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Biomedical subjects

G Colucci

Publications and source records attributed to G Colucci.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed2000

5-Fluorouracil and folinic acid with or without CPT-11 in advanced colorectal cancer patients: a multicenter randomised phase II study of the Southern Italy Oncology Group.

PURPOSE: The combination regimen CPT-11 plus bolus and infusion 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) with high-dose leucovorin (hybrid regimen LV5FU2) has been tested for activity and toxicity against advanced colorectal carcinoma in a randomised, multicenter phase II trial. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 102 chemotherapy-naïve patients were randomised in a 1:2 fashion to receive: leucovorin 100 mg/m2 administered as a two-hour infusion before 5-FU 400 mg/m2 as an intravenous bolus, and FU 600 mg/m2 as a 22-hour infusion immediately after 5-FU bolus injection repeated on days 1 and 2 (LV5FU2 regimen, arm A, 34 patients) or CPT-11 at 180 mg/m2 (150 mg/m2 for patients of age > or = 70 and < 75 years) only on day 1 immediately before LV5FU2 therapy (LV5FU2 + CPT-11 regimen, arm B 68 patients). Both treatments were repeated every two weeks. The presence of a calibration arm assured consistency and more realistic evaluation of results achieved with the LV5FU2 + CTP-II regimen. RESULTS: Thirty-three and sixty-four patients were evaluable in arm A and B, respectively. The overall response rate was 18% in arm A (95% CI: 7%-34%) and 40% in arm B (95% CI: 28%-52%). Median time to progression, median duration of response and survival were similar in both groups. Responders (CR + PR) survived statistically longer than non-responders only in arm B (20 vs. 10 months, P = 0.0016). All patients were evaluable for toxicity which was mild in both groups; gastrointestinal disturbances were the most common. There were no treatment-related deaths. Grade 3-4 toxicity was uncommon in both arms. CONCLUSIONS: The addition of CPT-11 to the hybrid LV5FU2 regimen provided a significant overall response rate (40%) with relatively mild toxicity. The overall response rate was 18% in patients treated with LV5FU2 alone in the calibration arm. Thus, considering other encouraging data from the literature, the CPT-11 + FU-LV combination therapy can be regarded as a new, very effective treatment option for first-line treatment of advanced colorectal cancer patients.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Performance of the COBAS AMPLICOR HCV MONITOR test, version 2.0, an automated reverse transcription-PCR quantitative system for hepatitis C virus load determination.

A clinical evaluation of an automated quantitative PCR assay, the COBAS AMPLICOR HCV MONITOR test, version 2.0 (v2.0), was carried out to assess the performance of this test in comparison with that of the previous, manual version, the AMPLICOR HCV MONITOR test, and with that of nested PCR. Serial dilutions of serum samples infected with genotype 1b, 2a, or 3, as well as synthetic RNA transcripts and serum samples derived from 87 patients with chronic hepatitis C and infected with genotype 1a, 1b, 2a, 2b, 3a, 3b, 4, or 5, were analyzed to determine the ability of the system to efficiently quantify various hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotypes. These experiments showed that the COBAS AMPLICOR HCV MONITOR test, v2.0, has mean intra-assay, interassay, and interoperator coefficients of variation that range from 22 to 34.5% and a 3-logarithm dynamic range, which spans from 10(3) to 10(6) copies/ml. Compared to the previous, manual version of the test, the COBAS AMPLICOR HCV MONITOR test, v2.0, showed an improved efficacy for all genotypes, especially genotypes 2, 3, and 4, whose estimated concentrations were on average 1 logarithm higher. When used to monitor patients under treatment, however, both versions showed the same patterns of viremia, indicating that the COBAS AMPLICOR HCV MONITOR test, v2.0, and the AMPLICOR HCV MONITOR test were equally effective at detecting relative viremia changes in serial samples. As expected, the automated test was less sensitive than nested PCR; among specimens from a cohort of patients treated with interferon, nested PCR identified three more viremic specimens, which probably contained very low concentrations of HCV RNA.

