Biomedical subjects

R Consolini

Publications and source records attributed to R Consolini.

40 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

PubMedDate not supplied

[Lactate dehydrogenase isoenzymes in HIV-positive children].

Considering that in the HIV infection there is a precocious deterioration of humoral immunity with rapid turn-over of cellular B clones, we have evaluated the conduct of serum lactate-dehydrogenase activity (LD, EC 1.1.1.27) and its isoenzymes in 21 children born from HIV-positive mother respect to a control group (30 subjects). Furthermore we have checked the existence of a probable correlation between those and other clinical and immunologic parameters (total lymphocytes, CD4/CD8, immunoglobulins, classification according to the Atlanta CDC). In seropositive children we saw, respect to those evolved towards P3 stage, a significantly raising of LD4 (also vs. control group) for likely pulmonary parenchyma's damage, LD3 for B immature lymphocytes' increase and a reduction of LD1 (also vs. control group) for mature clones' decrement. Furthermore in seropositive subjects there was the existence of a direct correlation between LD1 and CD4/CD8 values. As such, the evaluation of LD isoenzymes can establish an useful element in the clinical monitoring of seropositive children.

CD4-CD8 Ratio↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Evaluation of minimal residual disease in high risk childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia using an immunological approach during complete remission. AIEOP Cooperative Group for Immunology of Acute Leukemias.

BACKGROUND: Sensitive methods for detecting residual disease may complement conventional morphology while monitoring the response to treatment in leukemia patients. METHODS: We studied minimal residual disease (MRD) by selecting via a colony assay a peripheral blood (PB) cell population enriched in putative malignant cells and detecting occult leukemic cells by double immunologic analysis performed on colonyforming cells (CFC). Using this combined technique we assayed the PB of high risk children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in order to demonstrate possible differences in "the residual tumor cell burden" among leukemia patients and to correlate these with a 3-year clinical follow-up. RESULTS: In all 22 patients positive results were obtained for up to 18 months following induction chemotherapy at times of apparent hematologic remission. Common ALL (cALL) patients exhibited a mean of 9.6% cAlla+ cells (range: 2% to 30%), whereas cALL antigen (cALLA) and cALLA/Tdt or CD1a/Tdt combination were never found in the colonies derived from healthy individuals. Six out of 22 cALL patients expressed a mean of 16.5% cALLA+/Tdt+ CFC (range: 2% to 35%). Five T-ALL children presented a mean of 24% CD1a/Tdt+ cells (range: 8% to 44%). Extensive follow-up indicates a correlation between the percentage of CFC Tdt+/lymphoid marker+ cells (more than 10%) and subsequent clinical relapse. In one patient relapse occurred after 16 months with a dramatic increase in the number of leukemic cells. In contrast, the decline in malignant cells, observed in two cases, predicted a favourable course. Five patients tested before autologous bone marrow transplantation (ABMT) presented high number of positive cells and relapsed at various times. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that this approach to the study of MRD could be valuable in monitoring the efficacy of chemotherapy, as well in evaluating the quality of purged marrow.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Human T lymphocyte cell line (Mo) and its subclone (J) produce colony stimulating activity on normal and malignant T cell precursors.

Conditioned medium from a T-lymphoblastic cell line (Mo) is known to produce factors promoting CFU-GM, BFU-E and CFU-MK. In our study we investigated the potential CSA of conditioned media obtained from Mo and its subclone J on normal and malignant lymphoid progenitors of both T and B lineage. Both cell lines release factors inducing a significant increase in number and size of T-lymphoid colonies when compared to standard source of factors (PHA-LCM). On the contrary, they presented a low CSA on B cell precursors confirming the difficulties in identifying a source of growth and differentiation factors for human B cell ontogeny. This study contributes to the knowledege of biological properties of these tumor cell lines, suggesting the possibility to employ Mo- and J-derived supernatants in vitro for improving growth potential of normal and malignant T cell progenitors.

Cell Division↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[The cell-mediated response after measles vaccination].

Natural measles virus infection is recognized for causing prolonged abnormalities in immune responses, that contribute to the severe and complicated evolution of the disease. Immunization with live measles virus vaccine could be considered a mild form of the measles infection. Results of investigation of in vitro immune response after measles immunization with live attenuate vaccine have been conflicting. In this work we studied cellular immune parameters in children aged between 3 and 12 years. T cells, CD4+ and CD8+ subsets were analyzed by cytometry. CD3+ cells were significantly reduced compared to controls (p < 0.01) whereas CD4+/CD8+ ratio was normal. The in vitro proliferative response to polyclonal mitogen was significantly reduced (p < 0.01). This study confirms the presence of a mainly functional immunosuppression of cellular response in a cohort of children belonging to a developed area. These findings improve the understanding of the mechanism of immune response to virus measles and provide suggestions for the development of a better approach to immunization, taking account for the strain, vaccine titre, age and environmental conditions of the target population.

CD4-CD8 Ratio↗