Therapeutic management and costs of severe haemophilia A patients with inhibitors in Italy.

Haemophilia A (HA) patients with high responding inhibitors require therapies with bypassing agents to control bleedings or Immune Tolerance Induction (ITI) to attempt inhibitor eradication and restore FVIII therapy. The aim of this study was to assess the therapeutic management and product consumption of HA inhibitor patients and the relative costs in Italy. A retrospective survey was performed utilizing data from the National Registry of Congenital Coagulopathies and from a specific questionnaire on product consumption of HA inhibitor patients over the year 2011. Among HA patients, 10% had currently detectable inhibitors; 24% of patients were undergoing ITI (mostly children) and 76% utilized bypassing agents. Patients on ITI consumed 45,000,000 IU of FVIII (median consumption/patient of 1,200,000 IU year(-1)). Patients receiving bypassing agents utilized 21,000,000 IU of aPCC (median consumption/patient of 360,000 IU year(-1)), and 38,000 mg of rFVIIa (median consumption/patient of 440 mg year(-1)). The annual cost/patient on ITI and on bypassing agents therapy was analysed. Recombinant products represented the product of choice for children therapies in >90% of the cases. FVIII prophylaxis of severe HA patients without inhibitor costs about half than therapy with bypassing agents and is three times less expensive than prophylaxis with such agents. Therefore, the possibility to restore FVIII prophylaxis, having eradicated the inhibitor through ITI, can justify the high costs of ITI treatment needed in the short term. Consistent with this notion, over the last years a 50% increase in the number of patients undergoing ITI in Italy was registered.

Hemoglobin bologna (alpha 2 beta 2 61 (E5) lys replaced by met). An abnormal human hemoglobin with low oxygen affinity.

An abnormal human hemoglobin was found in association with beta-thalassemia in a hemolysate from an 11-year-old healthy child living in Bologna (northern Italy). Structural studies demonstrated a previously unreported amino acid substitution, beta 61 (E5) Lys replaced by Met (this is an external residue). The new variant has been named Hb Bologna, and is characterized by a reduced oxygen affinity. Family studies indicated that the variant had been inherited from the father, a 41-year-old male of Southern Italian origin. Also, a brother of the propositus was found to be an abnormal Hb carrier.

Expression pattern of HOXB6 homeobox gene in myelomonocytic differentiation and acute myeloid leukemia.

Homeobox genes encode transcription factors known to be important morphogenic regulators during embryonic development. An increasing body of work implies a role for homeobox genes in both hematopoiesis and leukemogenesis. In the present study we have analyzed the role of the homeobox gene, HOXB6, in the program of differentiation of the myeloid cell lines, NB4 and HL60. HOXB6 expression is transiently induced during normal granulocytopoiesis and monocytopoiesis, with an initial induction during the early phases of differentiation, followed by a blockade of expression at early maturation. The enforced expression of HOXB6 in promyelocytic NB4 cells or in myeloblastic HL60 cells elicited inhibition of the granulocytic or monocytic maturation, respectively. Furthermore, HOXB6 was frequently expressed (18 out of 49 cases) in AMLs lacking major translocations while it was expressed at very low frequency (two out of 47 cases) in AMLs characterized by PML/RAR-alpha, AML-1/ETO, CBFbeta/MYH11 fusion and rearrangements of the MLL gene at 11q23. According to these observations, we suggest that a regulated pattern of HOXB6 expression is required for normal granulopoiesis and monocytopoiesis. Abnormalities of the HOXB6 expression may contribute to the development of the leukemic phenotype.

The costimulatory molecule B7 is expressed on human microglia in culture and in multiple sclerosis acute lesions.

B7 is a costimulatory molecule which is expressed on antigen-presenting cells and which plays a pivotal role in T cell activation and proliferation. To elucidate mechanisms regulating intracerebral immune responses, expression of B7 was examined in cultured microglial cells and in brain tissue from control and multiple sclerosis patients. Using immunocytochemical and polymerase chain reaction techniques, we show that B7 was expressed in cultured microglial cells from the human embryonic brain. Microglia also bound the soluble form of the B7 receptor CTLA-4 (CTLA-4-Ig). B7 gene expression and binding of anti-B7 antibodies and CTLA-4-Ig increased after treatment with interferon-gamma. B7 was not inducible in human astrocytes. Human microglia expressed other costimulatory molecules, such as intercellular adhesion molecule-1, LFA-1 and LFA-3. In sections of multiple sclerosis brains, B7 immunoreactivity was detected on activated microglia and infiltrating macrophages within active lesions. In chronic lesions, only perivascular cells were stained. B7 immunoreactivity was undetectable in sections from Alzheimer's disease or normal brain tissue. These data suggest that B7 may be involved in T cell activation and lesion development in multiple sclerosis and that the regulated expression of B7 on microglia may contribute to the local stimulation of T cell proliferation and effector functions.

