Serological survey on immunity status against polioviruses in children and adolescents living in a border region, Apulia (Southern Italy).

BACKGROUND: In 1988 the World Health Assembly adopted the goal to eradicate poliomyelitis by routine immunization using Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV). On 21 June 2002 the WHO European Region was declared polio-free. In 2008 poliomyelitis is still endemic in 4 countries (Nigeria, India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan), where 1201 new cases were registered in 2007; 107 sporadic cases were also notified in countries where poliovirus is not endemic. The aim of this work was to verify the level of antipoliomyelitis immunity status in children and adolescents in the Apulia region (south of Italy), which may be considered a border region due to its position. METHODS: 704 blood specimens from a convenience sample were collected in six laboratories. The age of subjects enrolled was 0-15 years. The immunity against poliomyelitis was evaluated by neutralizing antibody titration in tissue culture microplates. RESULTS: Seropositivity (neutralising antibodies titre > or = 8) for polioviruses 1, 2 and 3 was detected in 100%, 99.8% and 99.4% of collected sera. Antibody titres were not lower in subjects who received either four doses of inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) or a sequential schedule consisting of two doses of IPV and two of oral polio vaccine than in subjects who received four doses of OPV. CONCLUSION: These results confirmed current data of vaccine coverage for poliomyelitis: during the last ten years in Apulia, the coverage in 24 months old children was more than 90%. The high level of immunization found confirms the effectiveness both of the sequential schedule IPV-OPV and of the schedule all-IPV. Apulia region has to face daily arrivals of refugees and remains subject to the risk of the importation of poliovirus from endemic areas. Surveys aimed at determining anti-polio immunity in subpopulations as well as in the general population should be carried out.

Ion cyclotron resonance as a tool in regenerative medicine.

The identification of suitable stem cell cultures and differentiating conditions that are free of xenogenic growth supplements is an important step in finding the clinical applicability of cell therapy in two important fields of human medicine: heart failure and bone remodeling, growth and repair. We recently demonstrated the possibility of obtaining cardiac stem cells (CSCs) from human endomyocardial biopsy specimens. CSCs self-assemble into multi-cellular clusters known as cardiospheres (CSps) that engraft and partially regenerate infarcted myocardium. CSps and cardiosphere-derived-cells (CDCs) were exposed for five days in an incubator regulated for temperature, humidity, and CO(2) inside a solenoid system. This system was placed in a magnetically shielded room. The cells were exposed simultaneously to a static magnetic field (MF) and a parallel low-alternating frequency MF, close to the cyclotron frequency corresponding to the charge/mass ratio of the Ca(++) ion. In this exposure condition, CSps and CDCs modulate their differentiation turning on cardiogenesis and turning off vasculogenesis. Cardiac markers such as troponin I (TnI) and myosin heavy chain (MHC) were up-regulated. Conversely, angiogenic markers such as vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and kinase domain receptor (KDR) were down-regulated as evidenced by immunocytochemistry. Exposure to the 7 Hz calcium ion cyclotron resonance (ICR) frequency can modulate the cardiogenic vs. angiogenic differentiation process of ex vivo expanded CSCs. This may pave the way for novel approaches in tissue engineering and cell therapy. With regard to bone remodeling, it has been suggested that bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) may be considered as a potential therapeutic tool. Using the Ca(++)-dependent specific differentiation potential of the ELF-MF 7 Hz ICR, we show here that exposure of human MSC to these same MF conditions enhanced the expression of osteoblast differentiation markers such as alkaline phosphatase, osteocalcin, and osteopontin, as analyzed by real-time quantitative PCR, without affecting cell proliferation. As expected, while the differentiation marker factors were up regulated, the ICR electromagnetic field down regulated osteoprotegerin gene expression, a critical regulator of postnatal skeletal development and homeostasis in humans as well as mice.