Hepacivirus↗
PubMed2000

Morphine plus bupivacaine vs. morphine peridural analgesia in abdominal surgery: the effects on postoperative course in major hepatobiliary surgery.

Anaesthesia and surgical procedures lead to a reduction of intestinal motility, and opioids may produce a postoperative ileus, that might delay postoperative feeding. The aim of this prospective randomised study is to test whether or not different kinds of epidural analgesia (Group A: morphine 0.0017 mg/kg/h and bupivacaine 0.125%-0.058 mg/kg/h; Group B: morphine alone 0.035 mg/kg/12h in the postoperative period) allow earlier postoperative enteral feeding, enhance intestinal motility a passage of flatus and help avoid complications, such as nausea, vomiting, ileus, diarrhoea, pneumonia or other infective diseases. We included in the study 60 patients (28 males and 32 females) with a mean age of 61.2 years (range 50-70) and with an ASA score of 2 or 3. All patients had hepato-biliary-pancreatic neoplasm and were candidates for major surgery. We compared two different pharmacological approaches, i.e., morphine plus bupivacaine (30 patients, Group A) versus morphine alone (30 patients, Group B). Each medication was administered by means of a thoracic epidural catheter for the control of postoperative pain. In the postoperative course we recorded every 6 hours peristaltic activity. We also noted morbidity (pneumonia, wound sepsis) and mortality. Effective peristalsis was present in all patients in Group A within the first six postoperative hours; in Group B, after 30 hours. Six patients in Group A had bowel motions in the first postoperative day, 11 in the second day, 10 in the third day and 3 in fourth day, while in Group B none in the first day, two in the second, 7 in the third, 15 in the fourth, and 6 in the fifth: the difference between the two groups was significant (p<0.05 in 1st, 2nd, 4th and 5th days). Pneumonia occurred in 2 patients of Group A, and in 10 of Group B (p < 0.05). We conclude that epidural analgesia with morphine plus bupivacaine allowed a move rapid return to normal gut activity and early enteral nutrition compared with epidural analgesia with morphine alone.

Aged↗
PubMed2000

Prognostic significance of DNA ploidy, S-phase fraction, and tissue levels of aspartic, cysteine, and serine proteases in operable gastric carcinoma.

A consecutive series of 63 untreated patients undergoing surgical resection for stage I-IV gastric adenocarcinomas (GCs) has been prospectively studied. Our purpose was to analyze the predictive relevance of DNA ploidy, S-phase fraction (SPF), and tissue levels of lysosomal proteinases cathepsin D (CD), cathepsin B (CB), cathepsin L (CL), and urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA) and that of the intracellular cysteine proteinase inhibitor stefin A on clinical outcome. All of the patients taking part in this study were followed up for a median of 73 months. DNA aneuploidy was present in 71% of the cases (45/63), whereas 9% of these (4/45) showed multiclonality. Both DNA ploidy and SPF were associated with tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) stage and node status, whereas only DNA ploidy was related to depth of invasion. CB, CL, uPA, but not CD, levels were significantly higher in GC as compared to paired normal mucosa, whereas stefin A levels were lower in tumor tissues. CB levels were significantly associated with TNM stage, nodal status, histological grade, and DNA ploidy. At univariate analysis, only node involvement, advanced TNM stage, DNA aneuploidy, and high SPF proved to be significantly related to quicker relapse and to shorter overall survival, whereas depth of invasion was related only to survival. With multivariate analysis, only high SPF (>15.2%) was related to risk of relapse (RR = 8.50), whereas high SPF and DNA aneuploidy were independently related to risk of death (RR = 1.88 and 2.09, respectively). Our preliminary prospective study has identified SPF and DNA ploidy as important biological indicators for predicting the outcome of patients with GC.