[Ultrasonic angiocardiography and ultrasonic cineangiography: comparison between two techniques (author's transl)]. / Angiocardiografia ultrasonica e cineangiocardiografia ultrasonica: due tecniche a confronto

In a comparison of the performances of ultrasonic tomography (UT) versus ultrasonic cineangiography (UC), a new technique of cross sectional imaging of the heart using a low resolution (40 lines per frame) real time multiscanner apparatus, was performed. Technical problems related to both techiques are reviewed and discussed. UT seems to deserve consideration when precise anatomical details are required while UC is particularly recommended when function studies are indicated, but mainly if computer facilities are available. Both systems represent a real technical advance on conventional echography.

Developmental appearance, antigenic profile, and proliferation of glial cells of the human embryonic spinal cord: an immunocytochemical study using dissociated cultured cells.

We have investigated the time of appearance of the earliest differentiating glial cell types of human spinal cord using a panel of antigenic markers to identify them in cultures from 6- to 9-week-old human embryos. Immunolabeling performed at 14 h in vitro with the O4 mAb, an early oligodendrocyte marker, showed the presence of oligodendrocytes during the 7th week of age. At 8 weeks only a few of the O4+ cells expressed galactocerebroside (GalC), a marker of more differentiated oligodendrocytes. All the O4+ and GalC+ cells were vimentin+ and some of the GalC+ cells were A2B5+, GD3+ and SSEA-1+. During the first week in vitro many of the O4+ cells exhibiting a more immature, bi- or tri-polar morphology incorporated [3H]thymidine into their nuclei. Cells expressing the astrocyte-specific marker GFAP could be first observed at 8 weeks; almost all of these GFAP+ cells, which should correspond to radial glia on the basis of the current literature, were vimentin+, A2B5+, GD3+, and SSEA-1+. At 2 days in vitro incorporation of [3H]thymidine could be shown in a small fraction of these cells. The finding that radial glia and oligodendrocytes expressed similar antigenic features and the additional observation that a small, but consistent fraction of the cells were simultaneously labeled by O4 and anti-GFAP antibodies support the hypothesis that, in the human spinal cord, radial glial cells can give rise to both oligodendrocytes and astrocytes; in this respect, radial glial cells may be similar to the A2B5+, GD3+, vimentin+ bipotential glial progenitors previously identified in cultures from developing rat CNS, which also express A2B5, GD3, and vimentin.

Key functional role and lineage-specific expression of selected HOXB genes in purified hematopoietic progenitor differentiation.

Although it is well established that homeobox (HOX) genes play a key role in normal human embryogenesis, the expression and function of HOX genes in normal hematopoiesis is largely unknown. We have investigated by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction the mRNA expression of HOXB cluster genes (3' to 5' position in the cluster: from HOXB2 through B9) in 72% to 88% purified hematopoietic progenitor cells (HPCs) from adult peripheral blood induced in liquid suspension culture to gradual erythroid or granulopoietic (largely eosinophilic) differentiation and maturation by differential growth factor (GF) stimulus (ie, low-dose interleukin-3 [IL-3] and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor [GM-CSF] and high-dose erythropoietin, or saturating amounts of IL-3/GM-CSF, respectively). Only B3 is expressed in quiescent HPCs. After GF treatment B3 expression is enhanced in the initial 24 hours and then through differentiation and maturation in erythroid and granulopoietic cultures. HOXB4 and B5 are induced at slightly later times and expressed through maturation in both lineages, whereas B6 is selectively induced in granulocytic differentiation. B2 is transiently expressed at low level in the granulopoietic pathway, whereas it is detected only in advanced stages of erythropoiesis: B7, B8, and B9 are essentially not detected. Functional studies were performed with antisense phosphorothioate oligomers to HOX mRNAs and included control analysis of the targeted mRNA. The results are strictly coherent with the HOX mRNA expression pattern: (1) anti-B3 oligomer (alpha-B3) treatment of purified HPCs induces a striking blockade of both erythroid and granulomonocytic colony formation (similarly, alpha-B3 treatment of K562 cell line causes a significant dose-related inhibition of cell proliferation); (2) alpha-B6 selectively and markedly inhibits granulomonocytic colony formation; (3) alpha-B4 and alpha-B5 cause a significant, less pronounced decrease of both colony types; (4) finally, alpha-B2 and alpha-B7, -B9 exert little and no effect, respectively. These studies provide novel evidence on the coordinate expression of selected HOXB cluster genes in erythropoiesis and granulopoiesis, particularly in the early stages of differentiation: B3 apparently functions as a master gene in early hematopoiesis, whereas B6 exerts a key selective function in the granulopoietic pathway.

