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Biomedical subjects

G Bianucci

Publications and source records attributed to G Bianucci.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

[Salivary and serum beta 2-microglobulin in the diagnosis of primary Sjögren's syndrome].

beta 2-microglobulin (beta 2m) serum and salivary levels and total protein salivary levels were determined in 15 patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS), 14 patients with sicca syndrome and 11 healthy subjects. beta 2m serum and salivary levels were higher (p < 0.005) in the patients with pSS than in the healthy subjects and in the patients with sicca syndrome. The bioptic focus scores of minor salivary glands were correlated to beta 2m salivary levels with a high significance (p < 0.001) but were not correlated to beta 2m serum levels. The assessment of beta 2m serum and salivary levels is a non-invasive clinical investigation, which may be easily repeated. It is a very sensitive and highly specific test for the diagnosis of pSS. It may be therefore a useful mean to follow the natural course of pSS and to evaluate the effects of therapy.

Diagnosis, Differential

[Serum beta 2-microglobulin and HLA alloantigens in primary Gougerot-Sjögren syndrome. A possible relation with HLA-DR3 specificity].

The relationships between some allo-antigens of the HLA system and beta 2-microglobulin (beta 2m) serum level were examined in a group of 24 subjects with primitive Sjögren's syndrome (pSS). While the beta 2m serum level of all the patients with pSS were higher at the limits of significance (p congruent to 0.05), compared to the values of the 14 control subjects, the division of the patients into two sub-groups of 14 and 10 subjects, according to the presence or absence of the haplotypes DR2 and/or DR3, pointed up a beta 2m serum level which was significantly higher in the first compared to the second (p less than 0.02) and to the group of normal subjects (p less than 0.01). Among the individual haplotypes studied, only the DR3 was observed with a significantly greater frequency (p less than 0.01) in the patients compared to the control group. The haplotype DR3 and also the B8, although at a lesser level, were found to be correlated with a high value of the serum beta 2m: p less than 0.004 and p less than 0.05 respectively. A similar association was not found for the DR2 and DRW52 specificities.

Adult

Relationship between serum ferritin, iron stores and disease activity in rheumatoid arthritis.

Bone marrow aspirate from the sternum of 40 patients with active or inactive rheumatoid arthritis (RA) was stained with Perls' Prussian blue for iron determination. In these patients serum ferritin concentrations were correlated with other indices of iron stores and disease activity. In patients with active RA and without bone marrow iron stores, serum ferritin was significantly lower than in patients with either active or inactive RA and iron stores. In patients with bone marrow iron stores, serum ferritin was directly correlated with erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), Ritchie index, alpha 1-antitrypsin, alpha 1-acid glycoprotein and desferrioxamine (DFO)-induced sideruria, while an inverse correlation of serum ferritin with hemoglobin and serum iron was observed. In all patients serum ferritin was significantly correlated only with DFO-induced sideruria and unsaturated iron-binding capacity (UIBC). Thus, serum ferritin is an index of iron stores also in rheumatoid arthritis. In active disease, higher than expected values of serum ferritin are probably due to a shifting of iron from the circulating pool to the reticuloendothelial cells of the synovial membrane.

Adult