A preliminary survey of the apheresis activity in Italy: a perspective for the Italian Registry of apheresis.

Data collection on the apheresis activity in Italy throughout 1997 was performed by means of a standardized questionnaire. These data, provided by 96 Apheresis Units from 13 Italian regions, albeit rough, are sufficiently informative. In 1997, a total number of 170,373 apheresis sessions was carried out, with a clear-cut prevalence of productive apheresis (92%) that was performed by all Apheresis Units. Lombardy, Venetia and Latium were the most active regions for therapeutic apheresis (56% of total activity).

[Serotypes of hepatitis C virus in mixed cryoglobulinaemia]. / Caratterizzazione sierotipica del virus dell'epatite C nella crioglobulinemia mista.

BACKGROUND: Several authors have studied the genotypic distribution of hepatitis C virus (HCV) in mixed cryoglobulinaemia (MC), which represents the most typical extra-hepatic manifestation of the HCV infection. On the other hand, at present no data are available on the HCV serotypic characterization of MC patients. METHODS: Thus, 28 serum specimens from HCV positive patients affected by MC (7 males and 21 females; mean age of 64 yrs, range 35-80) have been evaluated by a serotyping EIA method (Murex HCV Serotyping 1-6 Assay, Murex Diagnostics, Pomezia, Italy). RESULTS: The HCV serotype 1 was found in 13 patients (46.4%), serotype 2 in 5 patients (17.9%) and mixed serotypes in 3 patients (10.7%), showing, respectively, serotypes 1+2, 1+4, and 1+4+5. Moreover, the HCV serotype was not detectable in 7 patients (25.0%). CONCLUSIONS: These results, obtained by using a simple, serologic technique, agree with some literature data concerning MC patients from the same geographic region as ours (Venetian area). In addition, our findings appears to reflect merely the genotypic distribution of the HCV infection in the North Italy.

Possible significance of transferrin levels in seminal plasma of fertile and infertile men.

Human seminal plasma contains large amounts of transferrin, which is a protein secreted mostly by Sertoli cells. It has been suggested that the concentration of transferrin may serve as a possible clinical marker of Sertoli cell function. Therefore the concentration of this protein in human seminal plasma from fertile and infertile men has been evaluated in order to find a relationship between transferrin concentrations and human semen parameters and plasma FSH levels. Findings show that seminal transferrin in subjects with oligozoospermia or azoospermia is significantly lower than in controls, and that it is strongly related to sperm count. Results also indicate that transferrin secretion can be impaired when plasma FSH levels are still normal, suggesting that seminal transferrin is an early and specific marker of Sertoli cell function. These results, however, do not clarify whether impairment of transferrin secretion by Sertoli cells is due to an organic dysfunction or to an organic secretory alteration.