Effects of Different Up-Dosing Regimens for Hymenoptera Venom Immunotherapy on Serum CTLA-4 and IL-10

BACKGROUND: Cytotoxic T lymphocyte associated antigen-4 (CTLA-4) is involved in the activation pathways of T lymphocytes. It has been shown that the circulating form of CTLA-4 is elevated in patients with hymenoptera allergy and can be down regulated by immunotherapy. OBJECTIVE: to assess the effects on CTLA-4 of venom immunotherapy, given with different induction protocols: conventional (6 weeks), rush (3 days) or ultra rush (1 day). METHODS: Sera from patients with hymenoptera allergy were collected at baseline and at the end of the induction phase. CTLA-4 and IL-10 were assayed in the same samples. A subset of patients were assayed also after 12 months of VIT maintenance. RESULTS: Ninety-four patients were studied. Of them, 50 underwent the conventional induction, 20 the rush and 24 the ultra-rush. Soluble CTLA-4 was detectable in all patients at baseline, and significantly decreased at the end of the induction, irrespective of its duration. Of note, a significant decrease of sCTLA-4 could be seen already at 24 hours. In parallel, IL-10 significantly increased at the end of the induction. At 12 months, sCTLA-4 remained low, whereas IL-10 returned to the baseline values. CONCLUSIONS: Serum CTLA4 is an early marker of the immunological effects of venom immunotherapy, and its changes persist after one year of maintenance treatment

‘Lo scavo di piazza Nicola Amore a Napoli: le fasi edilizie e decorative del complesso monumentale’

Im Beitrag wird der Grabungsbefund des zu Ehren von Kaiser Augustus errichteten Heiligtums isolympischer Spiele vorgestellt, das in Neapel bei Bauarbeiten der Metro-Station “Duomo” in Bereich der Piazza N. Amore gefunden wurde. Mithilfe einer zusammenfassenden Auswertung der wichtigsten Grabungsergebnisse werden die Bauphasen des Komplexes nachgezeichnet, der zumindest ab dem 2. Jh. v. Chr. als Wettkampfstätte charakterisiert ist und bis ins 3.Jh. n. Chr. in Benutzung stand. Damit einher geht eine Analyse der marmornen Architekturdekoration, der Fresken und der Stucke, die in den einander folgenden Schichten aus der Zeit der Aufgabe und Zerstörung geborgen wurden. Für einige Gruppen von Dekorelementen werden hypothetische Zuweisungen an bestimmte Gebäude des Komplexes vorgenommen

Ground movements and sea level changes in urban areas: 5000 years of geological and archaeological record from Naples (Southern Italy)

The occasion offered by the construction of a new branch of Naples Subway and the related geotechnical and archaeological investigations permitted to reconstruct that the city shoreline underwent remarkable change during the Late Holocene highstand, when coastal evolution was influenced by vertical ground movements. In particular, for three investigation sites the density and quality of data were such to permit ???for the first time- the reconstruction of graphs of relative sea level change (RSLC) which, compared with curves of the coeval eustatic changes in the Tyrrhenian Sea, were transformed into data about the Late Holocene history of local tectonics. By averaging the data collected in all the different sites, the obtained curve of the tectonics suggests that the coastal strip of Naples underwent a subsidence rate of 1.3 mm/a from about 5 000 years BP to the XII century AD, followed by a 1m uplift during the last eight centuries (mean rate again of 1.0 mm/a). The subsidence trend is consistent with the regional tectonics, even if the mean rate was less that in other portions of the Bay of Naples graben, probably because the study area lies among the parallel, synthetic faults forming the NW margin of that depression (Magnaghi-Sebeto Fault Zone) and not on the proper hanging-wall block. The prevailing subsiding trend was probably interrupted by minor episodes of uplift not only in the last eight centuries but also during the 3rd millennium BC, likely in connection with periods in which the volcano-tectonic phenomena of the Phlegrean Fields district superimposed on the descending movements caused by the MSFZ. The three investigation sites share substantially the same tectonic behaviour in the long term, but the details of their RSLC records show also discrepancies in some centuries. If not due to errors in dating and/or in estimating palaeo-elevations, such discrepancies could be ascribed to episodes of fragmentary tectonic behaviour due, probably, to occasional reactivation of some E-W trending minor lines of the Magnaghi-Sebeto Fault Zone

