[Methotrexate in the treatment of psoriasis. Clinico-therapeutic experiences].
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Adult↗
Biomedical subjects
A Spanò
Publications and source records attributed to A Spanò.
Heterogeneity of HVR-1 quasispecies is predictive of early but not sustained virological response in genotype 1b-infected patients undergoing combined treatment with PEG- or STD-IFN plus RBV.
ISDR mutation pattern and HVR-1 quasispecies were analyzed in HCV genotype 1b-infected patients treated with either PEG- or STD-IFN plus ribavirin, in order to find virological correlates of therapy outcome. ISDR region analysis, performed at baseline (T0) and at 4 weeks of therapy (T1), indicated that ISDR mutation pattern was not predictive of response to treatment. Moreover, no selection of putative resistant strains in the first month of therapy was observed. Viral load was not correlated with any parameter of HVR-1 heterogeneity. Among the HVR-1 heterogeneity parameters considered, complexity was inversely correlated to viral load decline at T1. In univariate analysis, complexity, proportion of non synonymous substitutions (NS) and NS/S ratio were lower in patients showing virological response at 6 months of treatment. Complexity was the only parameter independently associated with both decline of viral load at T1 and virological response after 6 months, even after adjustment for confounding variables. At the end of treatment or later, these correlations were lost. Evolution pattern of the HVR-1 quasispecies indicated a strong selective pressure in sustained responders, with complete substitution of pre-existing quasispecies, while minor changes occured in non responders. In relapsers both patterns were present at a similar rate. In conclusion, this study shows that HVR-1 heterogeneity may be involved in the early response to combined IFN-RBV therapy. The loss of correlation between viral heterogeneity and therapy outcome at 6 months of therapy, or later, suggests that other factors may play a role in maintaining sustained response to treatment.
Antiviral Agents↗
[Trace elements in biological samples and immunologic parameters in environmentally exposed populations (preliminary study)].
In non-smoking policemen from a town of Central Italy, blood CD4+ lymphocytes were reduced and CD8+ were increased as compared with a control group. This immunological alteration was not evident in the smoking policemen. Urine lead (marker of exposure to toxic agents produced by traffic) and blood natural killer (NK) CD16+ lymphocytes as well as serum copper and HLA-DR+ cells (B, T, NK activated lymphocytes and monocytes) were significantly correlated in the whole group of 42 examined subjects. Another study was performed on 15 healthy men, occupationally not exposed to toxic agents and living in a suburban area. Their urine lead, was positively correlated with the serum IgA immunoglobulins and negatively correlated with blood CD5(+)-CD19+ (a B subset bearing the T CD5 antigen) lymphocytes. On the contrary, urine chromium was negatively correlated with serum IgA and positively correlated with CD16(+)-56+ NK and CD5(+)-CD19+ B lymphocytes as well as with HLA-DR+cells. Serum zinc was also correlated with total HLA-DR+and CD3-HLA+DR+ (activated B and NK lymphocytes and monocytes) cells. These later data suggest that only zinc and copper but also trivalent chromium (to which normal population is mainly exposed in ordinary environmental conditions) may play a role in the mechanisms regulating the immune response.
Air Pollutants, Occupational↗