Biomedical subjects

A Turrini

Publications and source records attributed to A Turrini.

21 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

PubMedDate not supplied

Presence and significance of cold agglutinins in patients with HIV infection.

BACKGROUND: HIV-infected patients may contract a variety of other concurrent infections, including Mycoplasma pneumoniae, cytomegalovirus (CMV) and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), that are known to be causes of transient cold agglutinins (CA). The aim of this study was to search for the prevalence, the persistence and the significance of CA in HIV antibody-positive patients. METHODS: Ninety patients belonging to different risk groups (drug addicts, homosexuals and hemophiliacs), including 15 with AIDS, 20 with ARC, 25 with PGL, 30 symptom-free individuals and 100 healthy blood donors were assessed for the presence of CA for at least six months. RESULTS: In 20 cases (22%) CA were found: 3, 7, 5 and 5 respectively, in each of the above mentioned HIV-positive groups, while the group used as control was CA-negative. There were no differences between CA-negative and CA-positive patients with regard to the presence of anemia, frequency of other infections, or development of lymphatic malignancy during the follow-up period. Serological specificity of CA included 14 of type anti-I, 5 of anti-i and 1 of anti-Pr specificity. CONCLUSIONS: It appears that CA production is another immune disorder of patients with HIV infection.

Agglutinins↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[Hapten selection for patch tests in the diagnosis of allergic contact dermatitis: epidemiologic data].

Aim of the study was to verify the reliability in clinical practice of patch testing with "standard" series and additional series of haptens for the diagnosis of occupational and non-occupational allergic contact dermatitis, evaluating positive reactions and relating those reactions to professional categories. A total of 392 out of 937 patients (41.8%) showed at least one positive reaction to "standard" series testing; the hapten most frequently noted as the cause of positive reaction was nickel sulphate. Professional categories that showed positive reactions to "standard" series most frequently were clerks, hairdressers and hospital auxiliary workers. Among 897 patients tested with nonstandard allergens, only 124 (13.8%) elicited at least one positive reaction, ammonium persulphate being the most frequently positive hapten. A dominant percentage of positive results was seen in hairdressers and cleaning personnel. No positive reactions were observed in a large number of haptens, tested more than 200 times. Haptens of "standard series" elicited a higher number of positive reaction than the additional series, even though there was a high specificity of few additional series haptens in some professional categories. Data suggest some caution in systematically testing additional series, despite a higher accuracy and diagnostic efficacy in some job categories.

Dermatitis, Occupational↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[Chemotaxis deficiency in patients with HIV infection].

Increased susceptibility to bacterial recurrent infection is characteristically associated with impaired B cells function but also with a defective PMN function. We studied PMN CT in 15 HIV positive drug addicts patients with persistent generalized lymphoadenopathy (PGL), in 15 symptom free HIV negative drug addicts (SFDA) and in 15 healthy blood donors to evaluate influence of HIV infection on PMN functions. CT of patients with PGL was reduced to 78% (p < 0.0001) and 75% (p < 0.00001) of CT in SFDA patients and healthy blood donors, respectively. We conclude that HIV infection causes defective PMNL CT and then it can increase susceptibility to bacterial recurrent infections in these patients.

AIDS-Related Complex↗