The delta beta crossover region in Lepore boston hemoglobinopathy is restricted to a 59 base pairs region around the 5' splice junction of the large globin gene intervening sequence.

Genomic DNA from a hemoglobin (Hb) Lepore Boston (delta 87 Gln beta 116 His) homozygote of Southern Italian origin has been studied in order to map the fusion point between the delta and beta genes. An Ava II restriction endonuclease recognition sequence, located 12 base pairs (bp) downstream from the 5' end of the beta gene large intervening sequence, has been taken as marker of the beta-like portion of the fusion gene. This site was present even in the delta beta gene, allowing the localization of the crossover area to a 59-bp region extending from the first nucleotide of the Leu codon in position 88 to the 11th nucleotide of the large intervening sequence. The analysis of the DNA restriction polymorphisms in the gamma delta beta globin gene region provides evidence that a single mutational event originated the Lepore delta beta genes, at least in the Italian population.

The biosynthesis of hemoglobin G San Josè (beta 7(A4) Glu replaced by Gly).

This report is concerned with the evaluation of hematological parameters and the percentage level of the abnormal hemoglobin (Hb) G San Josè as found in 4 heterozygous carriers from a family of Sicilian origin. Biosynthetic studies and in vitro recombination experiments strongly indicate that abnormal beta chains are synthesized at lower rate than beta A chains and exhibit a minor affinity (relative to beta A chains) for complementary chains in a condition of relative aA chain deficiency. The possibility that the low affinity of beta G chains for a chains may play a decisive role in controlling the level of the abnormal Hb in the peripheral blood of the present non-a-thalassemic abnormal Hb carriers is therefore discussed.

A human homoeo box gene specifically expressed in spinal cord during embryonic development.

Several genes involved in the determination of Drosophila body segments share a conserved DNA sequence of 183 nucleotides termed the homoeo box. Homologous homoeo box sequences have been detected in the genome of species ranging from insects and anellids to vertebrates, and a number of homoeo box-containing genomic DNA clones have been isolated from Xenopus, mouse and human. We have recently isolated human complementary DNA clones containing homoeo box sequences, representing transcripts from four different genes. We report here the nucleotide sequence of one of these clones (HHO.c10) and show that the corresponding gene is transcribed in human embryos and fetuses at 5-10 weeks post-conception. A major polyadenylated transcript of approximately 2.1 kilobases (kb), as well as RNA species of higher relative molecular mass (Mr), are specifically expressed at a constant level in spinal cord throughout this developmental period.

Retinoic acid downmodulates erythroid differentiation and GATA1 expression in purified adult-progenitor culture.

All-trans retinoic acid (RA) is an important morphogen in vertebrate development, a normal constituent in human adult blood and is also involved in the control of cell growth and differentiation in acute promyelocytic leukemia. We have examined the effects of RA on normal hematopoiesis by using early hematopoietic progenitor cells (HPC) stringently purified from adult peripheral blood. In clonogenetic fetal calf serum-supplemented (FCS+) or -nonsupplemented (FCS-) culture treated with saturating levels of interleukin-3 (IL-3) granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) and erythropoietin (Ep) (combined with c-kit ligand in FCS(-)-culture conditions), RA induces a dramatic dose-dependent shift from erythroid to granulomonocytic colony formation, the latter colonies being essentially represented by granulocytic clones. This shift is apparently not caused by a recruitment phenomenon, because in FCS+ culture, the total number of colonies is not significantly modified by RA addition. In FCS- liquid-suspension culture supplemented with saturating Ep level and low-dose IL-3/GM-CSF, adult HPC undergo unilineage erythropoietic differentiation: Here again, treatment with high-dose RA induces a shift from the erythroid to granulocytic differentiation pathway. Studies on RA time-response or pulse treatment in semisolid or liquid culture show that early RA addition is most effective, thus indicating that early but not late HPC are sensitive to its action. We then analyzed the expression of the master GATA1 gene, which encodes a finger transcription factor required for normal erythroid development; addition of RA to HPC stimulated into unilineage erythropoietic differentiation in liquid culture caused a virtually complete inhibition of GATA1 mRNA induction. These results indicate that RA directly inhibits the erythroid differentiation program at the level of early adult HPC, and may lead to a shift from the erythroid to granulocytic differentiation pathway. This phenomenon is correlated with inhibition of GATA1 induction in the early stages of erythropoietic differentiation.