Adenocarcinoma↗
PubMed1999

5-fluorouracil and levofolinic acid with or without recombinant interferon-2b in patients with advanced colorectal carcinoma: a randomized multicenter study with stratification for tumor burden and liver involvement by the Southern Italy Oncology Group.

BACKGROUND: The objectives of the current study were: 1) to verify whether the addition of modulating low doses of interferon-2b (IFN) to 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and levofolinic acid (1-FA) could improve clinical results in patients with advanced colorectal carcinoma; and 2) to evaluate the role of tumor burden and liver involvement as prognostic factors. METHODS: A total of 204 untreated patients were randomized to receive 1-FA at 100 mg/m2 and 5-FU at 375 mg/m2 for 5 consecutive days with or without IFN every 3 weeks. IFN was given subcutaneously at 3 MU/day for 7 days starting 2 days before chemotherapy administration. Patients were stratified according to the presence or absence of hepatic disease (H+ or H-) and to total tumor burden defined as "low" or "high" using an area of 10 cm2 as the cutoff value. Thus, four patient categories were obtained: Group 1: H+ > or = 10 cm2; Group 2: H+ < 10 cm2; Group 3: H- > or = 10 cm2; and Group 4: H- < 10 cm2. RESULTS: No differences were observed in the objective response rate (23% for the combination of 1-FA and 5-FU vs. 24% for the 1-FA, 5-FU, and IFN regimen), median duration of response (11 months vs. 10 months), time to progression (5 months in both arms), and median survival (11 months vs. 12 months). A statistically significant improvement in response rate was observed in patients with limited liver involvement versus those with massive involvement independent of the chemotherapy arm (44% vs. 22%; P = 0.02). Overall survival also was improved in patients with limited liver disease (P = 0.0001) and in those without liver involvement (P = 0.004). Multivariate analysis confirmed these data and identified response and female gender as positive prognostic factors. Toxic side effects (mainly diarrhea, mucositis, and fever) were statistically more frequent in the IFN arm. CONCLUSIONS: The addition of low modulating doses of IFN to the regimen of 5-FU and I-FA failed to increase the response rate and survival of patients with advanced colorectal adenocarcinoma and significantly worsened toxicity. High tumor burden and the presence of liver involvement were confirmed prospectively as poor prognostic factors and should be taken in account in designing future Phase II or comparative trials.

Adenocarcinoma↗
PubMed1999

cDNA cloning of FRIL, a lectin from Dolichos lablab, that preserves hematopoietic progenitors in suspension culture.

Ex vivo culture of hematopoietic stem cells is limited by the inability of cytokines to maintain primitive cells without inducing proliferation, differentiation, and subsequent loss of repopulating capacity. We identified recently in extracts of kidney bean and hyacinth bean a mannose-binding lectin, called FRIL, and provide here evidence that this protein appears to satisfy properties of a stem cell preservation factor. FRIL was first identified based on its ability to stimulate NIH 3T3 cells transfected with Flt3, a tyrosine kinase receptor central to regulation of stem cells. Molecular characterization from polypeptide sequencing and identification of the cDNA of hyacinth bean FRIL shows 78% amino acid identity with a mannose-binding lectin of hyacinth beans. Treatment of primitive hematopoietic progenitors in suspension culture with purified hyacinth FRIL alone is able to preserve cells for 1 month without medium changes. In vitro progenitor assays for human hematopoietic cells cultured 3 weeks in FRIL displayed small blast-like colonies that were capable of serial replating and persisted even in the presence of cytokines known to induce differentiation. These results suggest that FRIL is capable of preserving primitive progenitors in suspension culture for prolonged periods. FRIL's clinical utility involving procedures for stem cell transplantation, tumor cell purging before autologous transplantation, and ex vivo cultures used for expansion and stem cell gene therapy currently are being explored.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1999

Hepatitis C virus RNA profiles in chronically infected individuals: do they relate to disease activity?

