Relationship between FEV and arterial stiffness in elderly people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is highly prevalent in the elderly, and both COPD and age per se are associated with cardiovascular morbidity.

Aims: We tested the hypothesis that in elderly COPD patients airflow limitation is associated with arterial stiffness and the relationship, if any, is related to endothelial function and systemic inflammation.

Methods: We evaluated lung function, augmentation index (AIx), flow-mediated dilation (FMD), Interleukin-6 (IL-6), and asymmetric dymethilarginine (ADMA) levels in 76 subjects (mean age 73.

Au nanoparticle-based sensor for apomorphine detection in plasma.

Artificially roughened gold surfaces with controlled nanostructure produced by pulsed laser deposition have been investigated as sensors for apomorphine detection aiming at clinical application. The use of such gold surfaces has been optimized using aqueous solutions of apomorphine in the concentration range between 3.3 × 10(-4) M and 3.

Association between stressful life events and autoimmune diseases: A systematic review and meta-analysis of retrospective case-control studies.

Background: Evidence of a relationship between stressful life events and the onset of autoimmune diseases is not univocal and there are no meta-analyses in the literature on the question.

Aim: To look for differences in the number and type of stressful life events in the premorbid period between patients with autoimmune diseases and healthy subjects.

Method: Review of the literature in PubMed and Scopus (January 1963-May 2015).

Serological epitope profile of anti-Ro52-positive patients with systemic autoimmune rheumatic diseases.

Background: Ro52 is an interferon-inducible protein of the tripartite motif family. Antibodies against Ro52 have been described in patients with different autoimmune diseases, such as systemic lupus erythematosus and Sjögren's syndrome, that are often associated with anti-Ro60 antibodies. The Ro52 autoantigen is extraordinarily immunogenic, and its autoantibodies are directed against both linear and conformational epitopes.

Specific chemoluminescence and immunoasdorption tests for anti-DFS70 antibodies avoid false positive results by indirect immunofluorescence.

Objective: To evaluate two new diagnostic methods for the identification of anti-DFS70 antibodies in samples showing a DFS70-staining pattern by indirect immunofluorescence (IIF).

Methods: We studied 731 patients: 576 were collected consecutively among those that in the ANA test on HEp-2 cells had produced a DFS70 fluorescence pattern and 155 were a consecutive series of patients sent by referring physicians for routine ANA testing. As controls we studied 50 patients with autoimmune diseases and 120 patients with active infectious disease.

Mineral and Skeletal Homeostasis Influence the Manner of Bone Loss in Metabolic Osteoporosis due to Calcium-Deprived Diet in Different Sites of Rat Vertebra and Femur.

Rats fed calcium-deprived diet develop osteoporosis due to enhanced bone resorption, secondary to parathyroid overactivity resulting from nutritional hypocalcemia. Therefore, rats provide a good experimental animal model for studying bone modelling alterations during biochemical osteoporosis. Three-month-old Sprague-Dawley male rats were divided into 4 groups: (1) baseline, (2) normal diet for 4 weeks, (3) calcium-deprived diet for 4 weeks, and (4) calcium-deprived diet for 4 weeks and concomitant administration of PTH (1-34) 40 µg/Kg/day.

Autoimmune diagnostics: the technology, the strategy and the clinical governance.

In recent years, there has been a profound change in autoimmune diagnostics. From long, tiring and inaccurate manual methods, the art of diagnostics has turned to modern, rapid and automated technology. New antibody tests have been developed, and almost all autoimmune diseases now have some specific diagnostic markers.

Autoantibody Profiling in a Cohort of Pediatric and Adult Patients With Autoimmune Hepatitis.

Background: Autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) is a rare condition characterized by the presence of autoantibodies distinctive of type 1 AIH (AIH-1) and type 2 AIH (AIH-2). The aim of this study was to evaluate the autoantibody profile in a cohort of pediatric and adult AIH patients, using both indirect immunofluorescence (IIF) and a new multiplexed line-blot assay.

Methods: Sera from 63 pediatric and 53 adult AIH patients were tested for antinuclear (ANA), antismooth muscle (SMA), anti-liver kidney microsome 1 (anti-LKM1), anti-liver cytosol 1 (anti-LC1) autoantibodies using IIF methods; for anti-LKM1, anti-LC1, and soluble liver antigen/liver-pancreas (anti-SLA/LP) autoantibodies using the line-blot; for anti-F-actin autoantibodies using IIF both on VSM47 cell-line and on rat intestinal epithelial cells.

