Dickkopf-1 (Dkk-1) serum levels in systemic sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis patients: correlation with the Trabecular Bone Score (TBS).

The aim of this research was to determine any correlations between Dickkopf-1 serum levels (Dkk-1, a natural inhibitor of the Wnt signaling pathway promoting osteoclastogenesis) and the Trabecular Bone Score (TBS), in systemic sclerosis (SSc) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients. It also aimed at determining any difference in Dkk-1 serum levels between SSc and RA patients and a control group (CNT) of healthy subjects. A prospective study was carried out in 60 SSc and 60 RA patients and 60 CNT.

Vitamin D deficiency and clinical correlations in systemic sclerosis patients: A retrospective analysis for possible future developments.

Objective: Assessment of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) correlations with clinical parameters and evaluation of the efficacy of standard oral supplementation in systemic sclerosis (SSc) patients.

Methods: 154 SSc patients were recruited, in all seasons. Serum 25(OH)D concentrations were evaluated using LIAISON 25-OH (Diasorin, Italy).

Granulocytes and monocytes apheresis induces upregulation of TGFβ in patients with active ulcerative colitis: A possible involvement of soluble HLA-I.

Granulocyte and monocyte apheresis has been used in different immune-mediated disorders, mainly inflammatory bowel diseases. The removal of activated leukocytes and several additional immunomodulatory mechanisms have been so far suggested to explain the anti-inflammatory effects of the treatment. Recent data indicate that, during centrifugation based apheresis, sHLA-I adsorbed to plastic circuits is able to induce TGFβ production in activated leukocytes.

The Role of Cytokines, Chemokines, and Growth Factors in the Pathogenesis of Pityriasis Rosea.

Introduction: Pityriasis rosea (PR) is an exanthematous disease related to human herpesvirus- (HHV-) 6/7 reactivation. The network of mediators involved in recruiting the infiltrating inflammatory cells has never been studied. Object.

High-resolution ultrasound of peripheral nerves in systemic sclerosis: a pilot study of computer-aided quantitative assessment of nerve density.

Objectives: To quantitatively evaluate and compare nerve density in patients with limited cutaneous systemic sclerosis (lcSSc) and control subjects using high-resolution ultrasound (US) with a computer-aided assessment.

Methods: Forty patients and 40 age- and sex-matched control subjects were prospectively enrolled. Ultrasound (US) examination (17-5 MHz probe) of the median nerve at the elbow was performed bilaterally by one radiologist.

Immunomodulation due to plasma or plasma-platelet apheresis donation: Events occurring during donation procedures.

Background: It has been recently shown that during therapeutic apheresis procedure, a large amount of soluble HLA class I molecules settles onto plastic apheresis circuits, inducing sustained TGFβ1 pre/post-transcriptional modulation in activated patients' leukocytes. Reportedly, donors' leukocytes may be exposed to similar immunosuppressing activities during donor apheresis procedures. On this basis, it could be hypothesized that such events can cause immune modulation.

Gastrointestinal involvement in systemic sclerosis.

Systemic sclerosis is an autoimmune chronic disease characterised by microvascular, muscular and immunologic abnormalities that lead to progressive and systemic deposition of connective tissue in the skin and internal organs. The gastrointestinal tract is often overlooked by physicians but it is the most affected organ after the skin, from the mouth to the anus. Indeed, 80% of SSc patients may present with gastrointestinal involvement.

A novel multiplex pyrosequencing assay for genotyping functionally relevant CTLA-4 polymorphisms: potential applications in autoimmunity and cancer.

CTLA-4 expression/function can be affected by single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of CTLA-4 gene, which have been widely associated with susceptibility or progression to autoimmune diseases and cancer development. In this study, we analyzed six CTLA-4 SNPs (-1661A>G, -1577G>A, -658C>T, -319C>T, +49A>G, CT60G>A) in 197 DNA samples from 43 B-lymphoblastoid cell lines (B-LCLs), 40 systemic sclerosis (SSc) patients, 14 pre-analyzed melanoma patients and 100 Italian healthy subjects. Genotyping of -1661A>G, -1577G>A, -658C>T and CT60G>A was performed by newly developed multiplex pyrosequencing (PSQ) assays, whereas -319C>T and +49A>G by T-ARMS PCR and direct sequencing.

VEGF plasma level variations in duloxetine-treated patients with major depression.

Background: The vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) signaling, which modulates angiogenesis and neurogenesis within the neurovascular unit, might play an important role in the neuro-endocrine-immune (NEI) stress-adaptation system. Recent evidence suggests that VEGF is involved in the pathophysiology of a number of diseases including major depressive disorder (MDD) and is affected by some treatments, including antidepressants. The objective of the study was to investigate the VEGF level variations in MDD patients during antidepressant treatment with duloxetine, a relatively new SNRI.

Gastro-oesophageal reflux and gastric aspiration in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis patients.

