Evidence of induced non-tolerance in HLA-identical twins with hemoglobinopathy after in utero fetal transplantation.

Fetus-to-fetus transplantation has been suggested for the treatment of hemoglobinopathies in utero. However, dissimilar results have to date been obtained by different groups. We describe a case in which fetus-to-fetus transplantation in HLA-identical twins was performed at the 19th week of gestation by infusion of 0.

[Tropisetron for the prevention of nausea and vomiting during chemotherapy: multicenter clinical study].

The antiemetic effect of tropisetron was studied in 97 cancer patients (67 men, 30 women) receiving cisplatin in doses of 75 mg/m2 or higher. On 279 chemotherapy cycles studied (max 6 per patient) 5 mg of tropisetron was administered once a day i.v on day 1 and p.

Differential integrin expression in thyroid and laryngeal carcinomas.

Several laryngeal and thyroid carcinomas were studied immunohistochemically to evaluate whether the expression and distribution of integrins and basal lamina components can represent reproducible markers for correct early diagnosis and prognosis. In laryngeal cancers, the depolarization and pericellular redistribution of alpha 3 beta 1 and alpha 6 beta 4, and focal or massive fragmentation of the basal lamina, according to tumor prognosis, occurred. In thyroid carcinomas, loss of polar topography of alpha 3 beta 1 and neo-expression of alpha 6 beta 4 in histopathologically or clinically aggressive cancers were observed.

Lack of evidence of permanent engraftment after in utero fetal stem cell transplantation in congenital hemoglobinopathies.

The use of fetal hematopoietic stem cells for in utero transplantation to create permanent hematochimerism represents a new concept in fetal therapy. In one fetus with alpha-thalassemia, one with sickle cell anemia, and one with beta-thalassemia, we have transplanted fetal liver cells obtained from legal abortions in gestational weeks 6-11. The fetus with alpha-thalassemia was transplanted twice during pregnancy, in the 15th (20.

Changes in integrin and E-cadherin expression in neoplastic versus normal thyroid tissue.

Unlabelled: BACK: The functional organization of polarized epithelia depends mostly on adhesion molecules belonging to the integrin and cadherin families. These molecules either recognize basement membrane components, such as laminins, or form intercellular junctions via homotypic interactions. Such tissue organization is often disrupted upon neoplastic transformation, and the resulting loss of functional polarization and cell cohesion might be a prerequisite for the invasive and metastatic behavior of carcinomas.

Biochemical picture of bone metabolism in breast cancer patients with bone metastases.

A panel of bone turn-over markers was assessed in 75 normocalcemic patients bearing bone metastases from breast cancer (BC), and in 25 advanced/metastatic BC patients without clinical appearance of bone involvement. 115 healthy women, stratified in three subgroups according to age served as controls. Bone formation was investigated by measuring serum carboxyterminal propeptide of type I procollagen (PICP), Bone Gla Protein (BGP, osteocalcin), bone isoenzyme of alkaline phosphatase (BALP); bone resorption by measuring serum carboxyterminal telopeptide of type I collagen (ICTP), fasting urinary hydroxyproline/creatinine (OHPro/Cr) and calcium/creatinine (Ca/Cr).

Circadian variations of thyrotropin bioactivity in normal subjects and patients with primary hypothyroidism.

Circadian rhythm of TSH secretion is characterized by a pronounced nocturnal increment that is not followed by the expected rise of circulating thyroid hormone levels. These findings suggest that the nocturnal TSH surge may be constituted by molecules with reduced bioactivity. We, therefore, investigated TSH bioactivity (measured as cAMP accumulation in FRTL-5 cells) and its carbohydrate structure (by Concanavalin A affinity chromatography) in different blood pools taken during the day and night from seven normal subjects and from one patient with mild (mPH) and five with severe primary hypothyroidism (sPH).

Bone marrow transplantation in Hunter syndrome (mucopolysaccharidosis type II): two-year follow-up of the first Italian patient and review of the literature.

A patient with Hunter syndrome, or mucopolysaccharidosis type II (MPS-osis II), was subjected to bone marrow transplantation (BMT), at the age of 2 9/12 years. A two-year follow-up ensued to the purpose of comparing clinical, biochemical, neuropsychologic status pre- and post-BMT. From the clinical standpoint, a complete normalization of hepatosplenomegaly was observed.

Chemotherapy with dacarbazine and 5-fluorouracil in advanced medullary thyroid cancer.

Background: Experience with chemotherapeutic agents in the management of advanced medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) is limited and controversial. However, since MTC is a neuroendocrine neoplasm, we considered the possibility that cytotoxic drugs previously used in the treatment of these tumours could also have activity in MTC.

Patients And Methods: Five patients (4 females and 1 male, aged 22-71 years) with locally advanced or metastatic MTC received 5 day intravenous courses of dacarbazine (DTIC) (250 mg/sqm) and 12 hour infusion 5-fluorouracil (450 mg/sqm), given every 4 weeks.

Steroid biochemistry and categorization of breast cyst fluid: relation to breast cancer risk.

Patients bearing macrocysts of the breast are at higher risk of later developing cancer. The fluid filling the cysts (breast cysts fluid, BCF) contains unusual amounts of steroid conjugates, first androgen and estrogen sulfates. Measuring BCF cations (K+,Na+) allows categorization of cysts into two major subsets (type I and type II) that are associated with a different degree and/or turnover of apocrine metaplastic cells in the lining epithelium.

Chronic ethanol feeding increases apoptosis and cell proliferation in rat liver.

The present study was conducted to evaluate if the increased rate of apoptosis previously reported in the liver of ethanol-treated rats was accompanied by increased cell renewal. A quantitative analysis of apoptosis was performed in rats fed an ethanol-containing liquid diet for 5 weeks. S-phase cells were demonstrated by immunohistochemistry, using the Bromodeoxyuridine/anti-Bromodeoxyuridine method.

