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A Nocco

Publications and source records attributed to A Nocco.

10 recordsLinked to original sources

Allele frequencies of polymorphisms of TNFA, IL-6, IL-10 and IFNG in an Italian Caucasian population.

Polymorphisms in the regulatory and intronic regions of several cytokines have been associated with differential cytokine production. In this paper we genotyped, using the polymerase chain reaction-sequence-specific primers (PCR-SSP) method, a series of 363 healthy Italian Caucasians with the aim of obtaining a reference population for further studies on the role of cytokines in the inflammatory and immune responses. We also compared the results to those for other populations. The polymorphisms analysed were those of tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNFA), interleukin 6 (IL-6), interleukin 10 (IL-10) and interferon gamma (IFNG). We found that the frequency of allele TNFA*1 at position -380 was 87.7% and that of TNFA*2 was 12.4%, significantly different from those of the UK and Japanese populations but not different from that of a population in Gambia. For IL-10 the frequencies of alleles -1082A and -1082G were 63.0% and 37.0% and those of alleles -819C, - 819T, -592C and -592A were 70.8, 29.2, 70.8 and 29.2%, respectively, significantly different from those observed in south-east England, in Manchester and in an Oriental population from southern China. The frequencies of IL-6 alleles - 174C and -174G were 29.0 and 71.0%, respectively; for IFNG polymorphisms at position -874, in the population under evaluation, the alleles -874T and -874A were present in 44.7 and 55.3% of the subjects, respectively. Genotype frequencies of IL-6 were significantly different from those observed in populations from Germany and from the UK. The analysis carried out by our group indicates that there is heterogeneity in the frequencies of the cytokine polymorphisms among the different Caucasian populations, and this underlines the importance of a 'local' reference population when evaluating the clinical relevance of cytokine gene polymorphisms.

Adult↗

Comparison of serological and molecular typing for HLA-A and -B on cord blood lymphocytes.

HLA class I typing by standard microcytotoxicity testing has been unsatisfactory for 14.5% of 1644 cord blood samples. In this study, we evaluated the capacity of PCR-SSP in solving problems in HLA-A,B typing with serological methods. With this aim we have compared serology with PCR-SSP in 100 cord blood samples with doubtful or unreliable HLA-A,B typing. PCR-SSP was successful in amplifying HLA-A,B alleles in all 100 cord blood samples. Forty-six typings gave discrepant results with the 2 methods (serology and PCR-SSP). Typings were considered discrepant also in the case of inability to define a split. For 19 specimens, no serological conclusion was drawn due to high mortality of the cell suspension, while PCR-SSP allowed the definition of a clear typing. In 6 cases it was necessary to infer information from serology to define the current typing. Finally, in 3 other cases it was impossible to exclude or attribute the antigen/allele B67 or B4802. PCR-SSP for HLA-A,B can improve the overall reliability of HLA-A,B typing requiring a small amount of blood although, with the set of sequence specific primers adopted, a number of alleles are still poorly defined.

Alleles↗

Genomic HLA-DR compatibility in long-term surviving recipients of cadaver kidney transplants.

The finding that HLA-DR compatibility assessed by DNA typing correlates with short-term graft outcome better than serology prompted us to study the degree of genomic HLA-DR compatibility on 55 patients with a graft functioning for more than 10 years (group A), compared with 82 patients with more recent transplants regardless of survival (group B). Because adequate blood donor samples were not available for group A long-term survivors, we used donor renal cells obtained by fine needle aspiration biopsy as a source of DNA. We found that in long-term survivors, the distribution of HLA-DR mismatches was significantly different from that observed in group B patients. In particular, whereas a similar proportion of patients with 1 mismatch was seen in both groups, 27.3% of group A patients vs. 6.1% of group B patients had no mismatch, and 23.6% of group A vs. 41.5% of group B patients received transplants with no HLA-DR compatibility (P = 0.001). We also investigated a possible correlation between number of incompatibilities and graft function. Well-matched patients received less steroid pulses than less well-matched recipients, and steroid-resistant rejection episodes were more common among less well-matched recipients. These results suggest a prognostic role of genomic HLA-DR compatibility on long-term success of cadaver kidney transplantation.

Adult↗

Prenatal paternity testing by DNA analysis.

Prenatal paternity testing was evaluated by DNA analysis in chorionic villus biopsies obtained during the 7th-22nd weeks of gestation. Using highly polymorphic variable number of tandem repeats (VNTR) probes, we analysed four cases consisting of mother/child/alleged father trios. In all cases, we were able to detect maternal and paternal alleles and could establish or exclude paternity. The application of DNA analysis represents a new important diagnostic aid for all cases that require a prenatal identification of paternity.

Blotting, Southern↗

[Detection of varicella virus with a DNA probe in fetal blood and amniotic fluid].

In our Centre for Prenatal Diagnosis, we undertook a punctuation of the umbilical cord on a pregnant woman infected with varicella, complicated by viral encephalitis, to diagnose a foetal viraemia. In cooperation with the Toma Laboratory and Clonit Ltd., who have long been working on the development of specific viral genome probes, we succeeded in proving, that the foetus had contracted varicella.

Adult↗