The aim of the study was to characterise gastro-oesophageal reflux (GOR) in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). 40 consecutive IPF patients underwent pulmonary high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) scan and impedance-pH monitoring while off antisecretory therapy. The presence of pulmonary fibrosis was assessed using validated HRCT scores.

Bio-modulators in platelet-rich plasma: a comparison of the amounts in products from healthy donors and patients produced with three different techniques.

Background: Platelet-rich plasma consists of platelets concentrated in a small volume of plasma and constitutes a reservoir of bio-modulators potentially useful in tissue repair. The amounts of bio-modulators detectable in platelet-rich plasma prepared with various commercial or "in house" methods have been reported, but virtually all the analyses described have been performed on platelet-rich plasma derived from healthy donors. Since leucocyte contamination is technically unavoidable, we investigated whether platelet-rich plasma prepared from patients could contain different amounts of bio-modulators because of a possible activated status of the leucocytes.

Gastrointestinal motility disorder assessment in systemic sclerosis.

Objectives: SSc is a clinically heterogeneous and generalized disease, characterized by thickness of the connective tissue of the skin and internal organs, such as the digestive tract, impairing gastrointestinal (GI) motility. Our aim is to evaluate retrospectively abnormalities of oesophageal motility, gastric emptying, oro-cecal transit time (OCTT) and small intestine bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) in a large cohort of SSc patients.

Methods: Ninety-nine SSc patients were included in the study.

Blood transfusions with high levels of contaminating soluble HLA-I correlate with levels of soluble CD8 in recipients' plasma; a new control factor in soluble HLA-I-mediated transfusion-modulated immunomodulation?

Background: The cause of transfusion-related immunomodulation (TRIM) has proved tantalisingly elusive. An ever-growing body of evidence indicates that the infusion of large amounts of soluble and cell-associated antigens into a recipient can somehow induce TRIM. One soluble molecule that has been implicated in TRIM is soluble human leucocyte antigen I (sHLA-I).

Lactulose breath test to assess oro-cecal transit delay and estimate esophageal dysmotility in scleroderma patients.

Objectives: To assess the correlation between delayed oro-cecal transit time (OCTT) and esophageal motility abnormalities in a cohort of systemic sclerosis (SSc) patients.

Methods: We prospectively enrolled 50 consecutive SSc patients and 60 healthy volunteers (HVs) as controls. Both groups underwent glucose breath test (GBT) to exclude small intestine bacterial overgrowth, lactulose hydrogen, and octanoic acid breath tests (LHBT and OBT) to measure OCTT and gastric emptying (GE), respectively, and manometry to assess esophageal motility.

Chemoprevention of doxorubicin-induced alopecia in mice by dietary administration of L-cystine and vitamin B6.

Chemotherapy-induced hair loss is one of the most serious and feared adverse effects of cancer therapy. Almost all traditional chemotherapeutic agents induce a more or less severe alopecia. At present, there is no effective treatment capable of preventing this damage.

Alteration of Th17 and Treg cell subpopulations co-exist in patients affected with systemic sclerosis.

Aim of the study has been to understand the relationship between TH17 and Treg cell subsets in patients affected with systemic sclerosis (SSc). Phenotypes and functions of Th17 and Treg cell subsets were analyzed in a series of 36 SSc patients. Th17 cell concentration in the peripheral blood was found to be increased in SSc patients with respect to healthy controls independently from type or stage of disease.

Down regulation of human natural killer cell-mediated cytolysis induced by blood transfusion: role of transforming growth factor-β(1), soluble Fas ligand, and soluble Class I human leukocyte antigen.

Background: Human natural killer (NK) cells are thought to play a role in antiviral response and tumor immune surveillance. The molecular mechanisms of down regulation of NK-cell activity observed after red blood cell (RBC) transfusion is still undefined.

Study Design And Methods: Both effects of blood transfusion (ex vivo) and supernatants (SNs) derived from RBC units unstored (RBC-0) or stored for 5 or 30 days (RBC-5 or -30, respectively) in vitro were analyzed on NK cell-mediated cytolytic activity.

The thickness of the A1 pulleys reflects the disability of hand mobility in scleroderma. A pilot study using high-frequency ultrasound.

Background: Hand involvement in scleroderma is a serious concern. Clinical tests to asses hand dysfunction are based on the experience of the clinician.

Objective: To asses if utrasonographic (US) measurement of A1 pulley thickness may be used as an indicator of hand mobility in scleroderma.

Brachial artery endothelial-dependent flow-mediated dilation identifies early-stage endothelial dysfunction in systemic sclerosis and correlates with nailfold microvascular impairment.

Objective: To assess possible correlations between endothelial-dependent flow-mediated dilation (FMD) of the brachial artery and nailfold videocapillaroscopy (NVC) in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc). Evidence has shown that vascular impairment in SSc may be a sign of endothelial dysfunction involving both microvascular and macrovascular systems, although the pathological mechanisms of the dysfunction are poorly understood.

Methods: Forty-three consecutive patients (mean age 51 +/- 11 yrs) with SSc were studied.