Cristina Torre

The Mucosal Innate Immune Response in Primary Human Papillomavirus Infection: A Pilot Study.

Objectives The purpose of the study was to evaluate the mucosal immune response in women affected by primary human papillomavirus (HPV) infection, in comparison with HPV-negative women with no previous history of HPV. Methods A case–control study comparing the activity of myeloperoxidase (MPO) and lactoferrin (LF) between 19 HPV-positive and 19 HPV-negative women matched for age. Plasmatic and cervicovaginal levels of polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMN) exhibiting MPO and LF receptors were measured using cytofluorimetric analysis and expressed as mean of percentages. Results Cervicovaginal levels of MPO-/LF- PMN were lower among HPV-negative women, with a mean rate of 18.81% (SD, 21.38), as opposed to a mean rate of 35.56% (SD, 21.02) (P = 0.020) in HPV-positive women. A similar significant difference was not proven in plasma. The mean rates of plasmatic levels of MPO-/LF- PMN were 36.21% (SD, 16.87) and 36.93% (SD, 10.54) (P = 0.875) in cases and controls, respectively. All patients were evaluated 1 year later, and only 6 cases became negative. Conclusions The presence of MPO-/LF- PMN has been considered as a marker of lower rate of apoptosis of HPV-infected cells. This could explain why HPV-positive women are less capable to deal with a primary infection.

Anti-Zinc Transporter Protein 8 Antibody Testing Is Not Informative in Routine Prediabetes Screening in Young Patients with Autoimmune Thyroiditis and Celiac Disease

Background/Aims: Patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM), autoimmune thyroiditis (ATD), and celiac disease (CD) are at increased risk for developing other autoimmune diseases. We evaluated zinc transporter 8 (ZnT8) prevalence in patients with ATD and/or CD in order to define the usefulness of ZnT8 autoantibodies for prediabetes screening. Methods: Eighty-one young patients with ATD and/or CD were included in the study; 32 subjects with clinical onset of T1DM were enrolled as a control group. GAD65, IA-2, and ZnT8 antibodies were measured. An intravenous glucose tolerance test, C-peptide, glycosylated hemoglobin levels, and genomic analysis of HLA-DQA1* and -DQB1* were also considered in patients positive for autoantibodies. Results: The ZnT8 prevalence was higher in T1DM patients than in patients with other autoimmune diseases (p < 0.001); positive ZnT8 detection was found in 2 ATD (p = 0.004) and 3 ATD + CD (p = 0.04) patients. Positive ZnT8 was associated with GAD65 (p = 0.01) but not with IA-2 positivity. No correlation between ZnT8 detection and the number of T1DM-susceptible HLA-DQ heterodimers was found. Pathological C-peptide levels and insulin response were found in subjects with islet autoimmunity and genetic susceptibility. Conclusion: ZnT8 autoantibodies detection in ATD and/or CD patients is low, and routine ZnT8 screening is not justified. ZnT8 evaluation may be recommended in subjects with autoimmune diseases as a marker for predicting compromised insulin secretion.

Simultaneous detection of circulating immunological parameters and tumor biomarkers in early stage breast cancer patients during adjuvant chemotherapy.

BackgroundChemotherapy-induced immune suppression has mainly been studied in patients with advanced cancer, but the influence of chemotherapy on the immune system in early stage cancer patients has so far not been studied systematically. The aim of the present study was to monitor the immune system during anthracycline- and taxane-based adjuvant chemotherapy in early stage breast cancer patients, to assess the impact of circulating tumor cells on selected immune parameters and to reveal putative angiogenic effects of circulating endothelial cells.MethodsPeripheral blood samples from 20 early stage breast cancer patients were analyzed using a flow cytometric multi-color of antibodies to enumerate lymphocyte and dendritic cell subsets, as well as endothelial and tumor cells. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to measure the levels of various serological factors.ResultsDuring chemotherapy, all immunological parameters and angiogenesis surrogate biomarkers showed significant decreases. The numbers of circulating tumor cells showed significant inverse correlations with the numbers of T helper cells, a lymphocyte subset directly related to effective anti-tumor responses. Reduced T helper cell numbers may contribute to systemic immunosuppression and, as such, the activation of dormant tumor cells.ConclusionsFrom our results we conclude that adjuvant chemotherapy suppresses immune function in early stage breast cancer patients. In addition, we conclude that the presence of circulating tumor cells, defined as pan-cytokeratin+, CD326+, CD45− cells, may serve as an important indicator of a patient’s immune status. Further investigations are needed to firmly define circulating tumor cells as a predictor for the success of breast cancer adjuvant chemotherapy.

