Anti-inflammatory activity of citrus pectin on chicken monocytes' immune response.

Pectin is a dietary fibre composed of galacturonic acid, primarily found in the citrus fruits' cell walls. Citrus pectin (CP) has demonstrated antioxidative, anticancer, and anti-inflammatory properties in humans and animals. In broilers, CP supplementation improves energy utilization and nutrient digestibility, but limited information on its effects on chicken immunity is available so far. This study aimed to assess the in vitro impact of CP on chicken monocytes' immune response. Cells were purified from whole blood of healthy chickens and incubated with increasing concentrations (0, 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, 1 mg/mL) of CP to determine CP working concentration. The effects of different CP concentrations on cells' apoptosis and viability were assessed by measuring caspase-3 and -7 and the cells' metabolic activity (MTT assay), respectively. CP had no dose-dependent effect on monocyte apoptosis and viability.Then, the effects of CP (0.5 mg/mL) on chicken monocytes' chemotaxis and phagocytosis were assessed by measuring transwell migration and fluorescein-labelled E. coli incorporation, respectively. CP inhibited both monocytes' chemotaxis and phagocytosis.These data demonstrate that CP exerts an immunomodulatory role in chicken monocytes, supporting its integration in nutrition strategies that might be beneficial for the animal's immunity and health.

Immunophenotyping of Rabbit Testicular Germ and Sertoli Cells Across Maturational Stages.

During testicular maturation, both Sertoli cells (SCs) and germ cells (GCs) switch from an immature to a mature immunophenotype. The reexpression of markers of immaturity in adults has been reported in cancer and in other testicular pathologies, in men as well as in animal species. Naturally affected with testicular cancer, rabbits have long been used in human reproductive research, but reports on the expression of testicular cell markers in this species are few and data about the immunophenotype of normal postnatal SCs and GCs are lacking. The aim of this study was to investigate the immunophenotype of SCs and GCs in the rabbit, from neonatal to adult age, using the antibodies anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH), vimentin (VIM), CKAE1/AE3 (cytokeratins [CKs]), desmin (DES), inhibin alpha (INH-α), placental alkaline phosphatase (PLAP), and periodic acid-Schiff (PAS) staining. In SCs, VIM was constantly expressed, and AMH and CKs expression was limited to neonatal and prepubertal age, whereas DES, INH-α, PLAP, and PAS were constantly negative. GCs were negatively stained for PLAP, PAS, and for the other markers. Results revealed analogies with human testicular immunophenotype, suggesting that rabbits could represent a potential experimental model for the study of human testicular pathology.

[Methodological aspects of clinical and economic impact of vaccine interventions and HTA. Focus on HPV vaccination]. / Aspetti metodologici della valutazione di impatto clinico ed economico negli interventi vaccinali in HTA. Focus sulla vaccinazione anti-HPV.

The aim of the present study is to analyze the methodological and technical aspects of Health Technology Assessment (HTA) as a tool for the clinical and economic impact of vaccine interventions, describe and comment the main studies at the national level, with a particular focus on HPV vaccination. The work was conducted in 3 phases: a) revision of the scientific literature, strictly linked to methodologies adopted in different studies on economic evaluations on HPV vaccines and analysis of Guidelines for building models for the economic assessment; b) analysis of the peculiarities and critical elements of economic evaluations in the field of vaccinology, from the clinical and epidemiological point of view, as well as the recognition of lack of knowledge on HPV infection dynamics; c) a comparative analysis of the two italian studies and of the results coming from them. Many differences between studies were found. Nevertheless, there is a general agreement on the economic profile of HPV vaccination for adolescent girls, if compared with the actual practice on the prevention of cervical carcinoma (pap-test screening). All the models showed a significant impact in terms of reduction of the incidence of cervical carcinoma and related mortality, in the long run, as well as a reduction of pre-cancer lesions and abnormal Pap tests. HTA approach has been recently recognized as a tool for decision making in vaccinology, and its methodologies and procedures are currently debated by public health experts. There is a strong need to continue the work in improving the model techniques of economic evaluations concerning HPV vaccination, as well as the adoption of homogeneous methods and standards, with the aim of helping the decision process in the field of Public Health.

