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Biomedical subjects

G Castoldi

Publications and source records attributed to G Castoldi.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources
PubMed1985

Further cytogenetic evidence for a multistep pathogenesis of Ph-positive chronic myelogenous leukemia.

A case of Ph-positive chronic myelogenous leukemia in blastic crisis was studied extensively by means of cytogenetic techniques. Karyotypic features, as well as growth patterns, kinetic data, and rates of sister chromatid exchange, were examined in bone marrow, blood, and pleural effusion cells. The data provide strong evidence for a multistep pathogenesis of the disease, the development of which appears to be linked to mechanisms of clonal selection and genetic imbalance in the malignant cell population.

Aged↗
PubMed1977

Acute myelomomocytic leukemia terminating in histiocytic medullary reticulosis: cytochemical, cytogenetic and electron microscopic studies.

A case of acute myelomonocytic leukemia terminating in histiocytic medullary reticulosis is reported. The evolution of a single cellular clone presenting with progressive change of the morphological features of the leukemic cells towards more anaplastic elements endowed with prominent phagocytic properties is suggested on the basis of both cytochemical and chromosomal data. The histiocytic nature of the malignant proliferating cells and platelet phagocytosis has been confirmed by electron microscopic investigation. The main pathogenetic explanations of the evolutionary patterns of the disease are discussed with relation to: a) involvement of a common stem cell giving rise to different proliferative patterns of cells in a multiphasic sequence; b) release of dysplastic platelets and defective erythrocytes with massive sequestration by histioid phagocytic cells; and c) coexistence of two different disorders.

Blood Cell Count↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Multiple chromosomal associations and paracentromeric region instability in a case of acute leukemia.

A case of acute myelomonocytic leukema is described, which was characterized cytogenetically by the presence of centromeric elongations, somatic crossovers, selective endoreduplication figures, and multiple chromosomal clusters. The demonstration of these phenomena by selective staining techniques for the chromosome bands (Q, C, G and S) and the nucleolar areas (acridine-orange, amido black B 10) raises some biological aspects involved in the proliferation of leukemic cells, such as nucleolar persistance during the metaphase and the non-separation of chromatids in the clusters during the anaphase. These structural abnormalities may represent the background for the explanation of the appearance of subclones in neoplastic disorders.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Persistence of nucleolar RNA-rich structures and Ph1 duplication in the blastic crisis of chronic myeloid leukaemia.

Nucleolar persistence in metaphase plates is a feature observed in most of the cells in neoplastic processes. Pathological persistence or fragmentation of the nucleoli is thought to be the cause of some numerical chromosomal aberrations due to non-disjunction of the chromatids, with particular involvement of the satellite chromosomes. Thus, a combined selective staining of both the nucleoli (amido black 10B according to Mundkur and Brauer's cytochemical technique) and the chromosomes (neutral red) was applied to the metaphase plates of patients with chronic myeloid leukaemia in the blastic crisis. Duplicated Ph1 was associated with amido black-stained areas at a very high rate in some cases. Since the blastic crisis in chronic myeloid leukaemia is characterized by the appearance of an increased number of immature, highly nucleolated cells, these findings lend support to the hypothesis that the duplication of the Ph1 represents a feature possibly favoured by the pathological persistence of nucleolar RNA-rich structures in the metaphase.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Chromosomal abnormalities in angio-immunoblastic lymphadenopathy.

Chromosomal studies have been performed in 2 patients with angio-immunoblastic lymphadenopathy. In both the cases the presence of abnormal cell lines characterized by marker chromosomes has been detected. Application of banding techniques allowed to detect the structural composition of the marker chromosome in 1 of the cases and to show a clonal evolutive pattern of the rearranged chromosomal set; In the same patient a consistent Y loss observed in the major fraction of the investigated metaphases did not appear to be related to any defined rearrangement of the karyotype. Longitudinal chromosomal studies are stressed in order to better correlate th cytogenetic abnormalities and the immunoreactive picture of the lymph nodes along the course of the disease.

Antibody Formation↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Flow cytochemical analysis of peripheral lymphocytes in chronic B-lymphocytic leukemia. Prognostic role of the blast count determined by the H*1 system and its correlation with morphologic features.

Peripheral blood samples from 148 previously untreated patients with chronic B-lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL) were analyzed with the Technicon H*1 flow cytometer. The absolute number and the percentage values of both LUCs (large unstained cells) and blasts were correlated with survival, as well as with well-known prognostic factors including morphological subtypes of lymphoid cells. Results showed that patients at the most advanced clinical stages (Rai: III and IV; Binet: C) had the highest percentage and count of both LUCs and blasts. Furthermore, the proportion of LUC positively correlated with the following prognostic factors: peripheral lymphocytosis (greater than 50 x 10(9)/l); marked splenomegaly (greater than 10 cm UCM); % of circulating prolymphocytes, % immunoblasts, and % LGL. Our data analysis further revealed that chemotherapy produced a greater reduction of both the LUCs and of the blast count than of that of small lymphocytes. An increase in LUC count was found to coincide with deterioration of clinical status (progressive changes in the clinical stages, occurrence of prolymphocytoid transformation). A rapid increase in blast count was found to occur in concomitance with the development of Richter's syndrome, and correlated positively with the number of peripheral immunoblasts determined by light microscopy. Moreover, a blast percentage higher than 7% had the strongest predictive relation to survival rate when compared with other hematological parameters (lymphocytosis greater than 50 x 10(9)/l, % of LUCs greater than 12%, LUC to lymphocyte ratio greater than 16%, LUCs count greater than 2.2 x 10(9)/l). In the light of these findings, it may be suggested that the presence both of larger proportions of LUCs and of blasts measured with the flow cytometry may be considered unfavorable prognostic factors in B-CLL. However, based on morphological and multivariate statistical analyses, the blast count proved to be the most important prognostic parameter determined by the H*1 system in B-CLL.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Autologous stem cell transplantation in a patient with diffuse systemic sclerosis].

