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Summary Background Parietaria pollen is one of the major cause of pollinosis in the southern Europe. Specific immunotherapy is the only treatment able to modify the natural outcome of the disease restoring a normal immunity against allergens. Methods We designed a recombinant molecule ( Pj EDloop1) comprised of genetic-engineered variants of the major allergens of the Parietaria pollen ( Par j 2/ Par j 1). Purity and chemical-physical properties of the derivative were analysed by RP- HPLC chromatography and Photon Correlation Spectroscopy. Immunological activity was evaluated by means of Western blotting, ELISA inhibition and PBMC proliferation assay in 10 Parietaria allergic patients. Basophil activation was studied in six subjects. The immunogenicity of the hybrid was studied looking at the immune responses induced in a mouse model of sensitization. Results The Pj EDloop1 hybrid was produced as a purified recombinant protein with high stability in solution. Western blot, ELISA inhibition and basophil activation test showed that the Pj EDloop1 displays a remarkable reduced IgE binding and anaphylactic activity. CD3 reactivity was conserved in all patients. Mice immunization with the r Pj EDloop1 induced antibodies and T cell responses comparable to that obtained by the wild type allergens. Such antibodies shared the specificities to r Par j 1 and r Par j 2 with human IgE antibodies. Conclusion Our results demonstrated that a mutant hybrid expressing genetically engineered forms of the major P. judaica allergens displayed reduced allergenicity and retained T cell reactivity for the induction of protective antibodies in vaccination approaches for the treatment of Parietaria pollinosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The presence of specific IgE antibodies to invertebrates is common among patients with rhinitis and asthma. Tropomyosin has been described as an invertebrate cross-reactive allergen. We have recently characterized an allergenic extract from silverfish (Lepisma saccharina). Since this insect could be a new source of tropomyosin in the indoor environment, we have thought important to clone and characterize the tropomyosin from it.Recombinant tropomyosin was cloned and characterized by means of immunoblotting withtropomyosin-specific monoclonal antibodies, rabbit polyclonal antibodies and IgE from allergic patients. Its allergenic activity was investigated in histamine release assays. Immunoblotting and ELISA inhibition were carried out to identify the natural tropomyosin in the silverfish extract and to study the cross-reactivity among other arthropod tropomyosins.Tropomyosin-specific antibodies recognized in immunoblotting the natural tropomyosin in the insoluble fraction of silverfish extract. The silverfish tropomyosin (Lep s 1) was cloned and fully expressed. It shared high homology with other arthropod tropomyosins. rLep s 1 was recognized by tropomyosin-specific monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies and by IgE of allergic patients. It was able to inhibit the IgE binding to the insoluble fraction of silverfish extract, and to induce histamine release by an arthropod-allergic serum. Inhibition experiments revealed IgE cross-reactivity between rLep s 1 and other arthropod tropomyosins.rLep s 1 is the first allergen cloned and characterized from silverfish extract. It enabled us to identify the natural counterpart in the insoluble fraction of silverfish extract, suggesting that the tropomyosin is not readily extractable with a classic aqueous extraction procedure. rLep s 1 displayed biological activity, suggesting that it could be regarded as a useful tool to study the role of silverfish tropomyosin in the sensitization to invertebrate allergic sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have carried out a retrospective review of 61 patients with Mallory-Weiss syndrome, 9 of whom underwent hemostatic injection treatment. At emergency endoscopy, 3 patients (5%) were actively bleeding and 6 (10%) had stigmata of recent hemorrhage. Fifty-two patients had a lesion of the cardia which was the suspected source of bleeding in 33 cases (54%). In the remaining 19 cases (31%) this site was not considered responsible because other sites of bleeding were present in the upper gastrointestinal tract. The 9 patients with active bleeding or stigmata of recent hemorrhage underwent injection treatment and the other 52 patients were treated with H2 antagonists. The low rebleed rate and the zero mortality recorded in this series indicate that endoscopy is the optimum method for diagnosis and treatment of patients with Mallory-Weiss syndrome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A case of primary carcinoma of the esophagus is presented that consisted of poorly differentiated small-cell carcinoma. The patient underwent endoscopic treatment, first with an Nd: YAG laser and, finally, with bougienage and the insertion of a prosthesis in order to relieve dysphagia and improve the nutritional status and quality of life. Even though it is generally uncommon for laser therapy to be chosen as a primary mode of treatment, the results obtained should permit to overcome this lack of confidence in the choice of laser treatment for small-cell carcinoma of the esophagus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