[Paraneoplastic syndromes: a review]. / Le sindromi paraneoplastiche: revisione critica della letteratura.

Modern oncology often obtains good results against earlier neoplasms, whilst it's still in difficulties against the advanced ones. The knowledge of paraneoplastic syndromes is crucial both to cure patients and to do an earlier diagnosis. When we recognize a paraneoplastic syndrome that comes before the clinic beginning of a neoplasm, perhaps we save a life. This review discusses all the main paraneoplastic syndromes, focusing mainly on their clinical aspect and reminding the most commonly associated cancers.

Characterization of erythroid and granulocyte monocyte progenitors in human cord blood.

Some characteristics of both erythroid and granulocyte monocyte progenitors in human cord blood were compared to those in adult blood and bone marrow. The number of progenitors in cord blood was higher than that in adult blood and bone marrow. Most colonies in cord blood culture were monocyte-macrophage, whereas those from adult blood were largely eosinophilic. Cord blood progenitors had a slower sedimentation velocity than that reported for marrow, but sedimented faster than that for adult blood. A significant proportion of progenitors in cord blood as well as adult marrow was found to be in the DNA synthetic phase of the cell cycle whereas progenitors in adult blood were not. Cord blood BFU-E were more resistant than adult blood BFU-E but cord blood CFU-GM were not different from adult blood CFU-GM with regard to radiation sensitivity. Cord blood CFU-GM appeared to be more radio-resistant than adult marrow GFU-GM. From these results is seems clear that progenitors in cord blood differ in some aspects from those in adult blood and bone marrow.

Ontogeny of the granulocyte/macrophage progenitor cell (GM-CFC) pools in the beagle.

The pattern of development of the granulocyte/macrophage progenitor cell (GM-CFC) pools in the course of canine ontogeny was studied by means of the agar culture technique. Colony formation was stimulated by colony stimulating activity (CSA) in serum from lethally irradiated dogs in combination with erythrocyte-depleted peripheral blood leukocytes from normal adult dogs. The colonies thus obtained in cultures from the different organs were in general large (estimated maximum 50 000 cells) and consisted predominantly of mononucleated macrophages, suggesting that, in these studies, a progenitor cell with high proliferative potential (HPP-CFC) has been monitored. In the yolk sac, a transitory GM-CFC pool became established between day 23 and day 48 of gestation, reaching maximum numbers of approximately 41 X 10(3) per organ on days 36/37. At the same time the GM-CFC concentration in blood collected from the heart also reached a maximum of about 31 X 10(3)/ml, indicating its carrier function for the migration of GM-CFC. In the liver a quasi-exponential increase in the GM-CFC numbers took place between days 36/37 and days 57 to 59 when a total of about 15.2 X 10(6) was found but thereafter and up to day 4 post partum the GM-CFC numbers decreased by almost two orders of magnitude. A continuous increase in the GM-CFC numbers was found in the spleen between day 42 of gestation and day 4 post partum when a maximum of 5.1 X 10(6) to 8.7 X 10(6) was reached. In contrast to the GM-CFC numbers in the liver, the splenic GM-CFC dropped only by 50% of peak values when the dogs reached adulthood. The bone marrow always had the highest incidence of GM-CFC, the concentration per 10(6) cells being 18.7 X 10(3)/10(6) cells on days 45/46, the earliest time point at which cultures could be set up. The absolute GM-CFC numbers in the two femora increased continuously between days 45/46 and day 4 post partum in parallel with the growth of the bones. In the thymus a relatively small population of GM-CFC developed between days 42 and 48 of gestation that was kept quite constant at average numbers between 13 X 10(3) and 30 X 10(3) up to day 4 post partum.

Chronic myelocytic leukaemia: cytogenetical studies on haemopoietic colonies and diffusion chamber cultures.

In 20 patients with chronic myelocytic leukaemia in the chronic phase or in blast crisis, several in vitro (CFU-C, BFU-E) and in vivo (diffusion chamber) culture techniques were used to demonstrate the existence of a still diploid cell clone. In 4 out of 12 patients in the chronic phase, Ph1-negative metaphases were found in the various cultures for haemopoietic progenitor cells but not in the standard suspension cultures used for cytogenetics. However, all the 8 patients investigated during blast crisis had only Ph1-positive and other abnormal clones, indicating the loss of the diploid clone during progression of the disease.

