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL) is characterized by a progressive accumulation of long-lived and well-differentiated clonal B-lymphocytes in peripheral blood, lymphoid tissue and bone marrow. Although B-CLL pathogenesis is not entirely understood, the progressive increase in lymphocyte counts coupled with the very low proportion of proliferating cells suggests that B-CLL may be primarily determined by defective apoptosis. Consistently, freshly analyzed CLL B-cells express very low levels of membrane CD95, one of the best-known receptors involved in triggering apoptosis.

Direct or reverse correlations within the expression of activation, differentiation or T-B cooperation molecules on chronic lymphocytic leukemia B cells.

Aim: B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL) is characterized by homogeneous coexpression of CD19, CD23 and CD5, and poor expression of membrane Ig. The aim of this study was to evaluate, in B-CLL patients and in healthy subjects by flow cytometry, B cell expression of surface molecules involved in cell activation, differentiation, T-B cooperation and apoptosis.

Methods: The study population consisted of 29 patients (16 men and 13 women; mean age: 66.

Effects of preactivated autologous T lymphocytes on CD80, CD86 and CD95 expression by chronic lymphocytic leukemia B cells.

Profound immune dysfunction is a constant feature in B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL) patients. Immunological abnormalities include hypogammaglobulinemia, impaired immunoglobulin class switching and diminished germinal center formation. This state of immune suppression renders B-CLL patients highly susceptible to infections, which contribute greatly to morbidity and mortality in this disease.

Primary cardiac T-cell lymphoma.

Primary cardiac lymphoma (PCL), defined as a lymphoma clinically mimicking cardiac disease, with the bulk of the tumor located intrapericardially, is extremely rare in immunocompetent patients. Clinical manifestations vary depending on sites of involvement in the heart and include chest pain, arrhythmias, pericardial effusion, and heart failure. Diagnosis is often difficult and may require invasive procedures; in some cases, diagnosis is not made until autopsy.

Effects of stress hyperglycemia on acute myocardial infarction: role of inflammatory immune process in functional cardiac outcome.

Objective: Stress hyperglycemia has been associated with increased mortality in patients with myocardial infarction (MI). We examined the association between plasma glucose levels, circulating inflammatory markers, T-cell activation, and functional cardiac outcome in patients with first MI.

Research Design And Methods: Echocardiographic parameters, circulating levels of interleukin-18 (IL-18), C-reactive protein (CPR), and the percent of CD16-CD56, CD4/CD8, CD152, and HLA-DR expression were investigated in 108 patients with acute MI on admission to the emergency ward.

Differences in constitutive and activation-induced expression of CD69 and CD95 between normal and chronic lymphocytic leukemia B cells.

B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL) is characterized by a sustained accumulation of long-lived and well-differentiated B lymphocytes in lymphoid tissues, peripheral blood and bone marrow. Although the pathogenesis of this disease is not entirely understood, altered apoptosis is believed to play a relevant role in B-CLL. In this study, we compared the expression of CD95, the best characterized surface molecule involved in triggering the apoptotic machinery, on normal and CLL B cells before and after in vitro activation with polyclonal stimulators.

Altered constitutive and activation-induced expression of CD95 by B- and T-cells in B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

Expression of CD95, a molecule involved in activation-induced cell death (AICD), might contribute to explain accumulation of leukemic B-cells and functional impairment of T-cells in B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL). There-fore, we compared constitutive and activation-induced expression of CD95 and CD69 by B- and T-cells in CLL patients and in healthy donors.

[Late onset immunodeficiency with hypo-IgG and hyper-IgM, T CD4+ lymphocytopenia and vitiligo].

The Authors report the clinical case of a patient with a deficit of humoral immunity who developed infections since puberty. The serum levels of IgG and IgA decreased progressively in the fourth decade of life, while serum IgM increased. Moreover, the patient developed a marked CD4+ T lymphocytopenia and a meager B lymphocytopenia, vitiligo, positivity for anti-SSA/Ro autoantibodies and granulomatous phlogosis of the knee.