Characterization for anti-cytoplasmic antibodies specificity by morphological and molecular techniques.

Purpose: The aim of our study was the characterization of anti-cytoplasmic antibodies by home-made morphological and biochemical techniques. Indeed, indirect immunofluorescence (IIF) on HEp-2 cell line is not always exhaustive in relation to the complexity of the antigens involved.

Methods: Nine serum samples with anti-cytoplasmic antibodies (2 anti-Golgi apparatus, 3 with diffuse pattern and 4 with lysosome/endosome-like pattern) were tested with fluorescent confocal microscopy, Western blot analysis and, when necessary, with electron microscopy technique.

Diagnostic value of anti-mutated citrullinated vimentin in comparison to anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide and anti-viral citrullinated peptide 2 antibodies in rheumatoid arthritis: an Italian multicentric study and review of the literature.

In the last years, the detection of antibodies (Abs) against citrullinated peptides (ACPA) has largely replaced rheumatoid factor (RF) as the most helpful biomarker in the diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Current assays detect ACPA reactivity with epitopes on various different citrullinated proteins. Among these, anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide (CCP) Abs have been widely demonstrated to be an important diagnostic and prognostic tool because of their high specificity.

Multicentric evaluation of a second generation assay to detect antiviral citrullinated peptide antibodies: a collaborative study by the Forum Interdisciplinare per la Ricerca nelle Malattie Autoimmuni.

Aims: A novel immunoenzymatic assay using viral citrullinated peptides derived from Epstein-Barr virus-encoded proteins (viral citrullinated peptide 2 (VCP2)) has been developed and evaluated by means of a multicentre collaborative study.

Methods: Three hundred nine sera from patients with established rheumatoid arthritis (RA), 36 with early arthritis, 12 with juvenile arthritis and 453 controls were tested for VCP2 and cyclic citrullinated peptide (CCP) antibodies.

Results: The VCP2 assay showed 78.

Detection of anti-IFI16 antibodies by ELISA: clinical and serological associations in systemic sclerosis.

Objectives: To validate the clinical significance of anti-IFI16 autoantibodies in SSc and assess their associations with serological markers of SSc.

Methods: A semi-quantitative ELISA was used to detect anti-IFI16 autoantibodies in the sera of 344 SSc patients from seven Italian hospitals and 144 healthy controls. SSc-associated autoantibodies [anti-RNA polymerase III (anti-RNAP III) antibodies, anti-centromere, anti-topo I] and IF patterns were evaluated using commercial assays.

NT pro-B-type natriuretic peptide levels are related to microvascular reperfusion in patients undergoing direct percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty for anterior ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to describe the time course of NT pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT pro-BNP) levels in patients with large anterior ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) treated with primary angioplasty (PPCI) and to investigate the relationship between these values and both microvascular reperfusion and left ventricular (LV) function.

Background: The clinical efficacy of PPCI is largely dependent on the achievement of microvascular reperfusion. Myocardial blush is an angiographic method to evaluate the presence of effective reperfusion after PPCI.

Antiprothrombin antibodies: a comparative analysis of homemade and commercial methods. A collaborative study by the Forum Interdisciplinare per la Ricerca nelle Malattie Autoimmuni (FIRMA).

Objective: Prothrombin (PT) is a target for antibodies with lupus anticoagulant (LA) activity, suggesting the possible application of anti-prothrombin antibody (aPT) assays in patients with antiphospholipid syndrome (APS). Different methods - both homemade and commercial - for the detection of aPT are available, but they seem to produce conflicting results. The purpose of this study was to compare the performance of different assays on a set of well-characterized serum samples.

Fecal calprotectin levels in patients with colonic polyposis.

Context: The usefulness of stool calprotectin determination in diagnosis of inflammatory disease of the colon has been reported; information about its usefulness for patients with polyposis are scarce, however.