Differential and stage-related expression in embryonic tissues of a new human homoeobox gene.

The homoeobox is a 183 base-pair (bp) DNA sequence conserved in several Drosophila genes controlling segmentation and segment identity. Homoeobox sequences have been detected in the genome of species ranging from insects and anellids to vertebrates and homoeobox containing genes have been cloned from Xenopus, mouse and man. We recently isolated human homoeobox containing complementary DNA clones, that represent transcripts from four different human genes. One clone (HHO.c10) is selectively expressed in a 2.1 kilobase (kb) polyadenylated transcript in the spinal cord of human embryos and fetuses 5-10 weeks after fertilization. We report the characterization of a second cDNA clone, termed HHO.c13, that represents a new homoeobox gene. This clone encodes a protein of 255 amino-acid residues, which includes a pentapeptide, upstream of the homoeo domain, conserved in other Drosophila, Xenopus, murine and human homoeobox genes. By Northern analysis HHO.c13 detects multiple embryonic transcripts, which are differentially expressed in spinal cord, brain, backbone rudiments, limb buds and heart in 5-9-week-old human embryos and fetuses, in a striking organ- and stage-specific pattern. These observations suggest that in early mammalian development homoeobox genes may exert a wide spectrum of control functions in a variety of organs and body parts, in addition to the spinal cord.

Translocation of c-myc into the immunoglobulin heavy-chain locus in human acute B-cell leukemia. A molecular analysis.

We report the molecular analysis of primary cells from four cases of human B-cell malignancies each with an 8;14 chromosomal translocation involving the c-myc proto-oncogene and the immunoglobulin (Ig) gene cluster. In two cases of B-cell acute lymphocytic leukemia (B-ALL) the c-myc is truncated, rearranged into the Ig C alpha 1 locus and over-expressed in two abnormal mRNAs of approximately 2.0 and 2.8 kb. Conversely, in two cases of B-cell lymphoma progressed into leukemia the c-myc locus was translocated intact in its coding and 5'-flanking region into an Ig region different from C alpha 1, and over-expressed in two normal mRNA species. Cloning and sequencing of the breakpoint region on chromosome 14q+ from one of the two B-ALL cases showed that the myc gene is truncated 1077 nucleotides upstream from the translation start site, and rearranged in the opposite transcriptional orientation into an Ig class-switch segment approximately 4.8 kb upstream from the C alpha 1 gene. The c-myc anti-sense strand contains two class-switch recombination consensus sequences in the immediate boundaries of the breakpoint on chromosome 8: this allows us to postulate that an erroneous, class-switch-like recombination between Ig and myc sequences gave rise to the chromosomal translocation. Furthermore, we report 13 point mutations clustered in a region spanning from the first intron to the second exon of the translocated c-myc gene, five of which cause amino acid changes leading to an abnormal myc protein. This is the first evidence of mutations in a translocated c-myc in primary tumor cells.

Two human homeobox genes, c1 and c8: structure analysis and expression in embryonic development.

Two human cDNA clones (HHO.c1.95 and HHO.c8.5111) containing a homeobox region have been characterized, and the respective genomic regions have been partially analyzed. Expression of the corresponding genes, termed c1 and c8, was evaluated in different organs and body parts during human embryonic/fetal development. HHO.c1.95 apparently encodes a 217-amino acid protein containing a class I homeodomain that shares 60 out of 61 amino acid residues with the Antennapedia homeodomain of Drosophila melanogaster. HHO.c8.5111 encodes a 153-amino acid protein containing a homeodomain identical to that of the frog AC1 gene. Clones HHO.c1 and HHO.c8 detect by blot-hydridization one and two specific polyadenylylated transcripts, respectively. These are differentially expressed in spinal cord, backbone rudiments, limb buds (or limbs), heart, and skin of human embryos and early fetuses in the 5- to 9-week postfertilization period, thus suggesting that the c1 and c8 genes play a key role in a variety of developmental processes. Together, the results of the embryonic/fetal expression of c1 and c8 and those of two previously analyzed genes (c10 and c13) indicate a coherent pattern of expression of these genes in early human ontogeny.

Differential expression of human HOX-2 genes along the anterior-posterior axis in embryonic central nervous system.