Effects of dental methacrylates on oxygen consumption and redox status of human pulp cells.

Unlabelled: Several studies have already demonstrated that the incomplete polymerization of resin-based dental materials causes the release of monomers which might affect cell metabolism. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of triethylene glycol dimethacrylate, 1,4-butanediol dimethacrylate, urethane dimethacrylate, and 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate on (1) cellular energy metabolism, evaluating oxygen consumption rate, glucose consumption, glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase activity, and lactate production, and (2) cellular redox status, through the evaluation of glutathione concentration and of the activities of enzymes regulating glutathione metabolism.

Methods: Human pulp cells were used and oxygen consumption was measured by means of a Clark electrode.

Novel antiphospholipid antibodies in autoimmune bullous diseases.

Background: Pemphigus and bullous pemphigoid are two autoimmune diseases that have similar pathogenesis. Both have a genetic predisposition, which promotes the production of auto antibodies targeted against different components of the epidermal desmosome and hemidesmosome. Antiphospholipid antibodies (aPL) are heterogeneous group of antibodies found in patients with autoimmune diseases and inflammatory conditions and are associated with thrombotic events.

Automated antinuclear immunofluorescence antibody screening: a comparative study of six computer-aided diagnostic systems.

Background: Indirect immunofluorescence (IIF) plays an important role in immunological assays for detecting and measuring autoantibodies. However, the method is burdened by some unfavorable features: the need for expert morphologists, the subjectivity of interpretation, and a low degree of standardization and automation. Following the recent statement by the American College of Rheumatology that the IIF technique should be considered as the standard screening method for the detection of anti-nuclear antibodies (ANA), the biomedical industry has developed technological solutions which might significantly improve automation of the procedure, not only in the preparation of substrates and slides, but also in microscope reading.

Hair dyes as a risk for autoimmunity: from systemic lupus erythematosus to primary biliary cirrhosis.

Environmental and genetic factors appear to be involved in the pathogenesis of primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC), a chronic cholestatic liver disease characterized by immune-mediated destruction of the small and medium sized intrahepatic bile ducts. Environmental factors include exposure to various infectious, xenobiotic and chemical compounds. These exposures may occur occupationally, through water or air contamination, pharmacological administration or by elective exposure, to name a few.

Current state of diagnostic technologies in the autoimmunology laboratory.

The methods for detecting and measuring autoantibodies have evolved markedly in recent years, encompassing three generations of analytical technologies. Many different immunoassay methods have been developed and used for research and laboratory practice purposes, from the early conventional (or monoplex) analytical methods able to detect single autoantibodies to the more recent multiplex platforms that can quantify tens of molecules. Although it has been in use for over 50 years, indirect immunofluorescence remains the standard method for research on many types of autoantibodies, due to its characteristics of diagnostic sensitivity and also to recent technological innovations which permit it a greater level of automation and standardization.

Can supplementation with vitamin D reduce the risk or modify the course of autoimmune diseases? A systematic review of the literature.

Objective: To evaluate whether vitamin D levels are related to the risk of developing autoimmune diseases and whether supplementation with vitamin D can modify the course of the diseases.

Methods: We reviewed the most relevant papers published from January 1973 to October 2011, using Medline and EMBASE and the search terms "vitamin D"; "autoimmune disease"; "autoimmunity"; "rheumatoid arthritis"; "systemic lupus erythematosus"; "scleroderma"; "systemic sclerosis"; "type 1 diabetes"; "multiple sclerosis"; and "undifferentiated connective tissue disease". We selected studies on the environmental, genetic and epidemiologic association of vitamin D with autoimmune diseases.

Multicentric evaluation of a second generation assay to detect antiviral citrullinated peptide antibodies: a collaborative study by the Forum Interdisciplinare per la Ricerca nelle Malattie Autoimmuni.

Aims: A novel immunoenzymatic assay using viral citrullinated peptides derived from Epstein-Barr virus-encoded proteins (viral citrullinated peptide 2 (VCP2)) has been developed and evaluated by means of a multicentre collaborative study.

