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Background: Bartonella henselae is a novel bacterial intracellular pathogen causing a self-limited syndrome of fever and regional lymphadenopathy in human immunocompetent hosts. This infection is often under-detected but it is of increased interest for a plethora of subjects including those suffering Cardiovascular Disease (CVD). Moreover, in a particular population, B. henselae can promote a severe disseminated disease with a pathologic vasoproliferation known as bacillary angiomatosis or bacillary peliosis. The role of the host immune response to B. henselae is critical in preventing progression to a major systemic disease causing an extended hepatic and CVD damage. Aim: The spectrum of disease, diagnosis and management of B. henselae infection in solid organ transplant recipients has not been investigated in depth. Until now, only rare cases of bartonellosis in transplant recipients have been reported. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the seroprevalence of B. henselae in patients awaiting heart transplantation in our Regional Reference Transplantation Centre. Methods: The diagnosis of B. henselae is usually based on serological methods (IgM, IgG) since they are practical, simple and rapid. Serum samples from 21 (16M, 5F) patients awaiting heart transplantation, with a median age of 53+/-15SD (range8–68 years), were examined by indirect immunofluorescence assay. Results: In our study, we have found a B. henselae antibody positivity rate of 19.04% (4/21) and, in particular, 1/21 (4.76%) patients presented IgM while 3/21 (14.28%) presented IgG. Our serological data seems to support the concept that B. henselae not only is present in our area and, more interestingly, it can be present in a paricular class of CVD patients represented by those awaiting heart transplantation. Conclusions: Thus, on the basis of our data, we would recommend the relevance of including B. henselae in the multipanel diagnosis in CVD patients awaiting heart transplantation.

Ovarian granulosa cell tumour (OGCT) is a sex-cord stromal tumour with a general trend toward late relapse and/or metastasis. However, mortality rate corrected for long-term follow-up shows that about 50\% of patients die within 20 years of diagnosis. Classical clinicopathological parameters are unable to predict the biological behaviour of OGCT. The involvement of a recently characterized subtype of oestrogen receptor, ERbeta, in ovarian carcinogenesis has been hypothesized.We examined by immunohistochemistry the expression of ERbeta, proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) and p53 in a selected series of 30 OGCT, to evaluate their role in the prognostic evaluation of this tumour. Immunohistochemistry was performed on formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded sections. Results were compared with the DNA-ploidy of the tumours (evaluated by image analysis) and with the follow-up data of the patients.Loss of ERbeta expression, high PCNA expression and aneuploidy, characterized a subgroup of OGCT with a worse outcome. The identification of a high-risk subclass of OGCT may be of primary importance in addressing appropriate therapeutic strategies, offering the chance to prevent relapses and metastases by using adjunctive, specifically targetted, more aggressive therapies.

Bartonella henselae, the etiologic agent of cat-scratch disease, causes a self-limited syndrome of fever and regional lymphadenopathy in immunocompetent hosts. In immunocompromised hosts, however, B. henselae can cause severe disseminated disease and pathologic vasoproliferation known as bacillary angiomatosis or bacillary peliosis. The role of the host immune response to B. henselae is critical in preventing progression tosystemic disease. The spectrum of disease, diagnosis and management of B. henselae infection in solid organ transplant recipients has not been well characterized. Only rare cases of bartonellosis in transplant recipients have been reported. The purpose of this study has been to determine the seroprevalence of B. henselae in patients awaiting heart transplantation, in our Regional Reference Transplantation Centre. The diagnosis of B. henselae is usually based on serological methods immunoglobulin M (IgM), IgG] because they are practical, simple and rapid. Serum samples from 21 (16 males and 5 females) patients awaiting heart transplantation, with a median age of 53±15 SD (range 8???68 years), were examined by indirect immunofluorescence assay. In our study we have found a B. henselae antibody positivity rate of 19.04% (4/21) and in particular, 1 of 21 (4.76%) patients presented IgM while 3 of 21 (14.28%) presented IgG. Our preliminary serological data seems to indicate that B. henselae is present in our area and more interestingly it can be also present in patients awaiting heart transplantation. Thus, on the basis of our data, we would recommend the importance of including B. henselae diagnosis also in pre-transplant patients.

Aim: Bartonella henselae, the etiologic agent of cat-scratch disease, causes a self-limited syndrome of fever and regional lymphadenopathy in immunocompetent hosts. In immunocompromised hosts, however, B. henselae can cause severe disseminated disease and pathologic vasoproliferation known as bacillary angiomatosis or bacillary peliosis. The spectrum of disease, diagnosis and management of B. henselae infection in solid organ transplant recipients has not been well characterized. The purpose of this study has been to determine the seroprevalence of B. henselae in patients awaiting heart transplantation, in our Regional Reference Transplantation Centre. Methods: The diagnosis of B. henselae is usually based on serological methods (IgM, IgG). Immunofluorescent assays (IFA) are used for the detection of IgG or IgM antibodies against specific antigens. Bartonella IgM and IgG test kits are designed to detect the antigen-antibody complexes when diluted sera are presented with Bartonella antigens on commercially produced slides. A fluorescein-labeled anti-IgG or IgM conjugate is responsible for visualization of reactions. Results: Serum samples from 21 (16M, 5F) patients awaiting heart transplantation, with a median age of 53 ± 15SD (range 8-68 years) and 20 healthy donors (10M and 10F), with a median age of 37 ± 5.9SD (range 28-49 years) were examined by indirect immunofluorescence assay. In our study we have found, in patients awaiting heart transplantation, a B. henselae antibody positivity rate of 19.04% (4/21) and in particular, 1/21 (4.76%) patients presented IgM while 3/21 (14.28%) presented IgG. All healthy donors were found negative. Conclusions: Our preliminary serological data seems to indicate that B. henselae is present in our area and more interestingly it can be also present in patients awaiting heart transplantation. Thus, on the basis of our data, we would recommend the importance of including B. henselae diagnosis also in pre-transplant patients.

Recent studies outlined the role of CAF-1 as a novel useful marker of deregulation of cell proliferation and prognostic indicator in human cancer and preneoplastic lesions. CAF-1 is a heterotrimeric protein complex (constituted by p150, p60 and p48 subunits) that delivers histones H3 and H4 to DNA during DNA replication and DNA repair. Among the three CAF-1 protein subunits, the p60 protein acts mainly on the control of the orderly progression of the cell-cycle. We studied by immunohistochemistry CAF-1 p60 in a selected series of 40 cases of primary SCC of the skin (10 G1, 20 G2, 10 G3). Results have been correlated with those concerning the expression of proliferating cells nuclear antigen (PCNA) and with the main clinico-pathological features of tumors. Our results indicated that CAF-1 p60 may have a role as new prognostic marker in cutaneous SCC.