We have investigated the structure of the human HOX-2 locus, which encompasses a 90-kb region on chromosome 17q21. Five new human HOX-2 homeoboxes, termed HOX-2.5, 2.4, 2.6, 2.7 and 2.8, have been identified, and their nucleotide sequences are reported. They have the same 5'-3' transcriptional orientation and are clustered with three previously described HOX-2 homeoboxes (5'-2.5-2.4-2.3-2.2-2.1-2.6-2.7-2.8-3'). We have also investigated the region-specific expression of HOX-2 genes in human embryonic-fetal life by Northern-blot analysis. All genes are expressed in whole embryos and fetuses at 5-9 weeks from conception. Their major site of expression lies within the central nervous system (CNS), although they are transcribed at a lower level in body structures other than the CNS. Their relatively abundant expression in CNS has been analyzed along the anterior-posterior axis by dissecting the brain, the medulla oblongata and the spinal cord proper. HOX-2.5, 2.4 and 2.3 transcripts are markedly more abundant in spinal cord than in medulla, whereas 2.2, 2.1, 2.6 and 2.7 mRNAs are progressively more abundant in the medulla. Additionally, expression in brain was detected, although at lower level, for HOX-2.1, 2.6, 2.7, 2.8. Thus, the relative position of HOX-2 homeobox genes along the chromosome in the 5'-3' direction appears to correlate with the relative position of their expression domains along the CNS longitudinal axis in the caudal-cephalic direction.

Molecular mechanisms of human hemoglobin switching: selective undermethylation and expression of globin genes in embryonic, fetal, and adult erythroblasts.

The globin chain synthetic pattern and the extent of DNA methylation within embryonic, fetal, and adult beta-like globin gene domains were evaluated in greater than or equal to 90% purified human erythroblasts from yolk sacs and fetal livers in the 6- to 12-wk gestational period as well as from adult marrows. The 6-wk erythroblasts produce essentially embryonic epsilon chains, whereas the 12-wk erythroblasts synthesize largely fetal gamma globin and the adult marrow erythroblasts synthesize almost exclusively adult beta chains. In all phases of ontogenic development, a strong correlation exists between DNA hypomethylation in the close flanking sequences of globin genes and their expression. These results suggest that modulation of the methylation pattern may represent a key mechanism for regulating expression of human globin genes during embryonic leads to fetal and fetal leads to adult Hb switches in humans. In ontogenic development this mechanism might in turn correlate with a gradual modification of chromatin structure in the non-alpha gene cluster, thus leading to a 5' leads to 3' activation of globin genes in a balanced fashion.

Translocation and rearrangement of c-myc into immunoglobulin alpha heavy chain locus in primary cells from acute lymphocytic leukemia.

We report the molecular analysis of an 8;14 reciprocal chromosome translocation in a case of acute lymphocytic leukemia (L3 type). DNA from primary leukemic cells was analyzed on the basis of restriction endonuclease mapping by hybridization with various human c-myc and Ig heavy chain probes. The breakpoint of the translocation is within an approximately equal to 200-base-pair region in the first intron of the c-myc gene. The first, untranslated exon thereby remains on chromosome 8q-, whereas the whole protein-coding region is rearranged in the C alpha 1 locus on chromosome 14q+. RNA transfer blot analysis showed high levels of at least two different c-myc transcripts originated from the translocated gene. Both differ in size from the normal 2.2- and 2.4-kilobase transcripts. Both c-myc structure and expression were apparently normalized in remission phase. These studies demonstrate rearrangement and abnormal expression of c-myc in primary cells from an acute leukemia patient, thus adding to the concept of a key role for c-onc in human oncogenesis.

Heterocellular hereditary persistence of fetal hemoglobin (HPFH). Molecular mechanisms of abnormal gamma-gene expression in association with beta thalassemia and linkage relationship with the beta-globin gene cluster.

We report a study of four families of Italian origin in which heterocellular HPFH is inherited linked to beta thalassemia over two or three generations. The HPFH + beta thalassemia carriers showed thalassemic blood pictures and elevated HbF and F-cell number without increase in the HbF/F-cell content. Association of this gene complex with a second beta thalassemia trait gives rise to a mild clinical picture characterized by 9-12 g/dl of mainly HbF in peripheral blood and no transfusion requirement. In two families, independent segregation of the HPFH or beta-thal trait was observed, and in one case the study of the DNA polymorphisms within the gamma delta beta gene cluster indicated that the HPFH mutation lies outside that DNA region. In one family the coexistence of a polymorphic variant of the A gamma chain (the A gamma T chain) allowed us to demonstrate that the increased gamma chain synthesis caused by the heterocellular HPFH determinant is directed by both chromosomes.