Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

C Lunardi

Publications and source records attributed to C Lunardi.

79 records · Page 5Linked to original sources
PubMedDate not supplied

Unicentric Castleman's lymphadenopathy presenting with Behçet's syndrome: a case report.

We describe a male patient with Behcet's syndrome and Castleman's lymphadenopathy. He was affected by severe oral and genital ulcers, bilateral uveitis, necrotic purulent nodules on both hands. A CT scan of the mediastinum showed the presence of a mediastinal mass. On the basis of histological and immunohistological findings, a diagnosis of Castleman's disease, angiofollicular type, was formulated. The lymphadenopathy was unicentric. After the surgical excision of the mediastinal mass (January, 1989) until now, Behcet's syndrome is in complete remission with a low dosage of prednisone.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Nasal polyps and food intolerance: is there any correlation].

Nasal polyposis is a relatively frequent disease of poorly known aetiopathogenesis. In this study the Authors have evaluated the relationship between nasal polyposis and food using elimination diet and the double-blind challenge test. Of twenty-two patients examined, 16 (72.8%) completed the study. Six out of 16 subjects improved when on diet and challenged with specific foods. Two patients were affected by food allergy and 4 by food intolerance. Physical evaluation of nasal polyposis showed an improvement in all 6 patients, while rhinomanometric evaluation showed an improvement in 4 out of 6 patients, after diet. Most patients had an alteration of immunological tests involving IgE or circulating immunocomplexes-mediated mechanism.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Effects of five-day versus one-day infusion of iloprost on the peripheral microcirculation in patients with systemic sclerosis.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effects of iloprost infusion on the microcirculation in patients suffering from severe Raynaud's phenomenon secondary to systemic sclerosis. METHODS: Eight patients received a 7-hour infusion of iloprost for five consecutive days and then for one day 3 months later. The effects on vascular distensibility were evaluated by piezoelectric plethysmography before and after the treatment and at 2, 4 and 6 weeks. RESULTS: The beneficial effects on the peripheral microcirculation were statistically significant after five days of infusion (distensibility index: 0.18 +/- 0.01 vs 0.23 +/- 0.01, p < 0.002) and lasted for less than four weeks, whereas no difference (0.22 +/- 0.04 vs 0.24 +/- 0.02, p: ns) was seen after one day of treatment. One patient suffered from typical angina pectoris with electrocardiographic changes of the ST wave detected during the infusion. CONCLUSION: Our results show that a five-day infusion of iloprost has an effect which lasts from two to four weeks; after four weeks the distensibility index returned to the baseline value. The one-day infusion had no effect on the vascular bed, studied by the piezoelectric pletysmographic method. Treatment with five consecutive days of infusion every four weeks is an impracticable scheme to adopt, however. We have therefore instituted a treatment schedule of a single daily infusion every four weeks with the aim of maintaining the effects induced by the initial five-day infusion. The preliminary results obtained with this schedule are reported.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Analysis of the T cell receptor repertoire in rheumatoid arthritis.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether there is a restricted T cell receptor repertoire in rheumatoid synovium and to analyse the CDR3 region of the V beta families found to be more expressed in the synovial membrane than in the peripheral blood, in order to ascertain the presence of clonotypic expansion of T lymphocytes. METHODS: The level of expression of individual V beta and V alpha families of the TCR was evaluated in paired synovial membrane and peripheral blood T cells from 8 female patients affected by rheumatoid arthritis, using the RT-PCR method. Nucleotide sequences of the CDR3 region of some V beta families were analysed in order to identify the presence of conserved sequences. Sequencing was carried out with the dideoxy chain termination method using modified T7 DNA polymerase. RESULTS: All of the V alpha and V beta families were amplified in both compartments of the 8 patients. Four patients did not show any preferential expression of the TCR alpha or beta chains in synovium compared with peripheral blood. The other 4 patients showed increased expression of one or more V alpha and/or V beta families in the synovium. We did not find any correlation between the duration of disease, rheumatoid factor status, HLA-DR type and the V gene families which were elevated in the synovium. Analysis of the CDR3 region showed the presence of conserved amino acid sequences in the synovium, but not in the peripheral blood. CONCLUSION: The V families found to be increased in 4 of the 8 patients studied were different, except for V beta 1 which was more highly expressed in 2 patients. The presence of conserved amino acid sequences in the CDR3 region is consistent with an antigen-driven T cell expansion at the site of autoimmune inflammation. These findings do not support our original hypothesis of the possible usefulness of therapy based on the inactivation or elimination of presumed pathogenic T cells using TCR-derived peptides or monoclonal antibodies against particular TCRs.

Arthritis, Rheumatoid↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Nedocromil sodium 1% nasal spray in the treatment of allergic rhinitis caused by Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus].

We have evaluated the efficacy of Nedocromil sodium 1% nasal solution in 36 patients (20 females and 16 males, mean age 29.5 years) suffering from perennial allergic rhinitis caused by Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus. Nedocromil sodium was given four times a day for 2 months. On a daily card patients had to report the severity of the considered symptoms (runny, nose, sneezing, itchy nose and stuffy nose) following an arbitrary score from 0 to 3 (0 = no symptom, 1 = mild, 2 = moderate, 3 = severe). Clinical evaluation was performed after 1 month and at the end of the treatment. We observed a statistically significant decrease of the considered symptoms already after a one month therapy. This improvement was higher after two months (p < 0.001). No side effects have been reported and no concomitant symptomatic therapy was needed. Nedocromil sodium is therefore a safe and efficacious drug in the treatment of allergic rhinitis caused by Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus.

Adult↗