In Utero Haematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation (IUHSCT)

In utero haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (IUHSCT) is a non-myeloablative approach for the prenatal treatment of genetic disorders. However, in target disorders, where there is not a selective advantage for donor cells, a useful donor-cell chimerism has not been achieved. There are three possible barriers to engraftment following IUHSCT: limited space in the fetus due to host-cell competition; the large number of donor cells needed, and the immunological asset of recipient

Il caso di Poggio Meta. Indagini sul versante orientale del colle

Il lavoro illustra i risultati delle indagini archeologiche e di topografia urbana effettuate nell'estate del 2014 sul versante orientale della collina di Poggio Meta, all'interno dell'abitato di Akragas. E' stato messo in luce parte di un isolato, la cui cronologia va dall'età arcaica alla tarda età ellenistica, e, anche in seguito alle indagini da telerilevamento (ripresa a bassa quota da drone e indagini georadar) è stato possibile avanzare delle ipotesi sul piano urbanistico della città, che in questa area presenta due orientamenti sovrapposti e leggermente divergenti, verificando in tal modo alcune ipotesi avanzate nella carta archeologica del Parco di Agrigento

Glutathione S transferase polymorphisms influence on iron overload in β-thalassemia patients

In patients with β-thalassemia iron overload that leads to damage to vital organs is observed. Glutathione S transferase (GST) enzymes have an antioxidant role in detoxification processes of toxic substances. This role is determined genetically. In this study, we correlated GSTT1 and GSTM1 genotypes with iron overload measured with direct and indirect non-invasive methods; in particular, we used serum ferritin and signal intensity of the magnetic resonance image (MRI) in 42 patients with β-thalassemia, which were regularly subjected to chelation and transfusion therapy. Multiplex polymerase chain reaction was used to determine the genotype. The loss of both alleles leads to a decreased value of liver and heart MRI-signal intensity with a consequent iron accumulation in these organs; the loss of only one allele doesn't lead to relevant overload. Serum ferritin doesn't appear to be correlated to iron overload instead. 对于β-地中海贫血患者,由于铁过量而造成重要器官受损的情况也在观察之中。谷胱甘肽S转移酶(GST) 酶类在对有毒物质进行解毒的过程中有着抗氧化剂的作用。该作用是由基因决定的。 在这份研究中,我们运用了直接和间接非侵入性的方法对基因型铁过量GSTT1 和GSTM1进行了相关性测量;特别地,我们对42位定期接受螯合和输血治疗的β-地中海贫血患者进行了血清铁蛋白和磁共振强度图像(MRI) 的测试。 多重聚合酶链反应的测试也被运用来确定该基因型。 该两种等位基因的缺失,导致了肝功能减损及心脏磁共振强度的下降,并造成了在这些器官中铁含量的积累;其中一种等位基因的缺失并不会导致过度的铁含量。血清蛋白和铁过量之间,看起来并不存在相关性

Efficacy of ruxolitinib as inducer of fetal hemoglobin in primary erythroid cultures from sickle cell and beta-thalassemia patients

High levels of HbF may ameliorate the clinical course of β-thalassaemia and SCD. Hydroxyurea (HU) is the only HbF inducer approved for the treatment of patients. However not all patients respond to the treatment, for this reason it is noteworthy to identify new HbF inducers. Ruxolitinib is a JAK inhibitor that decreases the phosphorilation of STAT proteins. In particular STAT3 is a repressor of gamma-globin gene. The decrease of STAT3 phosphorilation could derepress gamma-globin gene and reactivate its trascription. In this study we evaluated the efficacy of ruxolitinib as inducer of HbF production. The analyses were performed in cultured erythroid progenitors from 16 beta-thalassemia intermedia (TI) and 4 sickle cell disease (SCD) patients. The use of quantitative RT-PCR technique allowed us to determine the increase of gamma-globin mRNA expression in human erythroid cultured cells treated with ruxolitinib. The results of our study demonstrated an increase in vitro of gamma-globin mRNA expression in almost all patients. These data suggest that ruxolitinib could be a good candidate to be used in vivo for the treatment of hemoglobinopathies

Deferiprone versus Deferoxamine in Sickle Cell Disease: Results from a 5-year long-term Italian multi-center randomized clinical trial.

Blood transfusion and iron chelation currently represent a supportive therapy to manage anemia, vasculopathy and vaso-occlusion crises in Sickle-Cell-Disease. Here we describe the first 5-year long-term randomized clinical trial comparing Deferiprone versus Deferoxamine in patients with Sickle-Cell-Disease. The results of this study show that Deferiprone has the same effectiveness as Deferoxamine in decreasing body iron burden, measured as repeated measurements of serum ferritin concentrations on the same patient over 5-years and analyzed according to the linear mixed-effects model (LMM) (p=0.822). Both chelators are able to decrease, significantly, serum ferritin concentrations, during 5-years, without any effect on safety (p=0.005). Moreover, although the basal serum ferritin levels were higher in transfused compared with non-transfused group (p=0.031), the changes over time in serum ferritin levels were not statistically significantly different between transfused and non-transfused cohort of patients (p=0.389). Kaplan-Meier curve, during 5-years of study, suggests that Deferiprone does not alter survival in comparison with Deferoxamine (p=0.38). In conclusion, long-term iron chelation therapy with Deferiprone was associated with efficacy and safety similar to that of Deferoxamine. Therefore, in patients with Sickle-Cell-Disease, Deferiprone may represent an effective long-term treatment option

