Assessment of the interlaboratory variability and robustness of JAK2V617F mutation assays: A study involving a consortium of 19 Italian laboratories.

To date, a plenty of techniques for the detection of JAK2V617F is used over different laboratories, with substantial differences in specificity and sensitivity. Therefore, to provide reliable and comparable results, the standardization of molecular techniques is mandatory.A network of 19 centers was established to 1) evaluate the inter- and intra-laboratory variability in JAK2V617F quantification, 2) identify the most robust assay for the standardization of the molecular test and 3) allow consistent interpretation of individual patient analysis results.

Multicentric survey on dose reduction/interruption of cancer drug therapy in 12.472 patients: indicators of suspected adverse reactions.

Antiblastic drugs have a high number of potential side-effects. Paradoxically, according to the National Network of Pharmacovigilance, the number of reported adverse reactions to these agents is proportionally lower than that registered for non antiblastic drugs. Critical phenomena such as treatment interruptions and significant dose reductions within the first two months of use may be indicators of adverse drug reactions.

CC chemokine receptor 5 polymorphism in chronic periaortitis.

Objective: Chronic periaortitis (CP) is a rare disease characterized by a fibro-inflammatory tissue surrounding the abdominal aorta, and includes non-aneurysmal [idiopathic retroperitoneal fibrosis (IRF)] and aneurysmal forms [inflammatory abdominal aortic aneurysm (IAAA)]. We investigated whether CC chemokine receptor 5 (CCR5)Δ32 polymorphism confers susceptibility to CP.

Methods: One hundred CP patients and 180 healthy controls were genotyped for CCR5Δ32 polymorphism by molecular methods.

Influence of thyroid status on serum immunoreactive leptin levels.

Leptin, the product of the ob gene, is a recently discovered hormone secreted by adipocytes. Serum leptin concentrations increase in correlation with the percentage of body fat, but besides that, little is known about the physiological actions of leptin in humans. The aim of this study was to assess the influence of hypo- and hyperthyroidism on serum leptin levels.

Intradialytic changes of the oxyhaemoglobin dissociation curve during acetate and bicarbonate haemodialysis. Possible interactions with haemodialysis-associated hypoxaemia.

In nine chronic haemodialysis patients, treated alternately with acetate and bicarbonate, the main critical factors in oxygen supply to the tissues were evaluated: Hb values, blood gas parameters, red cell 2-3 diphosphoglycerate (2-3 DPG), phosphataemia and P50 in vivo. Predialytic P50 was higher than in normal controls. During dialysis, arterial pO2 and pCO2 significantly decreased in acetate dialysis, whereas they were stable in bicarbonate dialysis.

Reactive hyperemia in Raynaud's disease.

We studied reactive hyperemia after ischemia, after cold, and after cold plus ischemia, in normal subjects, in fingers with Raynaud's phenomenon, and in fingers without Raynaud's phenomenon in hands where other fingers were affected by Raynaud's phenomenon. The results obtained demonstrate the existence of a criohyperdysestesia both in fingers with Raynaud's phenomenon and in fingers without Raynaud's phenomenon in hands where other fingers are affected by it.