Fluctuations of hepatitis C virus (HCV)-RNA serum levels were monitored in a multicenter study in 76 chronic HCV carriers who had been followed longitudinally without receiving antiviral therapy to assess their relation with the course of liver disease activity. Forty-four patients had normal transaminases over more than 2 years, while 32 additional patients had fluctuating levels. Viral load was measured in serial serum samples prospectively collected for 10 to 12 months in 54 patients and in sera stored yearly up to 8 years in an additional 22 patients. In patients tested monthly, a lesser extent of fluctuations was detected in cases with constantly normal transaminases as compared with those with fluctuating transaminases. In the former group, the mean difference between maximum and minimum values observed in each individual patient was 0.7 Log, while in the latter group, it was 1.3 Log (P =.0004). Most of these patients experienced, on average, three peaks of viremia over 1 year. The range of variation observed upon yearly testing was between 0.2 and 2.2 Log and did not reach statistical significance between the two groups. In conclusion, a careful viral replication profile can be achieved only by monthly testing, because longer time intervals could miss viremia fluctuations. HCV-RNA levels are more stable in asymptomatic HCV carriers than in patients with biochemical activity of liver disease.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

The role of HBV DNA quantitative PCR in monitoring the response to interferon treatment in chronic hepatitis B virus infection.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: To investigate whether the measurement of HBV DNA by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is helpful in monitoring response to interferon treatment in chronic hepatitis B virus infection, we have determined sequentially serum levels of HBV DNA during and up to 18 months after treatment, in 10 patients with a sustained response (all anti-HBe positive, five also HBsAg negative and anti-HBs positive) and, as controls, in 12 non-responders. METHODS: Serum HBV DNA was measured by standard hybrisation assay (Genostics, Abbott) and by quantitative PCR (Amplicor HBV Monitor test, Roche Diagnostic Systems). RESULTS: A clear difference in HBV viral load between responders and non-responders was observed from the fourth week of treatment and was maintained throughout the study period. At the last follow up 16-26 (median 21) months after starting treatment, all the 10 responders were HBV DNA negative by hybridisation. By PCR, however, five (one anti-HBs and four anti-HBe positive) were still HBV DNA positive. In addition, one anti-HBs positive patient HBV DNA negative by PCR at last follow up, had fluctuating levels of HBV DNA by PCR during the observation period, only intermittently falling below the threshold of the assay. CONCLUSIONS: The measurement of HBV DNA by quantitative PCR provides early prediction of response to interferon, allowing prompt modification of treatment. With this technique, HBV DNA is detected in a high proportion of sustained responders, suggesting that HBV may never be completely eliminated by interferon treatment, even after anti-HBs seroconversion.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1999

Epirubicin, folinic acid, fluorouracil, and etoposide in the treatment of advanced gastric cancer: phase II study of the Southern Italy Oncology Group (GOIM).

In the authors' previous experience, the addition of epidoxorubicin to the FA-FU regimen obtained a better response rate than that of FA-FU alone in patients with advanced gastric cancer. Furthermore, considering the good efficacy and mild toxicity observed with the addition of etoposide to the FA-FU combination in the German study, the authors conducted a trial to explore the efficacy and tolerability of the ELFE regimen (epirubicin, folinic acid, fluorouracil, and etoposide) in previously untreated advanced gastric cancer patients. Of the 55 patients entered, 51 were evaluable for efficacy. Four complete responses (8%) and 21 partial responses (41%) were observed, with an overall response rate of 49% (95% CI: 35-63%). The median duration of response and survival were 6 and 8 months, respectively. Responder patients showed a significantly better median survival duration than nonresponders (12 vs. 4 months, respectively; p < 0.0001). Toxicity was evaluated in all patients: only 1 patient refused to continue therapy despite low toxicity. As expected, the major toxicities observed were gastrointestinal disturbance, leukopenia, and loss of hair. In conclusion, the ELFE combination regimen appears to be effective and well tolerated for the treatment of advanced gastric cancer patients.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