Systemic Sclerosis (SSc) is a systemic disease of unknown etiology presenting with disseminated skin thickening and fibrotic impairment of various organs including lung and kidney. According to the rate and degree of skin involvement, SSc can be classified in a limited and a diffuse form, the latter showing a severe and progressive lung involvement, which is responsible for its high related morbidity and mortality along with resistance to standard therapeutic protocols. High dose chemotherapy, followed by autologous stem cell transplantation, is a standard therapeutic regimen for haematological diseases: re-infusion of mobilised peripheral blood progenitor cells overcomes the myeloablative effect of super-maximal eradicative doses of chemotherapeutic agents. Recently, this therapeutic approach has been applied in some cases of resistant SSc and, albeit the low number of cases, it has been proven effective in early diagnosed and rapidly progressive forms of the disease showing a clinical improvement and an instrumentally detectable decrease of fibrosis extent. We report the case of a young woman affected by diffuse SSc with a rapid progression of clinical signs and instrumentally detectable lesions who underwent a conditioning regimen with fludarabine, cyclophosphamide and anti-thymoglobulines followed by re-infusion of autologous peripheral blood stem cells. Two years after transplantation a clinical and instrumental evidence of treatment was observed, with good control of disease evolution. The only sign of disease resumption was a slow worsening of skin involvement.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Behavioural stress blunts the creatinine clearance increase induced by a protein load in healthy subjects.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to investigate how behavioural states related to different levels of stress affected the increments of glomerular filtration rate induced by an acute protein load. METHODS: Thirteen healthy subjects were enrolled. Each subject was studied from 9:00 h to 15:00 h on two consecutive days. In random order, after a protein meal (1.2 g/kg b.w. of protein), each subject was required to remain in a relaxing, sitting position (resting period, R), or to solve graphical and mathematical problems (behavioural stress period, S). Mean blood pressure (MBP) and heart rate (HR) were monitored by an ambulatory blood pressure device. Urine samples collected in each period were used to measure glomerular filtration rate (GFR, creatinine clearance) and urinary sodium excretion (UNa+V). RESULTS: Significant decreases in MBP and HR were observed during the resting period after the protein load, which significantly increased GFR. There was also a large increase of UNa+V. During S, the GFR changes were no longer seen whereas the increse of UNa+V was maintained. HR and MBP did not change compared to the prestimulus period. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that in healthy subjects behavioural stress can blunt the increase in GFR that follows a protein load, presumably by neuro-humoral activated mechanisms. In our experimental conditions, behavioural stress did not affect UNa+V.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Lineage switch and multilineage involvement in two cases of pH chromosome-positive acute leukemia: evidence for a stem cell disease.

Philadelphia chromosome-positive acute leukemias (Ph+ AL) show variable cytologic features, possibly reflecting heterogeneous stem cell involvement. Morphologic, immunologic and cytogenetic studies were performed in two cases of Ph+ acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in order to better delineate the clinicobiological features of this cytogenetic subset of AL. Sequential cytoimmunologic studies in patient 1 documented a lineage switch from pro-B ALL with a minor myeloid component at diagnosis to minimally differentiated acute myeloid leukemia (AML) at relapse. In this patient the major breakpoint cluster region (M-bcr) was in a rearranged configuration and all metaphase cells showed t(9;22)(q34;q11), both at diagnosis and at relapse. In patient 2 a diagnosis of Ph+ early T-cell ALL with minor myeloid component was made. In this patient the M-bcr was in a germline configuration. Cytogenetic studies documented the presence of the Ph chromosome in all metaphases from a lymphoid cell population obtained by fine-needle aspiration of an enlarged lymph node, and from a bone marrow cell fraction enriched in granulocyte precursors. This finding suggests multilineage involvement in this patient. Lineage switch and multilineage involvement in two patients suggest that a pluripotent stem cell may be affected rather frequently in patients with Ph+ AL. These findings show that biologically Ph+ AL may resemble chronic myelogenous leukemia blast crisis, since it may originate from an undifferentiated stem cell carrying the t(9;22) translocation.

Acute Disease↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Clinicopathological evolution and multilineage involvement in erythroleukemia: report of a case.

Results of sequential chromosome and cytologic studies in a patient with erythroleukemia (EL) by FAB criteria are described here. Major karyotype aberrations (MAKA) as well as normal karyotypes were detected at presentation, when the patient showed erythroid hyperplasia with moderate leftward shift of erythropoiesis and trilineage myelodysplasia, a picture suggestive of multilineage involvement. Following conventional induction therapy, the patient entered a myelodysplastic phase (MDS) with the features of refractory anemia with excess of blasts and subsequently relapsed with classical EL with maturation arrest of erythroblasts. Chromosome studies revealed a 46, XY karyotype in the MDS phase and only MAKA at leukemia relapse. These findings provide further evidence of a multistep cytogenetic and clinicopathological evolution of EL. Concomitant cytogenetic and morphologic studies in this patient seem to suggest the presence of chromosomally abnormal erythroblasts and confirm the existence of a association between MAKA and maturation arrest of erythroblasts.

Adult↗