HLA Allele Frequencies and Association with Severity of COVID-19 Infection in Northern Italian Patients.

HLA allelic distribution was analysed in a cohort of 96 Northern Italian subjects (53M/43F) (mean age 59.9 ± 13.3 years) from Lombardy who developed COVID-19 during the first two pandemic waves to investigate possible correlations between HLA molecules and disease severity.

Insulin autoimmune syndrome (Hirata's disease) in an Italian patient: a case report and review of the literature.

We describe the case of a 54-year-old Caucasian Italian male experiencing episodes of hypoglycemia, occurring mainly after meals. He had never been exposed to insulin and was taking ramipril, flecainide and acetylsalicylic acid. An oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) showed high blood glucose levels diagnostic for diabetes mellitus at 120 min and hypoglycemia with inappropriately high insulin levels at 240 min.

Addison's disease: a survey on 633 patients in Padova.

Objective: Addison's disease (AD) is a rare endocrine condition.

Design: We aimed to evaluate clinical, immunologic, adrenal imaging, and genetic features in 633 Italian patients with AD followed up since 1967.

Methods: Adrenal cortex autoantibodies, presence of other autoimmune and nonautoimmune diseases, nonadrenal autoantibodies, adrenal imaging, and genetic profile for HLA-DRB1 and AIRE were analyzed.

KIR/HLA-I mismatching and risk of relapse in paediatric patients undergoing non-haploidentical allogeneic haematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

In HSCT setting, KIR-driven alloreactivity might be better predicted if the donor KIR genotype is considered in addition to the recipient HLA genotype. The prediction of NK cell alloreactivity relies on the missing ligand in the recipient, a scenario that can be found in HLA-identical and non-identical allotransplants. The aim of this study was to investigate at genetic level the prognostic impact of recipient HLA-I lacking for donor KIR on allotransplanted patients outcome.

AIRE gene mutations and autoantibodies to interferon omega in patients with chronic hypoparathyroidism without APECED.

Objective: To assess autoimmune regulator (AIRE) gene mutations, class II HLA haplotypes, and organ- or non-organ-specific autoantibodies in patients with chronic hypoparathyroidism (CH) without associated Addison's disease (AD) or chronic candidiasis (CC).

Design, Patients And Measurements: Twenty-four patients who had CH without AD or CC were included in the study. AIRE gene mutations in all 14 exons were studied using PCR in 24 patients, 105 healthy controls and 15 first-degree relatives of CH patients with AIRE mutations.

Lack of expression of inhibitory KIR3DL1 receptor in patients with natural killer cell-type lymphoproliferative disease of granular lymphocytes.

Background: Natural killer cell-type lymphoproliferative disease of granular lymphocytes is a disorder characterized by chronic proliferation of CD3(-)CD16(+) granular lymphocytes. By flow cytometry analysis, we previously demonstrated a dysregulation in killer immunoglobulin-like receptor (KIR) expression in natural killer cells from patients with this lymphoproliferative disease, the activating KIR receptors being mostly expressed. We also found that patients with natural killer cell-type lymphoproliferative disease of granular lymphocytes usually had KIR genotypes characterized by multiple activating KIR genes.

Neurological complications of celiac disease and autoimmune mechanisms: a prospective study.

Humoral immune mechanisms may have a role in the neurological complications of celiac disease (CD). We assessed 71 CD patients for neurologic manifestations and presence of serum antibodies to neural antigens. Sixteen patients (22.

Celiac disease in North Italian patients with autoimmune thyroid diseases.

Background: Patients with autoimmune thyroid diseases (AITDs) are prone to develop other autoimmune manifestations and to display autoimmune polyendocrine syndromes. An increased prevalence of celiac disease (CD) was demonstrated in adult European and Italian patients with AITDs; conversely, an increased prevalence of AITDs was demonstrated in patients with CD. An IgA deficiency is the most frequent immunodeficiency in humans and, in general, high frequency of this disorder was demonstrated in those with autoimmune diseases.

Antibodies to muscle and ganglionic acetylcholine receptors (AchR) in celiac disease.

Background: About 2.5% of patients with idiopathic peripheral neuropathy or idiopathic dysautonomia have underlying celiac disease (CD). Antibodies to ganglioside have been reported in CD patients with neuropathy.

Onset of type 1 diabetes mellitus during peginterferon alpha-2b plus ribavirin treatment for chronic hepatitis C.

A 61-year-old man was observed to develop type 1 diabetes mellitus following a 3-month treatment with recombinant alpha-2b peginterferon combined with ribavirin for chronic hepatitis C. Serum samples, collected before the start of therapy and 2 months after the diagnosis of diabetes mellitus, revealed islet-cell antibodies at a titer of 20 and 40 JDF-U, respectively, and glutamic acid decarboxylase autoantibodies at a value of 76.5 and 196 IU/ml, respectively.

Estimated risk for developing autoimmune Addison's disease in patients with adrenal cortex autoantibodies.

Context: Patients with adrenal cortex autoantibodies (ACA) without overt autoimmune Addison's disease (AAD) are at risk of adrenal failure.

Design: To assess the contribution of different clinical, immunological, genetic, and functional factors in the progression to AAD, we followed up 100 ACA-positive and 63 ACA-negative patients without AAD for a maximum of 21 yr (mean 6.0 yr, median 4.

Multiple sclerosis and autoimmune diseases: epidemiology and HLA-DR association in North-east Italy.

An autoimmune background is thought to characterize the families of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients, but disease patterns and HLA-DR association seem to vary considerably among different ethnic groups. We investigated the prevalence of autoimmune diseases in 245 MS patients and 245 age- and sex-matched normal controls (NC), originating from and living in North-east Italy, and their first degree relatives, using a case-control method. Further, HLA-DRB1 expression was analysed in MS and NC.