Publications by authors named "Patrizia Dapino"

Leptin is a pleiotropic molecule involved in energy homeostasis, hematopoiesis, inflammation, and immunity. Hypoleptinemia characterizing starvation has been strictly related to increased susceptibility to infection secondary to malnutrition. Nevertheless, ESRD is characterized by high susceptibility to bacterial infection despite hyperleptinemia.

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In several non-infectious human diseases, such as ulcerous colitis, rheumatoid arthritis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), the extravasal recruitment of neutrophils plays a crucial role in the development of tissue damage, which, when persistent, can lead to the irreversible organ dysfunction. The neutrophil activation is controlled by a number of intracellular pathways, particularly by a cAMP-dependent protein kinase A (PKA) which also acts on phosphodiesterase IV (PDE4) gene stimulating the synthesis of this enzyme, able to transform cAMP to inactive AMP. PDE4 inhibitors enhance intracellular cAMP and decrease inflammatory cell activation.

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Neutrophils are major culprits for the protease/antiprotease imbalance during various lung diseases, that is, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, cystic fibrosis, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and adult respiratory distress syndrome. Thus, these cells are presently considered an ideal target for the pharmacologic control of tissue injury during these diseases. This study was planned in order to investigate if ambroxol and its precursor bromhexine are actually capable of preventing alpha-1-antitrypsin (A1AT) inactivation by stimulated neutrophils and possibly to look into the mechanisms underlying this event.

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Murine monoclonal antibody (mAb) Lym-1 is an immunoglobulin G2a specific for certain human leukocyte antigen-DR variants expressed on the surface of malignant B cells. It has been proposed for serotherapy in patients with B lymphomas. We have previously shown that mAb Lym-1 synergizes with granulocyte macrophage-colony stimulating factor to promote Raji B-lymphoid cell lysis by human neutrophils via the intervention of neutrophil Fc receptors type II and D-mannose-inhibitable interactions between CD11b-CD18 integrins and CD66b glycoproteins.

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Neutrophil apoptosis represents a crucial step in the mechanisms governing the resolution of neutrophilic inflammation. Several soluble mediators of inflammation modulate neutrophil survival, retarding their apoptosis, whereas neutrophil activation by immune complexes (IC) results in the acceleration of apoptosis. To investigate neutrophil fate at the site of inflammation, we studied the effects of interleukin (IL)-2, IL-6, IL-8, IL-15, GM-CSF, and fMLP on spontaneous and IC-induced neutrophil apoptosis and the mechanisms regulating the survival of these cells.

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