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Angiola Rocino

Publications and source records attributed to Angiola Rocino.

7 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Immune tolerance induction with recombinant factor VIII in hemophilia A patients with high responding inhibitors.

Immune tolerance induction (ITI) eradicates inhibitors in patients with hemophilia A. This study was designed to investigate the success rate of ITI in high-responding inhibitor patients with severe hemophilia A using recombinant factor VIII (rFVIII). Twenty-six patients received different ITI regimens until a normal recovery (>66%) and half-life (>6 h) of infused FVIII was achieved. In order to maximize the chance of success, the initiation of ITI was deferred in the majority of patients until the inhibitor declined to <10 BU. Twenty-two patients (85%) had baseline inhibitor levels <10 BU (median 2.3 BU) when ITI began. Within a median of 6 months, immune tolerance was achieved in 19 of 26 patients (73%) including 12/17 (70%) with intron 22 inversion, 5/7 (71%) with other null mutations and two with small deletion/insertions in the F8 gene. In conclusion, recombinant FVIII induces a high rate of immune tolerance even in carriers of null F8 mutations.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2005

Environmental risk factors for inhibitor development in children with haemophilia A: a case-control study.

This case-control study investigated the interactions between genetic and environmental factors and inhibitor development in 108 children with haemophilia A exclusively treated with recombinant factor VIII (FVIII). Sixty patients with inhibitors were compared with 48 inhibitor-free controls. Family history of inhibitors and null mutations in the FVIII gene were more prevalent in cases than in controls (20% vs. 2%, P = 0.001 and 83% vs. 64%, P = 0.04, respectively). On the other hand, there was no difference between cases and controls for such putative risk factors of inhibitor development as amniocentesis/villocentesis, premature/caesarean birth, breast-feeding, treatment during infections/vaccinations, surgical procedures and central nervous system bleeding. A trend was found for an increased risk of inhibitor development in children first treated at a young age (<11 months); however, this was not confirmed after adjusting for genetic factors. The implementation of prophylaxis was evaluated as a putative risk factor in a subgroup of 25 cases: seven who started prophylaxis prior to inhibitor development and 18 potentially eligible for prophylaxis because they were inhibitor-free up to the age of 35 months (i.e. the upper limit of the age range at prophylaxis onset in cases and the median age at prophylaxis onset in controls). Patients who started prophylaxis had a lower inhibitor risk than those treated on demand (adjusted odds ratio 0.2, 95% confidence interval 0.06-0.9). The protective effect on inhibitor development shown by prophylaxis may represent an additional advantage prompting its use in haemophilic children.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2003

A 6-month versus a 12-month surveillance for hepatocellular carcinoma in 559 hemophiliacs infected with the hepatitis C virus.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is an increasingly frequent cause of mortality in hemophiliacs with chronic viral hepatitis. Early diagnosis of the tumor at an initial stage is known to improve the outcome of HCC treatment. Because all HCC cases detected in a previous study based upon annual ultrasound (US) surveillance of hemophiliacs with elevated alanine aminotransferase levels were multinodular, this study was designed to evaluate if a more intense surveillance with US and alphafetoprotein (AFP) serum levels of all the patients infected with the hepatitis C virus (HCV) improved the identification of single nodule tumors. A multicenter cohort of 559 HCV-infected hemophiliacs was divided into 2 arms, one followed up at 6-month intervals and one at 12-month intervals depending on the choice and available facilities of each treatment center. During a 6-year surveillance period, HCC was diagnosed in 5 (2.4%) of 210 patients in the 6-month group and in 3 (0.9%) of 349 patients in the 12-month group. The overall incidence rate of HCC was 239 per 100 000 per year (397 per 100 000 per year in the 6-month group and 143 per 100 000 per year in the 12-month group; differences not statistically significant). By multivariate analysis, HCC risk was increased 12.9-fold with alcohol intake more than 80 g/d and 15.2-fold with AFP levels higher than 11 ng/mL. Liver-related death occurred in 8 cases (1.4%), including 3 with HCC. Still alive and tumor free after 24 to 34 months from diagnosis are 3 patients with multinodular tumors treated with repeat chemoembolization followed by orthotopic liver transplantation. In conclusion, 6-month surveillance with US did not increase the chances of detection of single nodule tumors, but it is reasonable to assume that successful treatment of multinodular tumors based upon debulking with chemoembolization and liver transplantation was facilitated by this approach.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2003

Haemophilia B: from molecular diagnosis to gene therapy.

Thanks to its typical expression, haemophilia can be identified in writings from the second century AD. Haemophilia B, an X-linked recessive bleeding disorder due to factor IX (FIX) deficiency, has an incidence of about 1:30,000 live male births. The factor 9 (F9) gene was mapped in 1984 on Xq27.1. Haemophilia is diagnosed from prothrombin time, activated partial thromboplastin time, and FIX levels. Carrier females are usually asymptomatic and must be identified only with molecular analysis. Linkage analysis of F9 polymorphisms is rapid and inexpensive but limited by non-informative families, recombinant events, and the high incidence of germline mutations; thus, various procedures have been used for the direct scan of F9 mutations. We set up a novel denaturing high performance liquid chromatographic procedure to scan the F9 gene. This rapid, reproducible procedure detected F9 mutations in 100% of a preliminary cohort of 18 haemophilia B patients. Parallel to the development of more efficient diagnostic tools, the life expectancy and reproductive fitness of haemophilic patients have greatly improved and will continue to improve thanks to the use of less immunogenic recombinant FIX. Hopefully, new approaches based on gene therapy now being evaluated in clinical trials will revolutionise haemophilia B treatment.

Factor IX↗
PubMed2002

Residual factor VII activity and different hemorrhagic phenotypes in CRM(+) factor VII deficiencies (Gly331Ser and Gly283Ser).

Two cross-reacting material-positive (CRM(+)) factor VII (FVII) mutations, associated with similar reductions in coagulant activity (2.5%) but with mild to asymptomatic (Gly331Ser, c184 [in chymotrypsin numbering]) or severe (Gly283Ser, c140) hemorrhagic phenotypes, were investigated. The affected glycines belong to structurally conserved regions in the c184 through c193 and c140s activation domain loops, respectively. The natural mutants 331Ser-FVII and 283Ser-FVII were expressed, and in addition 331Ala-FVII and 283Ala-FVII were expressed because 3 functional serine-proteases bear alanine at these positions. The 331Ser-FVII, present in several asymptomatic subjects, showed detectable factor Xa generation activity in patient plasma (0.7% +/- 0.2%) and in reconstituted system with the recombinant molecules (2.7% +/- 1.1%). The reduced activity of recombinant 283Ala-FVII (7.2% +/- 2.2%) indicates that the full function of FVII requires glycine at this position, and the undetectable activity of 283Ser-FVII suggests that the oxydrile group of Ser283 participates in causing severe CRM(+) deficiency. Furthermore, in a plasma system with limiting thromboplastin concentration, 283Ser-FVII inhibited wild-type FVIIa activity in a dose-dependent manner.

Adult↗