Monocyte chemotactic peptide-1 expression and monocyte infiltration in acute renal transplant rejection.

Mononuclear cell infiltration is a common histopathological feature of acute renal transplant rejection, in which it seems to play a key role in the pathogenesis of tubulointerstitial lesions. Monocyte chemotactic peptide-1 (MCP-1) is a specific chemotactic and activating factor for monocytes. Thus, the present study was aimed at evaluating MCP-1 gene and protein expression in renal biopsies of kidney transplant recipients with acute deterioration of graft function, and to correlate it with the extent of monocyte infiltration.

Human herpesvirus 7 in patients with pityriasis rosea. Electron microscopy investigations and polymerase chain reaction in mononuclear cells, plasma and skin.

Background: Clinical evidence suggests a viral etiology for pityriasis rosea (PR).

Objective: To evaluate human herpesvirus (HHV)-6 and HHV-7 as candidates for the etiology of PR.

Methods: Blood and skin tissue from 12 patients with acute PR, and 12 patients with other dermatoses were studied, as well as blood samples from 25 healthy persons.

Monocyte recruitment in cryoglobulinemic membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis: a pathogenetic role for monocyte chemotactic peptide-1.

Monocyte chemotactic peptide-1 (MCP-1) belongs to a large family of cytokines known as chemokines. It is a potent mediator of inflammatory response and is thought to play a major role in recruiting monocytes into the site of inflammation. Mixed cryoglobulinemia is a systemic vasculitis characterized in 10 to 30% of the cases by renal involvement.

High glucose concentration induces the overexpression of transforming growth factor-beta through the activation of a platelet-derived growth factor loop in human mesangial cells.

High glucose concentration has been shown to induce the overexpression of transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta 1 mRNA and protein in different cell types, including murine mesangial cells, thus possibly accounting for the expansion of mesangial extracellular matrix observed in diabetic glomerulopathy. In the present study, we evaluated platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) B-chain and PDGF-beta receptor gene expression in human mesangial cells (HMCs) exposed to different concentrations of glucose and then sought a possible relationship between a PDGF loop and the modulation of TGF-beta 1 expression. HMC [3H]thymidine incorporation was upregulated by 30 mmol/L glucose (HG) up to 24 hours, whereas it was significantly inhibited at later time points.

Urinary IL-6/EGF ratio: a useful prognostic marker for the progression of renal damage in IgA nephropathy.

Interleukin 6 (IL-6) is produced by human mesangial and tubular cells, and its urinary levels has been proposed as a marker of mesangial proliferation and tubulointerstitial damage. Epidermal growth factor (EGF) is expressed within the Henle's loop and the distal tubule and has been shown to accelerate recovery from renal injury. In the present study we have defined renal gene and protein expression of IL-6 and EGF in 10 normal, 10 nonproliferative glomerulonephritis (NPGN) and 30 IgA nephropathy (IgAN) human kidneys by RT-PCR, in situ hybridization and immunohistochemical techniques.

Primary lymphoma of the breast: a case report.

The clinical features of a patient with a primary lymphoma of the breast are herein reported. The diagnosis was reached by histological examination after outpatient surgery. Surgical resection was followed by cytostatic treatment and locoregional radiotherapy.

Fine needle aspiration cytology of squamous cell carcinoma arising in a thyroglossal duct cyst. A case report.

Background: Carcinoma arising in a thyroglossal duct cyst is a rare entity. Malignancy generally is revealed only after surgical excision of a thyroglossal duct lesion because of the lack of specific physical findings.

Case: A 68-year-old male presented with a squamous cell carcinoma arising in a midline cyst in the neck.

Monocyte chemotactic peptide-1 expression in acute and chronic human nephritides: a pathogenetic role in interstitial monocytes recruitment.

Tubulointerstitial damage is a common histopathological feature of acute and chronic renal diseases and a prognostic indicator of renal function outcome. Monocytes infiltrating the interstitium, through the release of cytokines and/or growth factors, may play a key role in the pathogenesis of tubulointerstitial damage. Monocyte chemotactic peptide-1 (MCP-1) is a specific and powerful chemoattractant and activating factor for monocytes.

Expression of epidermal growth factor and its receptor in normal and diseased human kidney: an immunohistochemical and in situ hybridization study.

The kidney is one of the major sites of EGF production and there it seems to play several biological functions, such as modulation of cell growth, renal repair following injury, regulation of cellular metabolism and glomerular haemodinamics. The present study was first aimed at localizing EGF and its receptor (R) in normal human kidney by immunohistochemical and in situ hybridization techniques. Then, the distribution of the growth factor and its R was explored in biopsy specimens from eight patients with acute tubulointerstitial damage.

Epstein-Barr virus-related primary cutaneous amyloidosis. Successful treatment with acyclovir and interferon-alpha.

Cutaneous lesions related to chronic active Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection have been rarely documented in immunocompetent patients. A 30-year-old woman, fulfilling the diagnostic criteria for the chronic fatigue syndrome, had a 10-year history of pruritic brownish macules and papules on her chest and back. Her EBV serology was abnormal; the EBV genome was present in the epidermis of lesions, in oral secretions, and in peripheral mononuclear cells (PMC).

Cultured human mesangial cells produce both type 1 and type 2 plasminogen activator inhibitors.

Cultured human mesangial cells (HMC) derived from normal kidneys have been shown to synthesize tissue-type plasminogen activator (t-PA) and excess amounts of PA inhibitor type 1 (PAI-1). Conflicting results have been obtained concerning the production of urokinase-type PA (u-PA) and efforts to show PA inhibitor 2 (PAI-2) met with failure. We evaluated the fibrinolytic profile of cultured HMC lines obtained from 12 patients with renal carcinoma and one cadaveric kidney donor.

