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E Prati

Publications and source records attributed to E Prati.

31 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1992

Evaluation of serum levels of soluble interleukin-2 receptor as an indicator of disease activity in systemic lupus erythematosus.

Serum levels of the soluble form of the interleukin-2 receptor (sIL-2R) were measured in the sera of 32 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus. A significant correlation was observed between the levels of sIL-2R and the SLAM score of disease activity (R:0.40; p: less than 0.05). The correlation was slightly lower than those between the SLAM score and the levels of anti-dsDNA or of the complement activity. The levels of sIL-2R were not significantly correlated with those of serum anti-ds-DNA and complement, nor with a sign of peripheral blood B cell hyperactivity, such as the spontaneous in vitro production of anti-DNA antibodies.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Familial occurrence of primary glomerulonephritis: evidence for a role of genetic factors.

Chronic glomerulonephritis was diagnosed in 23 patients born in a small valley in Northern Italy and in five additional patients with one parent or a more remote ancestor born in the same area, all belonging to three potentially related families. Eighteen patients had biopsy-proven glomerulonephritis: 11 IgA nephropathy, 3 IgM nephropathy, 2 membranoproliferative type I, and 2 mesangial proliferative glomerulonephritis with isolated C3 deposits. Ten had clinical glomerulonephritis. A community screening programme discovered six additional related patients. Two underwent renal biopsy (1 IgA nephropathy; 1 focal glomerulosclerosis); four were diagnosed as having clinical glomerulonephritis. Genealogical investigation identified five deceased family members with diagnoses of chronic nephritis recorded on their death certificates. No environmental nephrotoxic factors were identified. Restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis of HLA-DR beta, HLA-DQ alpha and beta genes, and complement typing for C4A, C4B, and Bf polymorphisms were carried out for 29 patients, 168 healthy relatives, and 24 local controls. The frequency of HLA-Dw8.1 specificity, related to DR beta 8, DQ beta 3b, and DQ alpha 1a RFLPs, was significantly increased more in the affected and unaffected pedigree members than in Italian controls.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Oral disodium cromoglycate treatment on irritable bowel syndrome: an open study on 101 subjects with diarrheic type.

Several studies on the usefulness of oral disodium cromoglycate (DSCG) in the treatment of systemic adverse reaction to foods have been performed, with less attention to gastroenterological symptoms. In the present study, we selected 101 patients with diarrheic-type irritable bowel syndrome which improved after an elimination diet and worsened after a challenge with specific food(s). All patients were then tested for 48 commercial alimentary antigens by skin prick test (SPT) and underwent 8 wk of oral DSCG (500 mg three times a day), and the results were evaluated by means of a semiquantitative subjective and objective score. We observed an improvement of the symptoms in 67% of the 74 SPT-positive patients, whereas only 41% of the 27 SPT-negative patients showed a positive response to DSCG (p less than 0.05). These data confirm the protective role of DSCG in food-dependent diarrheic-type irritable bowel syndrome with food allergy features.

Administration, Oral↗
PubMed1990

Familial IgM mesangial nephropathy: a morphologic and immunogenetic study of three pedigrees.

Eight patients belonging to 3 unrelated families had biopsy-proven IgM mesangial nephropathy. In the first family, the mother and the 2 daughters were affected; in the second, the mother and the son; in the third, 2 sisters and the brother. Two additional sisters of the third family showed a clinical picture consistent with chronic glomerulonephritis. The clinical picture was that of hematuria and/or proteinuria. No patients had nephrotic syndrome. Genealogic investigation enabled us to discover 2 additional affected members in the kindred of the first family (1 with IgA nephropathy, 1 with clinical glomerulonephritis) and 3 other affected members in the pedigree of the third family (1 with IgA nephropathy, 1 with sclerosing glomerulonephritis, 1 with clinical glomerulonephritis). Immunogenetic studies showed the recurrence of an extended haplotype bearing DR beta 11-DQ beta 3B-DQ alpha 2-C4A3-C4B1-BfS in 9 of 10 affected members. Our data suggest that genetic factors may be involved in the mechanism of the disease and support the hypothesis that IgM nephropathy is a distinct disease entity.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1985

Herpes virus infection prevalence in regular haemodialysis patients--a comparative evaluation of complement fixation, indirect immunofluorescence and Elisa tests.

The presence and titres of specific serum IgG and IgM antibodies to cytomegalovirus, herpes simplex virus and varicella-zoster virus were evaluated in 50 haemodialysis patients by complement fixation, immunofluorescence and Elisa tests. A second serum sample was tested in 24 patients after four weeks. Specific serum IgG antibodies to Epstein-Barr virus were also measured by immunofluorescence in 26 patients. By immunofluorescence and Elisa tests, the prevalence of cytomegalovirus, herpes simplex virus and Epstein-Barr virus infection is approximately 100 per cent, and varicella-zoster virus 60 per cent. High titres of IgG specific antibodies found by Elisa tests, detection of IgM antibodies in 16-18 per cent of patients and sero-conversion in 25 per cent of patients, suggests continuous antigenic stimulation.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Monoclonal expansion of large granular lymphocytes with a CD4+ CD8dim+/- phenotype associated with hairy cell leukemia.

Peripheral blood lymphoid cell expansions with an unusual CD3+, CD4+, CD8dim+/-, CD11b+, CD57+ immunophenotype have recently been reported. They frequently have the morphology of large granular lymphocytes (LGL) and can be either monoclonal or polyclonal. Their significance is still unclear and no association with hematological neoplasms has been described. We report the case of a patient with a monoclonal expansion of LGL associated with a B-cell-derived hairy cell leukemia. The two lymphoid clones were not physically associated since T-LGL were found in the peripheral blood and hairy cells were detected in the bone marrow and kidney.

Aged↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Familial membranous nephropathy.

Numerous HLA studies suggest that genetic factors play an important role in the development of membranous nephropathy (MN). We studied seven patients with idiopathic MN, from three unrelated families of Italian ancestry. Complement phenotype analysis and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) typing of HLA class II and of the switch region genes were done in family members. In the first family, the father, one son, and one daughter had MN; another daughter had clinical glomerulonephritis. The three members with MN shared one HLA haplotype carrying DR beta 11; in the two siblings with the disease, the second HLA haplotype carried the DR beta 3.2 allele. In families 2 and 3, two brothers had MN: in family 2, they differed in at least one haplotype; in family 3, they differed in both haplotypes. Only family 3 was informative with regard to the RFLP of the switch region genes: the two siblings were identical for both Ig heavy chain haplotypes. No clinical, laboratory or morphologic features consistent with a secondary form of the disease were found. Familial clustering of MN suggests a genetically transmitted mechanism.

Adult↗