1. Increased apoptosis in circulating lymphocyte cultures of anti-RNA polymerase III positive patients with systemic sclerosis
- Author
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Maria Serena Visentin, Franca Majone, Marta Tonello, Amelia Ruffatti, Franco Cozzi, Luca Ciprian, S. Olivieri, and A. Montaldi
- Subjects
Adult ,Male ,RAYNAUDS-PHENOMENON ,UNSTABILIZED DNA BREAKS, RAYNAUDS-PHENOMENON, SCLERODERMA ,Lymphocyte ,Immunology ,Centromere ,Apoptosis ,Scleroderma ,Rheumatology ,SCLERODERMA ,In Situ Nick-End Labeling ,Immunology and Allergy ,Medicine ,Humans ,UNSTABILIZED DNA BREAKS ,Lymphocytes ,skin and connective tissue diseases ,Polymerase ,Cells, Cultured ,Aged ,Deoxyuridine Triphosphate ,TUNEL assay ,Scleroderma, Systemic ,biology ,business.industry ,food and beverages ,RNA Polymerase III ,Middle Aged ,medicine.disease ,Molecular biology ,medicine.anatomical_structure ,DNA Topoisomerases, Type I ,Antibodies, Antinuclear ,Case-Control Studies ,biology.protein ,Female ,Antibody ,business - Abstract
The sera of 39 patients (38 women and 1 man), 16 with limited and 23 with diffuse clinical form of systemic sclerosis (SSc), were tested for anti-centromere (ACA), anti-topoisomerase I (ATA) and anti-RNA polymerase III (ARA) antibodies. The presence of apoptotic cells in cultures of circulating lymphocytes was investigated using the TUNEL (terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated deoxyuridine triphosphate nick end labeling) technique. ACAs were present in 16 (41%), ATA in 15 (38%) and ARA in 8 (21%) cases. The mean frequency of apoptotic lymphocytes was statistically higher in the ARA positive patients with respect to that in the control population (P < 0.001), in ACA (P < 0.001) and in the ATA (P < 0.001) groups. Moreover, apoptosis was distributed homogenously in ACA and ATA positive subjects, but not in the ARA patients. Our results show that there is an increase in apoptosis in the lymphocytes of ARA positive SSc patients.
- Published
- 2008