Objective: To evaluate the significance of stool calprotectin concentrations for patients affected by colonic polyposis.

Patients: Sixty-three consecutive patients (35 males, 28 females, mean age 60.

Prevalence of undiagnosed celiac disease in the parents of preterm and/or small for gestational age infants.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of undiagnosed celiac disease (CD) in the parents of preterm and/or small for gestational age (SGA) infants.

Methods: A sample of 1,714 parents (868 women, 846 men) of 905 preterm (<37 wk of gestational age) and/or SGA (<10th percentile of birthweight) infants consecutively born in Lombardy, Northern Italy, and not diagnosed with CD prior to pregnancy, were tested for CD. Diagnosis was based on antitissue transglutaminase and anti-endomysial antibodies and confirmed by duodenal biopsy.

Circulating CA 549 and other associated antigens in breast cancer patients.

The new marker CA 549 was determined in the serum of 258 breast cancer patients, classified according to TNM (148 at diagnosis and 110 at relapse), using a RIA method (cut-off: 10 U/ml). CEA, CA 15-3 and MCA were also evaluated. At diagnosis, CA 549 was more sensitive than the other markers, and cut-off values of 11 and 12 U/ml did not significantly reduce sensitivity.

Tumour associated antigens CA 15.3 and CA 125 in ovarian cancer.

CA 125 and CA 15.3 antigens were determined by enzyme immunoassay in 78 patients with ovarian cancer for a total of 540 determinations. The antigens were also investigated in sera from 100 women with other gynaecological diseases, 82 lung cancer patients and in 39 pleural fluids of varying origin.

Efficiency of composite laboratory tests in the diagnosis of liver malignancies.

The utility of the markers CEA, beta-HCG, CA-50, alpha-fetoprotein (APF), ferritin, alkaline phosphatase (AP), its isoenzyme liver-1 (APL1), gamma-glutamyltransferase (gGT), its fast migrating isoenzyme (gGT1) and 5'nucleotidase (5'N) in differentiating liver malignancies and benign involvement was evaluated in the sera of 85 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), 157 with chronic liver disease (CLD) and 91 with liver metastases (LM) derived from different tumors. The mean concentrations of all the parameters except CEA and GGT1 were significantly different in HCC and CLD, but a broad overlap existed in the two groups, so different cut-offs were considered to assess the positive and negative predictive values and test efficiency (Eff). The best results were observed considering AFP greater than 100 IU/m (Eff0.

Detection of malignant pleural effusions by tumor marker evaluation.

Cytologic examination and determination of tumor markers (PHI, LDH, alpha-1-glycoprotein, alpha-2-HS-glycoprotein, beta 2-microglobulin, ferritin [corrected], sialic acid, IgE, fetoprotein, CEA, beta HCG and beta 1-SP-glycoprotein) were carried out in pleural fluid samples obtained from 70 patients with suspected neoplasia. Tumor markers were also determined in sera. The protein content of all pleural effusions was greater than or equal to 3 g/dl.

Beta-2-microglobulin as a tumor marker in solid malignancies.

Beta-2-microglobulin (beta 2-MG) and CEA were measured in the sera of 186 cancer patients divided into two groups: at diagnosis (D) and at follow-up (F). Four groups of patients at diagnosis (D-I, D-II, D-III and D-IV according to TNM classification) and two at follow-up (in remission, F-RS, and in relapse, F-RP) were considered. All patients had normal serum creatinine and urea concentrations.

Variations in alpha-2-HS glycoprotein level in neoplastic disease with and without involvement of bone.

Variations in the serum level of alpha-HS-glycoprotein may be observed in all pathological conditions which induce changes in bone turn-over, as well as in inflammatory and neoplastic diseases. This study includes 162 patients divided into four groups according to the TNM classification (tumour, lymph node metastasis). The first consisted of patients with neoplasms at TNM stages 1 and 2 with no bone metastases; the second of similar patients at TNM stages 3 and 4.