321. Sea Urchin sns Chromatin Insulator Prevents Silencing and Positional Effect Variegation of Oncoretroviral Vectors Transgene Expression in Murine Erythroid Cell Line

Silencing and position effect are considered significant obstacles to obtain a consistent level of transgene expression in viral gene therapy. Furthermore recent studies had shown that retroviruses tend to land on active genes with the potential consequence of insertional mutagenesis. The inclusion of elements, such as chromatin insulators, capable to insulate a gene from the surrounding chromatin effects at the integration site should improve both efficacy and safety of gene therapy vectors. We have previously characterized a 265 bp insulator element, termed sns, localized at the 3' end of the early histone H2A gene of the sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus. This sequence contains three cis-acting elements (Box A, Box B, and Box C+T) all needed for the enhancer blocking activity in both sea urchin and human cells. By colony assays, in human (K562) and mouse (Mel) erythroid cell lines, we have recently demonstrated that the sns insulator displays directional enhancer-blocking activity in that it interferes with the communication between the human beta-globin enhancer (LCR) and the gamma-globin promoter. By electrophoretic mobility shift assays (EMSA) we found bindings of sns insulator with the erythroid specific GATA1 and the ubiquitous Oct1, and Sp1 transcription factors

Influence of genetic polymorphisms and mutations in the cardiac pathology of iron overload in thalassemia and sickle cell anemia patients: a retrospective study

Cardiac disease in thalassemia is determined by the accumulation of iron in the tissue. Genetic factors could influence the severity and the rapidity of the modifications of the cardiac tissue. Mutations or polymorphisms of genes have already been described as being implicated in cardiac disease. In particular, we studied the polymorphisms C1091T in the Connexin 37 gene (CX 37), 4G -668 5G in the Plasminogen Activator Inhibitor-1 gene (PAI 1) and 5A-1171 6A in the Stromelysin-1 gene (SL) in 193 randomly selected patients affected by hemoglobinopathies and 100 normal subjects randomly selected from the general population. A retrospective analysis based on history, clinical data and imaging studies was carried out to assess the presence and type of heart disease. The results of our study do not demonstrate a close association between polymorphism in these candidate genes and cardiac disease, and in particular with myocardial infarction in a cohort of Sicilian patients affected by hemoglobinopathies. 地中海贫血心脏病的关键诱因是组织中的铁沉积。遗传因子可能影响心脏组织修复的严重程度和速度。基因突变或基因多态性与心脏病有关。尤其是,我们研究了193名随机选择的血红蛋白病患者以及从普通人群中随机选择的100名正常受试者的连接蛋白37基因(CX37)的C1091T、纤溶酶原激活物抑制剂-1基因(PAI1)的4G -668 5G 和基质分解素-1基因(SL)的5A-1171 6A等多态性。根据病史、临床资料和影像研究进行回顾性分析,以评估心脏病的存在情况和类型。我们的研究结果并没有表明这些候选基因的多态性和心脏疾病之间存在密切联系,尤其是与一组西西里岛血红蛋白病患者的心肌梗塞存在密切联系

Selinunt, Italien. Forschungen in Selinunt, Teil 1. Ein neues ­Modell für die Stadt Selinunt. Die Feldarbeiten des Jahres 2021

Since 2021, the German Research Foundation has been funding a new interdisciplinary field project to investigate the urban fabric of the Greek colony of Selinous in a spatially comprehensive and diachronic perspective. The project aims at extending the existing model of the ideal Greek city by considering also the historically conditioned fractures in the urban development and the multiple transformations of the living space between the 7th and 3rd cen­tury BCE. This is to be pursued by large scale archaeological, geophysical and geoarchaeological prospections, small excavations in selected areas and the thorough study of the finds and archaeobiological remains. This is a report about the first field campaigns of the various specialist disciplines and a ­presentation of some preliminary results

Longitudinal follow‐up of patients with thalassaemia intermedia who started transfusion therapy in adulthood: a cohort study

SummaryWe longitudinally evaluated the effects of regular blood transfusions (BTs), in the real‐life context of the Myocardial Iron Overload in Thalassaemia network, in patients with thalassaemia intermedia (TI). We considered 88 patients with TI (52 females) who started regular BTs after the age of 18 years. Magnetic resonance imaging was used to quantify iron overload and biventricular function. For 56·8% of the patients there were more than two indications for the transition to regular BTs, with anaemia present in 94·0% of the cases. A significant decrease in nucleated red blood cells, platelets, lactate dehydrogenase, bilirubin, and uric acid levels was detected 6 months after starting regular BTs. After the transition to the regular BT regimen there was a significant increase only in the frequency of hypothyroidism and osteopenia, and a significant decrease in liver iron and cardiac index. The percentage of chelated patients increased significantly after starting regular BTs. The decision to regularly transfuse patients with TI may represent a way to prevent or slow down the natural progression of the disease, despite the more complex initial management