Cisplatin, interleukin-2, interferon-alpha and tamoxifen in metastatic melanoma. A phase II study.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the efficacy and toxicity of an immuno-hormonal-chemotherapeutic combination of cisplatin, interleukin-2, interferon-a and tamoxifen in metastatic malignant melanoma. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Fifteen consecutive patients were treated with cisplatin at a dose of 100 mg/m2 on day 1, interleukin-2 subcutaneously at a dose of 18 MU from days 3-6 and from days 17-21, interferon-a 2-b subcutaneously at a dose of 3 MU three times weekly and tamoxifen orally at a dose of 20 mg daily. The cycle was repeated on day 28. Patients were evaluated after two cycles. Patients with progressive disease stopped the treatment while responding patients and those with stable disease underwent two further cycles. No maintenance regimen was employed. RESULTS: Two partial remissions (PR, 13%), 5 stable disease (SD, 33%) and 8 progression disease (PD, 53%) were observed. Patients with PR and SD had better survival than those with PD (11 vs 6 months). Toxicity was predominantly fever and vomiting besides chills, fatigue and flu-like syndrome, normally related to cytokine administration and often influencing the quality of life. CONCLUSIONS: Our results, unlike the good results of previous trials, are very poor. Therefore we do not recommend this combination for routine treatment of advanced melanoma.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Genes from mycoparasitic fungi as a source for improving plant resistance to fungal pathogens.

Disease resistance in transgenic plants has been improved, for the first time, by the insertion of a gene from a biocontrol fungus. The gene encoding a strongly antifungal endochitinase from the mycoparasitic fungus Trichoderma harzianum was transferred to tobacco and potato. High expression levels of the fungal gene were obtained in different plant tissues, which had no visible effect on plant growth and development. Substantial differences in endochitinase activity were detected among transformants. Selected transgenic lines were highly tolerant or completely resistant to the foliar pathogens Alternaria alternata, A. solani, Botrytis cinerea, and the soilborne pathogen Rhizoctonia solani. The high level and the broad spectrum of resistance obtained with a single chitinase gene from Trichoderma overcome the limited efficacy of transgenic expression in plants of chitinase genes from plants and bacteria. These results demonstrate a rich source of genes from biocontrol fungi that can be used to control diseases in plants.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed1998

Quantitation of hepatitis C virus in liver and peripheral blood mononuclear cells from patients with chronic hepatitis C virus infection.

Since the natural history of hepatitis C virus-associated liver disease and the therapeutic responsiveness might vary according to liver and blood mononuclear cells viral levels, it may be important to quantitate viral RNA in liver, blood mononuclear cells and serum, and to compare these data with genotype, biochemical and histologic data. A polymerase chain reaction-based assay available for serum hepatitis C virus RNA quantitation has been optimized to quantitate viral genomes in liver and peripheral blood mononuclear cells from 47 chronic hepatitis C patients. The procedure permitted hepatitis C virus RNA quantitation in freshly isolated mononuclear cells and in total RNA extracted from frozen mononuclear cells and liver tissue. The intrahepatic viral amount (median: 2.6 x 10(3) copies/microgram RNA; range: 0 to 3.6 x 10(4) copies/microgram RNA) correlated significantly with the hepatitis C virus RNA concentration in serum (r = 0.76, P < .001), but not in mononuclear cells. Viral RNA concentrations in liver (P < .001), serum (P < 0.01) and PBMC (P < 0.05) were significantly higher in hepatitis C virus genotype 1 patients (essentially type 1b) than in non-1 type cases, but were unrelated to biochemical or histologic indexes of disease activity. In conclusion, the optimized assay permit HCV RNA quantitation in liver and peripheral blood mononuclear cells, suggesting that serum viral level is an accurate measurement of intrahepatic viral burden.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Trisomic zygote rescue revealed by DNA polymorphism analysis in confined placental mosaicism.