Methods: Three hundred nine sera from patients with established rheumatoid arthritis (RA), 36 with early arthritis, 12 with juvenile arthritis and 453 controls were tested for VCP2 and cyclic citrullinated peptide (CCP) antibodies.

Results: The VCP2 assay showed 78.

Overcoming a "probable" diagnosis in antimitochondrial antibody negative primary biliary cirrhosis: study of 100 sera and review of the literature.

Serum anti-mitochondrial antibodies (AMA) are the serological hallmark of primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC), yet up to 15% of PBC sera are AMA negative at routine indirect immunofluorescence (IIF) while being referred to as "probable" cases. The diagnostic role of PBC-specific antinuclear antibodies (ANA) remains to be determined. We will report herein data on the accuracy of new laboratory tools for AMA and PBC-specific ANA in a large series of PBC sera that were AMA-negative at IIF.

Prevalence, serotyping and molecular characterization of Vibrio parahaemolyticus in mussels from Italian growing areas, Adriatic Sea.

The aims of this study were to investigate the prevalence of total and pathogenic Vibrio parahaemolyticus strains in Italian mussels from different geographical areas of the Adriatic Sea and to determine their serotypes, toxigenic profiles and pandemic potential. Out of 559 samples analysed during 2007, 65 (11.6%) were positive for V.

[The gastric MALT lymphoma. An unforeseen model for studying the pathogenesis of the lymphomas].

MALT lymphoma is a low-grade lymphoma originating from the mucosa associated lymphoid tissue. It is the third most frequent non-Hodgkin B-cell lymphomas. One third of the cases is primary gastric.

Performance of automated platelet quantification using different analysers in comparison with an immunological reference method in thrombocytopenic patients.

Background: Rapidly available and accurate platelet counts play an important role in the evaluation of haemorrhagic status and in assessing the need for platelet transfusions. We, therefore, evaluated platelet counting performance of haematology analysers using optical, impedance and immunological methods in thrombocytopenic patients.

Materials And Methods: We considered 99 patients with a platelet (plt) count under 50 x 10(9) plt/L.

Vancomycin and meropenem in acrylic cement: elution kinetics of in vitro bactericidal action.

The Authors present a paper with a dual goal: in vitro evaluation of the elution of vancomycin and monitoring of its bactericidal action when the antibiotic is used in acrylic cement. Discs of cement with different concentrations of vancomycin alone or combined with meropenem were prepared. To assess the elution of vancomycin the discs were kept in physiological solution and periodically sampled for five weeks.

Diagnostic accuracy of immunoassays for the detection of antibodies to citrullinated proteins.

Anticitrullinated protein/peptide antibodies (ACPA) are highly specific for rheumatoid arthritis (RA). They can be found early in the disease course and are associated with more severe joint destruction and disease activity. In the last 4 years, important progress has been made in the detection and identification of ACPA, improving antigenic composition and epitope recognition.

The predictive significance of autoantibodies in organ-specific autoimmune diseases.

Many organ-specific autoimmune diseases are preceded by a long pre-clinical phase, and several longitudinal cohort studies have shown that patients may carry autoantibodies many years before they manifest clinical symptoms. Detecting these antibodies in serum has been shown to have strong predictive value, depending on the particular autoantibody, test method, and disease at issue. This review examines the predictive value of various autoantibodies that are found in organ-specific autoimmune diseases, such as primary biliary cirrhosis, Addison's disease, Hashimoto's thyroiditis, type-1 diabetes, celiac disease, and Crohn's disease.

Antibodies to the lens and cornea in anti-DFS70-positive subjects.

Autoantibodies against DFS70 (dense fine speckles 70) antigen have recently been identified among antinuclear antibodies (ANA) in patients with various inflammatory diseases and in patients with different types of cancer. These antibodies are recognized using indirect immunofluorescence (IIF) on HEp-2 cells, by a fine speckled nuclear staining in interphase HEp-2 cells and a positive reaction in the chromosome region of mitotic cells. Given that the DFS70 protein is also known as the lens epithelium-derived growth factor, this study was performed with two objectives: (a) to assess the prevalence of these antibodies in patients sent for ANA testing and in 334 patients with different types of neoplasia and (b) to determine whether the lens tissue was a suitable substrate for the detection of antibodies specific to lens proteins.