IgG antibody response to the inhalant allergen Parietaria judaica (Pj) and IgG subclass distribution were studied in 82 normal subjects, divided into three groups according to age (0-1, 1-20, and 20-60 years) and in 32 allergic subjects aged 20-60 years. Both normal and allergic subjects showed an IgG response, and all had IgG 1 antibodies specific for PjE. Serum IgG2, IgG3, and IgG4 against PjE were detectable in 36%, 46%, and 22% of normal subjects, and in 58%, 31%, and 65% of allergic subjects, respectively. A significant difference in class distribution between allergic and age-matched normal subjects was found only for IgG4 antibodies against PjE (65% and 17%; P < 0.01). The ELISA results were also analyzed quantitatively, taking into account the relative proportion of specific antibodies. Thus, in normal subjects IgG 1 antibodies showed a decreasing trend as the age rose, while no differences according to the age of the subject were found for IgG2 and IgG4. When data from allergic subjects (20-60 years) and the age-matched normal group were compared, they were different for the relative percentage of IgG2 only, showing for this a significantly lower value (P < 0.001). The present data indicate that normal and allergic subjects show differences in the IgG iso type distribution depending on their sensitivity and duration of allergen exposure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Olea europaea (olive) pollen extract was prepared by aqueous extraction and characterized by biochemical and immunochemical methods. Two components, displaying respective mol. wt. of 17000 and 19000, were the most reactive allergens, being the doublet (designated Ole e I) recognized by most sera tested. The 19000 mol. wt. component, purified by conventional biochemical procedure and lectin-affinity chromatography from the Ole e I doublet, was deglycosylated and analyzed by SDS--PAGE and by ELISA inhibition. The results obtained suggest that the 19000 mol. wt. component represents the glycosylated form of the 17000 component. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The in vitro proliferative response to separated immunologically relevant components of Parietaria Judaica pollen extract (PjE) was investigated by proliferation assay and limiting dilution analysis, in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from Parietaria-allergic subjects and non allergic controls. In the same subjects, the profile of the antibody response to the PjE fractions was also studied by immunoblotting to evaluate the functional significance of allergen-induced T-cell activation in the two groups. The estimated frequency of PjE-reactive T cells in peripheral-blood mononuclear cells was low in both groups. No difference was found between the Parietaria-allergic subjects and nonallergic controls. To assess the overall contribution to the cellular response of PjE components of different molecular weights, we separated the extract by the SDS--PAGE technique, and the fractions were blotted onto nitrocellulose and solubiized. Almost all the 14 fractions tested induced T-cell proliferation, at different degrees of magnitude. Responses were similar in the allergic subjects and nonallergic controls. Immunoblotting demonstrated specific IgG antibodies to the 14 PjE fractions not only in the allergic subjects, but also in the healthy controls, whereas IgE antibodies were found, as expected, only in the sera from atopic subjects. These findings indicate that PjE fractions elicit similar T-cell activation and IgG production in allergic and normal subjects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cross-reactivity between the different components in Parietaria judaica pollen extract has been investigated by polyclonal as well as monoclonal antibodies before, and after chemical deglycosylation obtained by trifluoromethanesulphonic acid (TFMS) treatment of the extract. In western blotting a polyclonal rabbit antiserum, obtained by injecting purified Par j I, was able to recognise many components of the native extract. However, its reactivity was restricted, after chemical deglycosylation of the extract, to the major allergen alone, indicating that its cross-reactivity was due to sugar moieties. Moreover, out of several monoclonal antibodies raised by injecting the whole Parietaria judaica extract, one (1A4/2F8) was also able in western blotting to recognise an epitope shared by many components of the extract except the major allergen Par j I. However, in this case the broad reactivity of the antibody was not affected by the deglycosylating procedure. When the reactivity of Parietaria judaica extract was tested before and after sugar removal, against specific IgE from a pool of patient sera, no differences could be demonstrated, thus indicating that carbohydrates are not strongly involved in the binding of Parietaria judaica-specific IgE. The results indicate that both proteic and carbohydratic cross-reactive epitopes are shared by many components of Parietaria judaica pollen extract. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of cytokines in human hydatidosis (Echinocaccus granulosus infection) was evaluated in immunoassays determining production of IL-4. IL-10 and interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) in peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) cultures from 30 hydatid patients and 14 uninfected controls. In ceil cultures from hydatid patients parasite and non-parasite antigen stimulation significantly increased IL-4 production (P &ges; 0.005), Spontaneous and mitogen-driven IL-4 production was similar in patients and controls. IL-10 and IFN-γ production did not differ statistically in the two groups, even though some hydatid patients produced these cytokines in large amounts. Notably, antigen-driven IFN-7 concentrations were invariably higher in patients than in uninfected controls. Data analysis showed a relationship between IgE and IgG4 responses and parasite driven cytokine production. High IgE and IgG4 respondent produced high IL-4 and IL-10 concentrations. High IgE responders showed decreased IFN-7 production, but high IgG4 responders had IFN-γ levels slightly higher than those of low responders. Cytokine response patterns did not relate to the clinical stage of disease. The significantly increased IL-4 and the high IL-10 concentrations found in PBMC from many hydatid patients in this study are consistent with Th2 cell activation in human hydatidosis. The presence of antigen-driven IFN-γ production in patients with E. granulosus infection implies concurrent intervention of the Th1 or Th0 cell subset. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigated the in vitro proliferation of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from Parietaria-allergic subjects, atopic patients with other sensitizations and healthy controls to Parietaria judaica pollen extracts. PBMC from almost all 44 subjects, divided into five groups (Parietaria-, grass-, Parietaria and grass-, Dermalophagoides-sensitive patients and normal individuals) were able to proliferate in response to the extract without statistically significant differences between groups. Mean values of the stimulation indexes for the five groups were respectively: 10.73, 3.18, 5.50, 10,56, 9.28. The results of separation experiments showed that the responding cells were T lymphocytes. Mitogenic effect of the Parietaria pollen extract was excluded by the absence of proliferative PBMC response from cord blood of seven newborns. These results indicate that Parietaria- sensitive, other atopies and normal individuals have Parietaria-specific T cells able to proliferate in vitro to Parietaria allergens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Anorexia Nervosa (AN) is a complex psychiatric syndrome and body image distortion is a core psychopathological feature. From a phenomenological perspective, the overvaluation of body shape and weight can be better defined as a specific disorder of lived corporeality, which is the way persons experience their ownbody. Objectives: The aim of this study was to gain a deeper insight into the pathways connecting one's own body experience and selfidentity measures to psychopathological variables of AN through the use of Network Analysis (NA). Methods: We included 84 female patients in the study. Fifty-seven received diagnoses of AN restrictive subtype and 27 of AN bingepurging subtype. Participants filled in the following questionnaires: Eating Disorders Inventory-2 (EDI-2) and IDentity and EAting disorders (IDEA), which measure eating disorder psychopathology and embodiment dimensions. These variables were included in a network analysis. Results: The network analysis showed that interoceptive awareness (IA), feeling extraneous from one's own body and feeling oneself through objective measures were the nodes with the highest centrality strength in the network. Furthermore, the IA was the node with the highest closeness centrality, thus mediating the connections between the embodiment dimensions and the AN psychopathology. Conclusions: Our findings confirm the centrality of the embodiment disorder in AN. From this perspective, body image disturbance of people with AN may be conceived as a consequence of their difficulty to experience inner state and as a tool to build its own self. Therefore, embodiment dimensions may represent important psychotherapeutic focus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Perinatal depression (PD) is a severe psychiatric disorder that begins around childbirth and presents with a variety of symptoms, such as mood swings, irritability, and tearfulness. Only a few studies have investigated the impact of this condition on quality of life and wellbeing of mothers. Objectives: The aim of the present study is to assess Clinical and socio-demographic characteristics associated with PD. Methods: 107 women have been recruited in the period between May and October 2019. Socio-demographic characteristics as well as information about the delivery have been collected through an ad-hoc schedule. All participants compiled the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) within 3 days of the childbirth. Results: The mean age of our sample is 32.0±6.3 years; 50% were employed and 25% of the sample had experienced at least one abortion in their life. A total score at the EPDS>10 was reported by 24.3%. Higher EPDS total scores were associated with the presence of anxiety (p<0.0001) and depressive symptoms (p<0.05) in the six-month prior delivery, as well as with anxiety symptoms in the partner (p<0.05). Conclusions: Our study highlights the presence of potential factors associated with PD, suggesting the importance to set-up adequate screening procedures for the early recognition and management of depressive symptoms in the motherhood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]