Male breast carcinoma in situ. Report of a case diagnosed by nipple discharge cytology alone.

A case of male breast carcinoma is reported, whose only clinical sign was a serous nipple discharge. The presence in the cytologic smears of atypical epithelial cells organized in a papillary structure suggested a papillary neoplasia, which at the histologic examination was found to be a ductal carcinoma in situ.

The sensitivity of ultrasound and serum alpha-fetoprotein in population-based antenatal screening for neural tube defects. South Australia 1986-1991.

Objective: To determine the sensitivity of antenatal screening methods for neural tube defects in population-based screening in South Australia in 1986-1991, and whether ultrasound can replace serum alpha-fetoprotein screening in terms of achieving an equivalent level of sensitivity.

Design And Setting: Ascertainment of all births and terminations of pregnancy with neural tube defects from multiple sources for 1986-1991 in South Australia. Serum and amniotic fluid alpha-fetoprotein results were obtained from the only laboratory performing the tests as a Statewide antenatal screening programme, and information on ultrasound screening from case notifications, hospital case records and medical practitioners who cared for the women.

The integration of diagnostic tests and the role of outpatient surgery in the management of breast disease.

The aim of the earliest possible diagnosis of breast carcinoma achieved through the integration of clinical, mammographic, sonographic and cytologic data has determined an increased detection of breast lesions and a greater accuracy in their description. Nevertheless, the nature of some of these lesions cannot be well-defined because of their biological characteristics and their physical, radiological or cytological aspects. The need to obtain a definitive diagnosis in any case has given rise to a paradoxical increase in histologic examinations: in specific conditions and for certain kinds of lesions, outpatient surgery under local anesthesia could very well represent a supplementary tool in the diagnostic and therapeutic strategy for the management of breast lesions.

The role of cytology in differentiation of breast lesions.

The introduction of cytologic examination in to the diagnostic procedure has made it possible to define breast lesions better as early as the preoperative stage. However, there are interpretative problems depending on the nature of the lesions that make a histologic examination necessary. The cytology of nipple discharge or FNA of breast lesions would permit the best possible selection of the cases, indicating not only whether surgery is necessary, but also the basis on which it should be performed (outpatient under local anesthesia or inpatient under general anesthesia).

Biosynthesis of C3 by human mesangial cells. Modulation by proinflammatory cytokines.

Deposits of complement (C) components are found in the glomeruli of patients with various glomerulonephritides without detectable immunoglobulins, thus suggesting a pathogenetic role of the locally produced proteins of this system. In the present study, we have examined human mesangial cells (HMC) for their ability to secrete C3. Three different cell lines were examined and all showed a basal production of C3, which was up-regulated following stimulation with IL-1 beta.

Trapidil inhibits human mesangial cell proliferation: effect on PDGF beta-receptor binding and expression.

Mesangial cell (MC) proliferation, a histopathologic feature common to many human glomerular diseases, is regulated by several growth factors through their binding to specific cell surface receptors. Platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) is a peptide exerting a potent mitogenic activity on MC. Recently, an increased expression of both PDGF protein and its receptor has been localized in the mesangial areas of several experimental as well as human proliferative glomerulonephritides (GN).

Expression of platelet-derived growth factor receptors in normal and diseased human kidney. An immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization study.

We studied the expression of PDGF-alpha and -beta receptors in 10 normal and 40 pathologic human kidneys (five minimal change disease, five membranous nephropathy, 25 IgA nephropathy, five lupus nephritis), by both immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization techniques. In normal-appearing kidneys, both PDGF-alpha and -beta receptors were expressed at the glomerular and interstitial level, the latter receptor more intensely than the former. The distribution and degree of expression of both receptors in nonproliferative glomerulonephritides were comparable with those found in normal-appearing kidneys.

In vitro immunoglobulin production in relatives of patients with IgA nephropathy.

We hypothesized that the altered immunoglobulin synthesis and/or lymphocyte function apparent in patients with IgA nephropathy might be, at least partially, genetically determined. To address this hypothesis, immunoglobulin production by peripheral blood mononuclear cells in 22 patients with IgA nephropathy and 44 of their first degree relatives was investigated. Spontaneous overproduction of IgA1 and IgM from patients' PBMC was found.

Neonatal screening for cystic fibrosis using immunoreactive trypsinogen and direct gene analysis: four years' experience.

Objective: To assess the performance and impact of a two tier neonatal screening programme for cystic fibrosis based on an initial estimation of immunoreactive trypsinogen followed by direct gene analysis.

Design: Four year prospective study of two tier screening strategy. First tier: immunoreactive trypsinogen measured in dried blood spot samples from neonates aged 3-5 days.

Profiles of immunoregulatory cytokine production in vitro in patients with IgA nephropathy and their kindred.

We hypothesized that the altered immunoglobulin synthesis and/or lymphocyte function apparent in patients with IgA nephropathy (IgAN) is due to a primary defect in lymphokine regulation. In addition, we reasoned that such changes in lymphokine production might be, at least partially, genetically determined. To assess the extent of lymphocyte abnormalities, we investigated the profile of cytokine production from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) in 34 IgAN patients and 44 of their first degree relatives, 10 of whom had persistent microhaematuria.

[Role of Culex quinquefasciatus in the transmission of bancroftian filariasis in the Federal Islamic Republic of Comoros (Indian Ocean)].

In October 1988-January 1989, as a part of a malaria and filariasis control programme in Federal Islamic Republic of Comoros an entomological survey was carried out in 19 rural and urban localities of Grande Comore. Anjouan and Moheli Islands. The potential breeding places were examined and pyrethrum spray catches were made to evaluate the indoor resting densities of mosquitos.