Uniparental disomy can be caused by different genetic mechanisms such as gamete complementation, chromosome duplication in monosomic zygote, or post-zygotic aneuploidy correction. This last mechanism is well documented in human reproduction and is related to placental mosaicism. In the case of a trisomic zygote which has originated by paternal or maternal non-disjunction at the first or second meiotic cell division, mosaicism will result from chromosome loss and restoration of a 'normalized' diploid fetal karyotype. In order to enrich the literature with new observations on this subject, we studied by DNA polymorphism analysis ten cases of confined placental mosaicism (CPM). The finding in placental DNA of three different alleles at polymorphic loci of chromosomes 13, 16, and 20 demonstrated the trisomic status of the zygote in three cases. On the basis of these results, we believe that systematic DNA polymorphism analysis could give useful additional information to improve knowledge on aneuploidy correction in human reproduction.

Alleles↗
PubMed1998

5-Fluorouracil plus interferon alpha-2a compared to 5-fluorouracil alone in the treatment of advanced colon carcinoma: a multicentric randomized study.

Biochemical modulation is one of the most interesting fields in cancer chemotherapy. Interferon-alpha (IFNalpha) is a cytokine that is able to influence the pharmacodynamics of 5-fluorouracil (5FU) through a number of mechanisms. With the aim of confirming some data emerging from the literature, we initiated a multicentric randomized study comparing the combination of 5FU and IFNalpha-2a with 5FU alone in the treatment of advanced or metastatic colon cancer. A group of 205 colon cancer patients (104 in the 5FU arm and 101 in the 5FU + IFNapha-2a arm) were included in the final intention-to-treat analysis. Rectal cancers were not considered eligible. All patients had measurable disease, were aged 75 years or less, had a Karnofsky index of at least 60 and had good bone marrow, renal, liver and cardiac functions. No previous chemo-immunotherapy was allowed. The treatment was 750 mg/m2 5FU (4 h i.v. infusion) on days 1 5 and then i.v. bolus weekly, starting from day 12, with or without IFNalpha-2a given s.c. three times weekly (starting dose 3 x 10(6) IU rising to 9 x 10(6) IU, if tolerated). Patients were treated until progression or, if responsive, for a maximum of 48 weeks and then observed for a period of 2 years. The primary end-point of the study was objective clinical response (OR); secondary parameters were time to progression, overall survival, and time to death after progression. WHO criteria were used for both clinical response and toxicity measurements. Dose reduction was planned a priori in the event of significant toxicity due to 5FU, IFNalpha-2a or both. Association between primary and secondary end-points and treatment was studied by univariate and multivariate analysis. Altogether, 47 patients achieved a documented response. A 25% OR was observed in the combination arm while a 21% OR was seen in the 5FU arm; this difference is not statistically significant (P = 0.6). Patients with a small tumour burden (below 5 cm2) showed a higher probability of response in both arms. Patients in the experimental arm had a higher but not statistically significant cumulative progression-free probability. Median survival was 47.1 weeks overall, while it was 43.7 and 48.5 weeks in the control and experimental arms, respectively. The combination was clearly more toxic than 5FU alone, leukopenia being the most frequent side-effect in the experimental arm and nausea and vomiting in the control arm. In conclusion these results are quite disappointing and 5FU + IFNalpha-2a can not be considered a standard treatment for advanced colon cancer.

Aged↗
PubMed1998

Clinical evaluation and applications of the Amplicor HBV Monitor test, a quantitative HBV DNA PCR assay.

