Subject(s)
Cisplatin/toxicity , Kidney Glomerulus/pathology , Technetium Tc 99m Pentetate/pharmacokinetics , Adult , Aged , Antineoplastic Agents/therapeutic use , Antineoplastic Agents/toxicity , Blood Urea Nitrogen , Breast Neoplasms/drug therapy , Cisplatin/therapeutic use , Female , Humans , Kidney Glomerulus/diagnostic imaging , Lung Neoplasms/drug therapy , Male , Middle Aged , Radionuclide Imaging , Radiopharmaceuticals/pharmacokineticsSubject(s)
Adjuvants, Immunologic/pharmacology , Anthraquinones/pharmacology , Mitoxantrone/therapeutic use , Neoplasms/drug therapy , Neoplasms/immunology , Antineoplastic Agents/therapeutic use , Drug Hypersensitivity/immunology , Humans , Leukocyte Count , Lymphocyte Subsets/drug effects , Lymphocyte Subsets/immunology , Male , Mitoxantrone/adverse effects , Neoplasms/blood , Prospective StudiesABSTRACT
During a five years survey of unselected serum protein electrophoreses in a general hospital, 2347 sera (0.95%) were found to be positive for one or more monoclonal immunoglobulins. Class and type distribution of monoclonal immunoglobulins (characterized by means of immunofixation electrophoresis) mostly corresponded with the literature data. Nevertheless, higher incidence and lower mean age at detection were observed for IgG monoclonal components. This finding is probably related to the discovery of a large number of micro-monoclonal immunoglobulins with no association with B-lymphoproliferative disorders, mostly belonging to the IgG class and affecting younger people. The need is stressed for a widespread standardization of the techniques employed for detection and characterization of monoclonal immunoglobulins, in order to obtain more comparable results.
Subject(s)
Immunoglobulins/analysis , Paraproteinemias/epidemiology , Paraproteinemias/immunology , Aged , Blood Protein Electrophoresis , Female , Hospitals, General , Humans , Immunoelectrophoresis , Incidence , Italy/epidemiology , Male , Mass Screening , Middle Aged , Paraproteinemias/bloodSubject(s)
Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome/blood , Paraproteins/analysis , Adolescent , Adult , Female , Humans , MaleABSTRACT
Sera from 55 patients with positivity for anti-HTLV III antibodies, including 24 "healthy" subjects, 29 LAS and 2 AIDS, were examined by means of high resolution agarose gel electrophoresis and immunofixation, in order to evaluate the occurrence of monoclonal-oligoclonal immunoglobulin patterns. Monoclonal-oligoclonal immunoglobulins were found in 20.8% of "healthy" subjects and in 72.4% of LAS patients. Furthermore, a lower but significant prevalence of monoclonal-oligoclonal immunoglobulins was found in a control group including patients with high-titre positivity for anti-CMV and anti-EBV antibodies. Considering the consistent association between EBV-CMV and HTLV III infection, it is concluded that at least a part of monoclonal-oligoclonal immunoglobulins found in LAS-AIDS patients are likely to be induced by these associated viral infections. On the other hand, the finding of monoclonal-oligoclonal immunoglobulins in "healthy" HTLV III-positive subjects points out a possible direct stimulatory effect of HTLV III on B-cell lineage.
Subject(s)
Antibodies, Monoclonal/immunology , Antibodies, Viral/immunology , HIV/immunology , Immunoglobulin G/immunology , AIDS-Related Complex/immunology , Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome/immunology , Adolescent , Adult , B-Lymphocytes/immunology , Cytomegalovirus/immunology , Female , HIV Antibodies , Herpesvirus 4, Human/immunology , Humans , Male , Middle AgedABSTRACT
The occurrence of alpha-heavy chain disease in an Italian adult, working in Libya, is reported, characterized by a spontaneous clinical and immunological recovery. It is suggested that the patient could have acquired the disease during his stay in an endemic area of alpha-heavy chain disease, and that the observed spontaneous remission could be related to the removal of environmental pathogenic factors, following his departure from Libya.
Subject(s)
Heavy Chain Disease/immunology , Immunoglobulin A/analysis , Immunoglobulin Heavy Chains/immunology , Immunoglobulin alpha-Chains/immunology , Adult , Duodenum/immunology , Electrophoresis, Agar Gel , Humans , Immunoelectrophoresis , Intestinal Mucosa/immunology , Male , Remission, SpontaneousABSTRACT
Forty-five subjects with a complete deficiency of myeloperoxidase were identified in an area of the region Friuli-Venezia Giulia in north-eastern Italy using the Hemalog D system as the screening technique. Histochemical and biochemical tests performed on the leucocytes of some of these subjects confirmed the defects shown by the Hemalog D system. The defect was of genetic origin in seven subjects. The genetic origin could be suspected in another eight subjects since more than two affected members were present in a given family. Eosinophil peroxidase, which is present in MPO deficient subjects, interfered with the guaiacol assay of MPO, and in several cases masked the genetic transmission. An assay was developed using o-dianisidine as the electron donor which considerably reduced the interference by EPO. With this assay an autosomal recessive pattern of inheritance was found. The MPO deficient leucocytes had a higher respiratory burst than control cells and an impaired bactericidal activity, at early post-phagocytic periods, which became comparable to that of control cells at later stages. Particle ingestion by the MPO-deficient cells was normal.
