Low-dose fludarabine increases rituximab cytotoxicity in B-CLL cells by triggering caspases activation in vitro.

Rituximab maintenance therapy provides a significant benefit in patients with indolent B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). Based on its efficacy in improving response to chemotherapy, the anti-CD20 antibody is currently under evaluation as maintenance therapy also in patients with B-CLL. We evaluated rituximab-mediated cytotoxicity in 10 B-CLL cases pretreated in vitro with non-cytotoxic concentrations of fludarabine.

What is behind the presence of anti-neutrophil cytoplasmatic antibodies in chronic liver disease?

Background: Anti-neutrophil cytoplasm antibodies (ANCA) have been detected in serum from patients affected by autoimmune CLD, and to a lesser extent, in serum of patients affected by non autoimmune CLD. The clinical significance of ANCA in these disorders is still unclear.

Aims: To explore the clinical and diagnostic significance of ANCA in CLD.

Recent advances in diagnostic technologies for autoimmune diseases.

The investigation of autoimmunity provides an interest challenge in "omics" research and, particularly, proteome research, as autoimmune diseases are common disorders of unsolved etiology that occur in a wide range of manifestations, in all of which tissues and organs are attacked by the body's own immune system. Autoantibodies are a hallmark of many autoimmune diseases and the presence of autoantibodies is a distinctive and key characteristic of autoimmune diseases. Conventionally, the study of autoimmune response has always been conducted by analysing the presence and/or concentration of individual antibodies in biological fluids.

Western blot immunoassay for HSP-70 antibodies in idiopathic tinnitus: a preliminary report.

Objectives: Our preliminary study investigated the role of nonspecific immunologic tests and immunoassay for heat shock protein 70 (HSP-70) in supporting the possibility of an autoimmune inner ear process determining idiopathic tinnitus.

Methods: Thirty-six consecutive patients with idiopathic tinnitus without other otologic or autoimmune diseases and 20 healthy blood donor subjects underwent determinations of circulating immune complexes (CICs) and other nonspecific immunologic factors and immunoassay for HSP-70.

Results: The mean CIC values were 4.