Front and Back Matter

Each paper needs an abstract of up to 200 words. It should be structured as follows: Background/Aims: What is the major problem that prompted the study? Methods: How was the study done? Results: Most important findings? Conclusion: Most important conclusion? Footnotes: Avoid footnotes. When essential, they are numbered consecutively and typed at the foot of the appropriate page. Tables and illustrations: Tables and illustrations (both numbered in Arabic numerals) should be prepared on separate pages. Tables require a heading and figures a legend, also prepared on a separate page. Due to technical reasons, figures with a screen background should not be submitted. When possible, group several illustrations on one block for reproduction (max. size 180  223 mm) or provide crop marks. Color illustrations Online edition: Color illustrations are reproduced free of charge. In the print version, the illustrations are reproduced in black and white. Please avoid referring to the colors in the text and figure legends. Print edition: Up to 6 color illustrations per page can be integrated within the text at CHF 960.00 per page. References: In the text identify references by Arabic numerals [in square brackets]. Material submitted for publication but not yet accepted should be noted as [unpublished data] and not be included in the reference list. The list of references should include only those publications which are cited in the text. Do not alphabetize; number references in the order in which they are first mentioned in the text. The surnames of the authors followed by initials should be given. There should be no punctuation other than a comma to separate the authors. Preferably, please cite all authors. Abbreviate journal names according to the Index Medicus system. Also see International Committee of Medical Journal Editors: Uniform requirements for manuscripts submitted to biomedical journals (www.icmje.org). Examples (a) Papers published in periodicals: Sun J, Koto H, Chung KF: Interaction of ozone and allergen challenges on bronchial responsiveness and inflammation in sensitised guinea pigs. Int Arch Allergy Immunol 1997;112:191–195. (b) Papers published only with DOI numbers: Theoharides TC, Boucher W, Spear K: Serum interleukin-6 reflects disease severity and osteoporosis in mastocytosis patients. Int Arch Allergy Immunol DOI: 10.1159/000063858. (c) Monographs: Matthews DE, Farewell, VT: Using and Understanding Medical Statistics, ed 3, revised. Basel, Karger, 1996. (d) Edited books: Parren PWHI, Burton DR: Antibodies against HIV-1 from phage display libraries: Mapping of an immune response and progress towards antiviral immunotherapy; in Capra JD (ed): Antibody Engineering. Chem Immunol. Basel, Karger, 1997, vol 65, pp 18–56. Reference Management Software: Use of EndNote is recommended for easy management and formatting of citations and reference lists. Digital Object Identifier (DOI) S. Karger Publishers supports DOIs as unique identifiers for articles. A DOI number will be printed on the title page of each article. DOIs can be useful in the future for identifying and citing articles published online without volume or issue information. More information can be found at www.doi.org. Supplementary Material Multimedia files and other supplementary files, directly relevant but not essential to the conclusions of a paper, enhance the online version of a publication and increase its visibility on the web. These files will undergo editorial review. The Editors reserve the right to limit the scope and length of the supplementary material. Multimedia and supplementary material should meet production quality standards for publication without the need for any modification or

Interacting Agents for the Risk Assessment of Allergies in Newborn Babies

Allergic diseases are increasing all over the world. Therefore, the risk assessment of allergy in newborns is a key issue for prevention purposes. The risk can be assessed at the birth by combining information about familiarity with results of blood examination. Then, the individual must be monitored, particularly in the fist months of life, in order to better define the type of allergy and the risk. The monitoring is carried on by different professionals (agents), therefore the communication and collaboration between these agents must be supported in order to obtain the best treatment strategy for the baby. This paper presents a new project which allows the cooperation between the agents involved in the risk assessment of allergy in newborn babies, and presents the main technologies which will be used to develop it.