Immunohistochemical analysis of S-phase cells in normal human and rat liver by PC10 monoclonal antibody.

The expression of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) was examined in normal human and rat liver fixed in either formaldehyde or methanol, and was compared with the incorporation of bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) in S-phase cells. Codistribution of PCNA and BrdU was assessed in rat liver by double immunohistochemical staining using PC10 and anti-BrdU monoclonal antibodies to identify labelled nuclei of parenchymal and sinusoidal cells. In formaldehyde-fixed human biopsies (n = 13) PCNA-labelling index (PCNA LI) was 0.

Plasma membrane order parameter in periportal and perivenular hepatocytes isolated from ethanol-treated rats.

Hepatic ethanol (EtOH) metabolism has been assumed to involve hepatocytes differently, according to their location in the hepatic acinus. This study's aim was to gain information on plasma membrane (PM) order parameter in periportal (PP) and perivenular (PV) hepatocyte-enriched fractions isolated by a digitonin-collagenase perfusion technique from rats pair-fed for 6-8 wk liquid diets containing either EtOH or isocaloric carbohydrates. Fluorescence polarization (P) studies have been performed to measure PM order parameter of PP and PV hepatocytes cultured for 2-6 h on glass cover slips and labeled with 1-[4-(trimethylamino)phenyl]-6-phenylhexa-1,3,5-triene (TMA-DPH), a specific probe for PM of living cells.

Regulation of intracellular pH in isolated periportal and perivenular rat hepatocytes.

Background: Liver acinus shows a well-known metabolic zonation. The aim of this study was to investigate intracellular pH (pHi) regulation in isolated periportal (PP) and perivenular (PV) rat hepatocytes.

Methods: 2,7-bis(carboxyethyl)-5(6)-carboxy-fluorescein was used as pH-sensitive dye.

Tubulovesicular transcytotic pathway in rat biliary epithelium: a study in perfused liver and in isolated intrahepatic bile duct.

Morphometric ultrastructural analysis of horseradish peroxidase-containing structures has been performed in vivo, in rat liver and, in vitro, in isolated bile ducts to determine whether a transcytotic vesicle pathway exists in biliary epithelial cells. In vivo, horseradish peroxidase (100 mg/kg body wt) was given by intraportal injection in normal rats (n = 15) or 1 hr after administration of 600 mg/kg valproic acid (n = 15). Ultrastructural morphometric analysis was conducted on livers between 1 and 40 min after horseradish peroxidase injection.

Interplay in vitro between ACTH, beta-endorphin, and glucocorticoids in the modulation of spontaneous and lymphokine-inducible human natural killer (NK) cell activity.

Release of pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC)-derived peptides and glucocorticoids characterizes the activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and represents a major adaptive response to stress. Both glucocorticoids and POMC-derived hormones are known to be crucial modifiers of the immune response. Natural killer (NK) cells are a lymphocyte subset deeply involved in immunosurveillance.

Ursodeoxycholic acid for symptomatic primary biliary cirrhosis. Preliminary analysis of a double-blind multicenter trial. Italian Multicenter Group for the Study of UDCA in PBC.

The administration of ursodeoxycholic acid, a hydrophilic bile acid not hepatotoxic to humans, has been suggested for treatment of primary biliary cirrhosis to improve cholestasis and reduce hepatocellular damage. Efficacy of treatment has been studied mainly in patients with asymptomatic or early-stage disease. In January 1988, to establish the efficacy and safety of ursodeoxycholic acid in a population with more severe disease, we started a multicenter, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in patients with symptomatic disease, that is, with pruritus or serum bilirubin exceeding 2 mg/dl.

Cell proliferation following extrahepatic biliary obstruction. Evaluation by immunohistochemical methods.

The aim of the present investigation was to conduct an immunohistochemical study using bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) incorporation as a marker of S-phase cells and cytokeratins as markers of biliary epithelial cells, in bile-duct-ligated rats at intervals of 1, 3, 7, 14 and 21 days after total biliary obstruction. Data obtained using only BrdU incorporation by S-phase nuclei were compared with those obtained by the simultaneous demonstration of S-phase nuclei and cytoplasmic cytokeratins. The labelling index of parenchymal liver cells and of biliary epithelial cells was evaluated as an index of the cellular growth pattern after total biliary obstruction.

Quantitative analysis of proliferating sinusoidal cells in dimethylnitrosamine-induced cirrhosis. An immunohistochemical study.

Proliferating lipocytes (fat-storing cells or perisinusoidal stellate cells of the liver) were detected by in vivo incorporation of bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) in an experimental model of cirrhosis in the rat by dimethylnitrosamine. Lipocytes were identified by sequential double immunohistochemical staining on frozen sections using anti-desmin antibodies as a marker of cytoplasmic intermediate filaments followed by anti-BrdU antibodies to identify S-phase nuclei in animals treated for 7, 14 or 21 days. The number of desmin-positive (lipocytes) and desmin-negative (Kupffer and endothelial cells) sinusoidal cells incorporating BrdU was recorded.

Steatosis associated with immotile cilia syndrome: an unrecognized relationship?

The present study deals with a case of hepatic parenchymal steatosis in a child with primary ciliary dyskinesia (immotile cilia syndrome) well documented by functional and ultrastructural evaluation of the ciliary epithelia. Hepatic steatosis was associated with ultrastructural evidence of retention of material either in the cisternae of the endoplasmic reticulum or in proximity of the Golgi apparatus of hepatocytes. It is suggested that the absence of dynein in the axoneme is probably part of a diffuse genetic defect which may extend to cytoplasmic, non axonemal, dynein and lead to a disturbance of various microtubule-dependent cell activities.