3D survey technologies applied to the archaeology for the new "Municipio" underground station in Naples. Proceeding of 1st International Conference on Metrology for Archaeology

Advanced 3D survey technologies, such as Digital Photogrammetry and Laser Scanner, are nowadays widely used in several fields such as Cultural Heritage and Archaeology, allowing to obtain detailed 3D textured models in a fast way for different purposes. These technologies are usually employed to perform single individual surveys but they have rarely been considered for continuous surveys like being part of a “production line”. The construction of the new “Municipio” underground station in Naples, due to its position in one of the historical area of the city, coexists with the archaeological excavations and is strictly tied to their evolution. With such surveys, the need to reduce as much as possible time to build a public infrastructure, with the one to produce accurate documentation of what is considered archaeologically important are combined

Diagnostic accuracy of IgA anti-tissue transglutaminase antibody assays in celiac disease patients with selective IgA deficiency.

Clinical studies have estimated a 10- to 20-fold increased risk for celiac disease (CD) in patients with selective IgA deficiency (SIgAD). For this reason, screening for CD is mandatory in SIgAD patients, but it represents a special challenge since the specific IgA class antibodies against gliadin (AGA), endomysium (EMA), and tissue-transglutaminase (tTG) are not produced in patients with CD. IgG class counterparts of these antibodies may be informative; in particular IgG EMA has been demonstrated to be a valid marker for diagnosing CD in SIgAD cases, but it is not used much in clinical laboratories, because it is cumbersome and involves some technical difficulties. Even if it was widely used in clinical laboratories, the measuring of IgG AGA has shown a less-than-optimum diagnostic accuracy, so that now it tends to be substituted by tests for anti-tTG IgG, for which the few available studies have shown diagnostic performances superior to AGA. Since it is not known whether various available methods for measuring IgG anti-tTG antibodies offer similar diagnostic performances, we have compared the results obtained from nine second-generation commercial methods (D-tek, Phadia, Immco, Orgentec, Radim, Euroimmun, Inova, Aesku, Generic Assays), measuring IgG anti-tTG antibodies in 20 patients with CD and SIgAD and in 113 controls (9 patients with SIgAD without CD, 54 patients with chronic liver disease, and 50 healthy individuals). Diagnostic sensitivity, calculated by means of ROC plot analysis, ranged between 75% and 95%, and specificity ranged from 94% to 100%. In the same population, the diagnostic sensitivity and specificity of AGA IgG were 40% and 87%, respectively. Even though they perform differently, all IgG anti-tTG methods evaluated are reliable serological assays for the diagnosis of CD in SIgAD patients, with diagnostic accuracy superior to the AGA IgG method. The methods that use a mix of tTG and gliadin peptides as the antigenic preparation have a specificity slightly lower than that of the methods that use only tTG

Testing for IgG class antibodies in celiac disease patients with selective IgA deficiency. A comparison of the diagnostic accuracy of 9 IgG anti-tissue transglutaminase, 1 IgG anti-gliadin and 1 IgG anti-deaminated gliadin peptide antibody assays.

Background: To evaluate the diagnostic characteristics of commercially available IgG anti-tTG assays in selective IgA deficiency (SIgAD), we tested different IgG anti-tTG methods and compared the results with those obtained from two other tests: one for IgG anti-gliadin (AGA) and one for IgG to deaminated gliadin peptides (DGP). Methods: 20 CD patients with SIgAD and 113 controls (9 patients with SIgAD without CD; 54 patients with chronic liver disease; 50 healthy subjects) were tested with 9 IgG anti-tTG assays (2 of which are enriched with gliadin peptides), one IgG AGA assay and one IgG anti-DGP assay. Results: Using optimal cutoffs as determined by ROC curves, the sensitivity of IgG anti-tTG methods ranged from 75% (1 kit) to 95% (7 kits) and the specificity from 94% (1 kit) to 100% (5 kits). Sensitivity and specificity were 40% and 87% for IgG AGA, and 80% and 98% for IgG anti-DGP, respectively. Conclusions: All IgG anti-tTG methods evaluated are reliable serologic assays for the diagnosis of CD inpatients with SIgAD and perform better than the gliadin-based assays used in this study. The tests containing both tTG and gliadinic peptides are burdened by a lower specificity than the anti-tTG assays. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved