Biomedical subjects
A Caminati
Publications and source records attributed to A Caminati.
Seasonal variations of T-cell cytokine pattern in peripheral blood from atopic subjects.
Previous studies on the effect of seasonal exposure to the sensitizing antigen on T-cell cytokine pattern from atopic subjects evaluated T-cell cytokine production by titration in the serum or culture supernatants. The purpose of this study was to determine the seasonal variations of T-cell cytokine pattern from atopic subjects at the single-cell level. We examined the interleukin-4 (IL-4) and interferon-gamma expression in peripheral blood CD4 + and CD8 + T cells from 11 subjects with grass-pollen-sensitive allergy before and during the 1999 grass pollen season using a flow cytometric method of intracellular cytokine detection. Eight healthy volunteers served as the control group. Flow cytometric analysis of peripheral blood lymphocytes showed no seasonal variations of IL-4- and interferon-gamma-producing T cells in atopic subjects. However, there was a decreased percentage of IL-4-producing cells among peripheral blood CD4+ and CD8+ T cells from the atopic subjects both during and outside the pollen season in comparison to the controLs. We did not find seasonal variations of T-cell cytokine pattern in peripheral blood from atopic subjects. However, we observed a decreased percentage of IL-4-producing T cells in peripheral blood from these subjects in comparison to healthy controls. These data add to the view of a continuous migration of T helper 2 (TH2) cells from the blood to the tissues of primary allergen exposure.
T-cell cytokine pattern at three time points during specific immunotherapy for mite-sensitive asthma.
BACKGROUND: Several lines of evidence indicate that specific immunotherapy may act by modifying the patterns of cytokines produced by helper T cells. However, different protocols have been used and different results obtained. OBJECTIVES: To quantify the effect of specific immunotherapy on the TH1/TH2 T-cell cytokine pattern at the single cell level. METHODS: We examined the interferon-gamma/interleukin-4 ratio in peripheral blood CD4+ and CD8+ T cells from 12 subjects with house dust mite-sensitive asthma using a flow cytometric method of intracellular cytokine detection. Cytokine production was determined following stimulation with phorbol myristate acetate/ionomycin, a policlonal activator. Subjects were examined at three occasions: before specific immunotherapy, after the 3-months dose increase phase and after 1 year of treatment. During the treatment year patients kept a diary in which they recorded: (a) symptoms of asthma according to a 0-3 grading (0 = absent, 1 = mild, 2 = moderate, 3 = severe); (b) number of puffs (100 microg) per day of salbutamol required to control symptoms; and (c) peak expiratory flow. RESULTS: Specific immunotherapy improved clinical indices of disease activity including symptom scores and medication use during the treatment year, and had a marked effect in increasing the interferon-gamma/interleukin-4 ratio in peripheral blood CD4+ T cells already after the dose increase phase (5.47 +/- 1.5 vs 4.07 +/- 1.49%, P = 0.03) with and a further rise after 1 year's treatment (16.12 +/- 2.8 vs 4.07 +/- 1.49 and 16.12 +/- 2.8 vs 5.47 +/- 1.5%, P = 0.001 and P = 0.002, respectively). There were no significant changes in the interferon-gamma/interleukin-4 ratio in peripheral blood CD8+ T cells at the three times of the study. CONCLUSIONS: These data add to view that the efficacy of specific immunotherapy may be attributed to a modified cytokine secretion of CD4+ T cells.
Predominant TH1 cytokine pattern in peripheral blood from subjects with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
BACKGROUND: Previous studies have provided evidence for an inflammatory process in the large airways of subjects with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), consisting predominantly of activated T cells. No data are available on the TH1 /TH2 T-cell cytokine pattern in this disease. OBJECTIVE: We sought to characterize the TH1 /TH2 T-cell cytokine pattern in subjects with COPD. METHODS: We examined the IFN-gamma and IL-4 expression in peripheral blood CD4+ and CD8+ T cells from 20 patients with COPD and 25 control subjects by using a flow cytometric method of intracellular cytokine detection. We also examined the expression of 2 surface activation markers (CD25 and HLA-DR) on peripheral blood CD4+ and CD8+ T cells. RESULTS: There was an increased percentage of IFN-gamma-producing cells (30.3% [range, 12.9% to 60.4%] vs 19.1% [range, 4% to 31.2%], P =.003) and a decreased percentage of IL-4-producing cells (4.55% [range, 0.6% to 11.3%] vs 9.5% [2.1% to 21.3%], P =.0008) among peripheral blood CD4+ T cells from the patients with COPD compared with control subjects. There was no significant difference between the 2 groups in the percentage of peripheral blood CD8+ T cells producing IFN-gamma or IL-4 or in the percentage of peripheral blood CD4+ and CD8+ T cells expressing CD25 and HLA-DR. CONCLUSION: These findings provide evidence for a TH1 -like immune response of peripheral blood CD4+ T cells in subjects with COPD.
Bronchoalveolar lavage in intensive care units.
Pneumonia is common in those patients placed in intensive care units, especially in mechanically ventilated patients. The high mortality rate of ventilator-associated pneumonia requires a rapid initiation of the appropriate antibiotic treatment. Patients who do not respond to initial antibiotic regimens could have the additional benefit of the use of invasive techniques such as bronchoalveolar lavage. Moreover, BAL is of clinical use to identify several non-infectious pulmonary conditions that may mimic pneumonia in these patients. Such conditions include pulmonary haemorrhages, acute eosinophilic pneumonia, malignancy, drug-induced toxicity, adult respiratory distress syndrome and cardiogenic pulmonary oedema. It is important to distinguish these conditions from pneumonia because the management and prognosis of these entities is quite different.