Survival of transfused cryopreserved granulocytic progenitor cells (CFU-C) in recipient circulation.

We have studied the pattern of CFU-C disappearance from the peripheral blood of normal and total-body-irradiated dogs given cryopreserved cell suspensions from bone marrow, foetal liver and peripheal blood containing known numbers of CFU-C under an autologous and allogeneic donor-recipient relationship. Only a small fraction of infused donor CFU-C could be detected in the circulation of recipients at the end of the infusion. There was an exponential fall in circulating CFU-C, indicating random loss of infused CFU-C. The CFU-C disappearance pattern in each experimental group was reproducible. The mean half life of autologous blood derived CFU-C in the circulating blood of normal recipients was 8.2 min and the mean blood CFU-C turnover was calculated to be 9.3 X 10(5) CFU-C/kg per day.

Promotion of erythropoietic bursts in culture of human bone marrow by blood-derived Mononuclear cells.

In this report we give evidence that the addition of different amounts of irradiated mononuclear cells (MNC) from normal blood to bone marrow cell cultures containing erythropoietin produces an increase in number and size of erythropoietic bursts proportional to the number of irradiated MNC added. There was no consistent difference in the use either of autologous or of allogeneic MNC as burst-promoting activity source in normal individuals. Plating efficacy studies demonstrated that the number of BFU-E detected had a linear relationship to the number of bone marrow cells plated when 5 X 10(5) blood MNC were present as BPA source. A comparison between different preparations of human leukocyte conditioned media and 5 X 10(5) irradiated MNC, demonstrated that in all experiments irradiated cells stimulated the growth of a higher number of marrow-derived BFU-E. Therefore the use of 5 X 10(5) irradiated MNC from normal blood is proposed as standard BPA source in human bone marrow erythropoietic cultures.

Effect of blood derived monocytes on the promotion of in vitro erythropoietic colony growth in human bone marrow cultures.

The effect of monocytes on the promotion of erythropoietic burst formation in human bone marrow methylcellulose cultures was studied in a burst-promoting activity (BPA)-poor system. Irradiated Ficoll-Isopaque separated blood mononuclear cells stimulated BFU-E growth proportionally to the number of irradiated cells added. Monocyte-depleted mononuclear cells stimulated as well as total mononuclear cells. Monocyte-concentrates stimulated when added at low concentrations. Monocyte-depleted mononuclear cells, although stimulatory at higher concentrations, did not stimulate at the concentrations used for monocyte-concentrates.

The effects of calusterone on hemopoiesis in mice after busulfan-induced suppression of hemopoietic stem cells.

Studies were undertaken in mice to determine the effect of calusterone (a weakly androgenic steroid) on hemopoiesis. Animals were myelosuppressed with a single injection of the alkylating agent busulfan and subsequently treated with varying courses of calusterone. Simultaneous injection of calusterone did not prevent the rapid decline in CFU-S or CFU-C. Daily administration of calusterone for 12 to 14 days after busulfan had little influence on bone marrow cellularity; however, a twofold increase in peripheral blood neutrophils was observed. Bone marrow CFU-S and CFU-C were twofold to threefold higher after 8 to 14 days of treatment with calusterone, but there were no progressive increments in these hemopoietic stem cells during this time interval. In contrast to the granulocyte series, erythroid recovery was rapid after busulfan. Marrow erythroid precursors and CFU-E returned to normal levels by day 8. Daily treatment with calusterone accelerated recovery and led to an overshoot in these parameters of marrow erythropoiesis. Although an early course of calusterone treatment had only modest effects on CFU-S and CFU-C, delayed treatment was clearly stimulatory. A 10-day course of calusterone from days 14 to 24 after busulfan increased bone marrow CFU-S and CFU-C from 5% to 23% of controls to near normal values. Thus calusterone appears to stimulate all classes of hemopoietic progenitor cells. Its effects after busulfan are highly time-dependent, with greatest activity observed in those cellular compartments undergoing proliferative expansion.