Viral load has emerged recently as a reliable marker of disease progression and therapeutic efficacy in chronic infections, including AIDS and hepatitis C. The clinical management of type B hepatitis could also be improved by monitoring viremia levels in patients with chronic liver disease undergoing anti-viral treatment. To address this question we evaluated the performance of a newly developed, quantitative PCR assay (Amplicor HBV Monitor test, Roche Diagnostic Systems) in the assessment of viremia changes over time in a group of 45 patients with chronic active hepatitis (CAH) who received interferon treatment. Of the 45 patients, 14 were HBsAg and anti-HBeAg positive and 31 HBsAg, HBeAg positive. Follow-up extended up to 24 months. An average of ten samples per patient were analyzed for levels of ALT, IgM anti-HBc (Abbott Laboratories), HBV DNA by in-house dot-blot hybridization and hybridization-capture assays (HBV-DNA hybrid capture kit, Murex Diagnostics) and by Amplicor HBV Monitor. A sustained biochemical response was observed at the end of treatment in 12 HBeAg-positive and in seven anti-HBeAg positive patients. This was accompanied by the disappearance of HBeAg and of HBV DNA (hybridization assays) in all cases and by the clearance of IgM anti-HBc in 70% of the cases. Viremia (quantitative PCR assay) became undetectable only in 25-30% of cases and was associated with the loss of HBsAg. A good correlation was observed between the time course of IgM anti-HBc, quantitative PCR and dot-blot hybridization although the latter missed 33% of viremic samples. Together, these results indicate that the Amplicor HBV Monitor test is a robust and standardized assay for quantifying HBV viremia levels in the range from 10(2) to 10(7) copies/ml. Compared to other current markers, viral load may provide additional clinical information by predicting long term virologic response and HBsAg clearance in patients with normal ALT at the end of interferon therapy.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Detection of intrahepatic hepatitis C virus replication by strand-specific semi-quantitative RT-PCR: preliminary application to the liver transplantation model.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Although the hepatitis C virus infection recurs in virtually all patients after liver transplantation, up to 50% of patients may not have histological recurrent hepatitis 1 year after liver transplantation. To study the relationship between hepatitis C virus infection and liver disease after liver transplantation, we compared the intrahepatic hepatitis C virus replication levels with the liver histopathology among liver transplant recipients. METHODS: The intrahepatic negative-strand HCV RNA (i.e. the putative hepatitis C virus replication intermediate RNA) was evaluated by a semi-quantitative, strand-specific reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction in 44 liver specimens from 23 patients with hepatitis C virus reinfection after liver transplantation. Results were compared with the time from liver transplantation, presence, grading and staging of the recurrent hepatitis, amount of hepatitis C virus antigens in the liver and serum HCV RNA levels. RESULTS: Negative-strand HCV RNA was detected in 42 liver specimens as early as 7 days after liver transplantation. Its titers correlated with the amount of intrahepatic hepatitis C virus antigens, but not with HCV RNA levels in serum. Levels of negative-strand HCV RNA in 19 specimens without hepatitis were comparable to those seen in 25 specimens with hepatitis (p=0.492), and were unrelated to the liver disease grading and staging scores. The intrahepatic hepatitis C virus replication could occasionally precede the recurrence of the hepatitis by several months. CONCLUSIONS: Molecular evidence has been obtained for intrahepatic hepatitis C virus replication occurring early after liver transplantation. The level of replication is not correlated with the development of recurrent hepatitis, suggesting that hepatitis C virus may replicate without inducing morphological evidence of liver damage.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

The Rorschach Egocentricity Index in subjects with intellectual disability: a study on the incidence of different psychological pathologies.

The aims of the present research were to assess the level of self-concern in people with intellectual disability using the Rorschach Egocentricity Index, to correlate the Index with other Rorschach and IQ variables, and to study the effect of associated psychological pathology. The Rorschach Inkblot Test and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale were administered to a group of 75 subjects with intellectual disability, aged between 18 and 38 years, who were divided into subgroups according to their additional diagnosis (i.e. personality disorders, psychosis and depression). A fourth subgroup was composed of people with intellectual disability but without other pathologies. The Egocentricity Index was very low in the subjects with intellectual disability and differences were a result of the effects of additional psychological pathologies. The meaning of the measurement of egocentricity in people with intellectual disability is discussed.

Adolescent↗