C. Agostini | Università degli Studi di Padova (original) (raw)

Papers by C. Agostini

$Research paper thumbnail of Refractory amyopathic dermatomyositis (CAMD) with interstitial lung disease (ILD) successfully treated with Rituximab$

We studied a series of 18 patients with CD3- lymphoproliferative disease of granular lymphocytes ... more We studied a series of 18 patients with CD3- lymphoproliferative disease of granular lymphocytes (LDGL) for evidence of chronic viral infection, including Epstein-Barr (EBV), hepatitis B (HBV), hepatitis C (HCV), human T lymphotropic virus (HTLV), and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Although all patients tested had serologic evidence for past infection with EBV, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis of peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) DNA utilizing specific EBV primers demonstrated the presence of EBV-DNA in only six of 17 CD3- LDGL cases. A previous history of HBV infection, as defined by the presence of circulating IgG anti-HBc antibodies associated with either HBsAg positivity or negativity, was documented in seven cases; however, viral DNA was not detected in PBMC of these patients using PCR with specific HBV primers. Specific anti-HCV antibodies, confirmed by recombinant immunoblot assay, were detected in five CD3- LDGL patients; PCR analysis demonstrated the presence of viral RNA in PBMC of two of these cases. No patient had antibodies to HTLV-I/II or HIV-1/2. Five patients were infected by more than one virus (two with HBV and EBV and three with HBV and HCV). Our results provide serologic evidence for past viral infection in the large majority of CD3- NK-type LDGL patients. These data suggest that viral infection may have played a role early in disease pathogenesis and may no longer be necessary in sustaining GL proliferation in CD3- NK-type LDGL.

Current Opinion in Pulmonary Medicine, 1997

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a poorly understood immunomediated disorder that is charac... more Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a poorly understood immunomediated disorder that is characterized by three major features; influx of inflammatory cells into the lower respiratory tract, alveolar epithelial or capillary cell injury, and release of cytokines that stimulate proliferation of fibroblasts and type II pneumocytes along with deposition of extracellular matrix proteins, notably collagen. In the past few years interest in the pathogenetic mechanisms taking place in IPF has focused on immune effector cells that are involved in pulmonary inflammatory pathways, cell-specific injury, and fibroblast activation. In particular, accumulating evidence indicates that a complex relationship exists between the macrophage/lymphocyte/neutrophil cellular axis and the local network of cytokines that, through paracrine and autocrine interactions, coordinate inflammation and fibrogenesis in the respiratory tract.

British Journal of Cancer, 1988

A long term follow-up study has been undertaken in 33 patients with acute non-lymphoblastic leuka... more A long term follow-up study has been undertaken in 33 patients with acute non-lymphoblastic leukaemia (ANLL) in order to establish whether a correlation exists between the clinical course and the immunologic pattern of lymphoid subpopulations. Peripheral blood lymphoid cells have been investigated longitudinally (each 1 to 4 months) during complete remission (CR), by morphologic, phenotypic and functional analyses. Particular attention

Current opinion in …, 2002

Advertisement. Close Window. Close Window. Thank you for choosing to subscribe to the eTOC for Cu... more Advertisement. Close Window. Close Window. Thank you for choosing to subscribe to the eTOC for Current Opinion in Pulmonary Medicine. Enter your Email address: Wolters Kluwer Health may email you for journal alerts and ...

To elucidate the mechanisms of a-interferon's (a-INF) therapeutic effect on clinical and lab... more To elucidate the mechanisms of a-interferon's (a-INF) therapeutic effect on clinical and laboratory findings in hairy cell leukemia. we sequentially monitored different immunologic parameters in three patients treated with recombinant a-INF. The most evident effect of this treat- ment on the immune system was the recovery of natural killer (NK) cell in vitro activity of peripheral blood lympho- H AIRY CELL LEUKEMIA (HCL) is a malignant B cell disorder usually characterized by isolated spleno- megaly and peripheral pancytopenia associated with the presence in the blood of mononuclear hairy cells that infil- trate the spleen and bone marrow."2 Although splenectomy has been the treatment of choice in this disease for a number of years, a large number of patients fail to respond to this approach.2 The use of different therapeutic strategies based on chemotherapeutic agents has been unsatisfactory.3 A highly effective treatment of these patients has been recently offered by a-i...

Journal of Clinical Immunology, 1987

Using a panel of monoclonal antibodies (MoAbs), the frequency of cells bearing Class I and Class ... more Using a panel of monoclonal antibodies (MoAbs), the frequency of cells bearing Class I and Class II major histocompatibility complex (MHC) determinants, transferrin receptor (TR) sites, and interleukin-2 receptors (IL-2R) has been evaluated on pulmonary alveolar macrophages (PAM) recovered from the bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid of 21 patients with pulmonary sarcoidosis (including 11 cases with active sarcoidosis and 10 cases

Current Diabetes Reviews, 2005

A growing amount of evidence demonstrates that Endothelial Progenitor Cells (EPCs) are involved i... more A growing amount of evidence demonstrates that Endothelial Progenitor Cells (EPCs) are involved in adult neovasculogenesis and maintenance of vascular integrity. EPC decrease and dysfunction are related to atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease (CVD), and it has been proposed that the level of circulating EPCs may be used as a surrogate index of cumulative cardiovascular risk. Moreover, many experimental approaches reveal that exogenous EPC injection stimulates blood flow recovery in critical limb and myocardial ischemia, providing a new therapeutic tool for CVD. Diabetes Mellitus is a clinical condition characterized by a high incidence of CVD and is indeed associated with alterations in EPC physiology. In this review we focus on the relationships between EPCs and vascular biology, with particular regard to Diabetes Mellitus and future therapeutical implications.

Cancer Immunology Immunotherapy, 1989

Experiments herein reported were designed to clarify the degree of sensitivity of hairy cells to ... more Experiments herein reported were designed to clarify the degree of sensitivity of hairy cells to lysis in vitro. The cytotoxic capacity of peripheral blood lymphocytes from hairy cell leukemia patients against autologous and/or allogenic hairy cells was tested both at resting conditions and after in vitro stimulation. While effectors activated by interferon «, lectins, or interleukin-2 were unable to induce a lysis of hairy cells, in some cases we were successful in eliciting a definite lysis of these cells by triggering the effector cells with anti-CD3 monoclonal antibodies. Our results favour the interpretation that hairy cells are relatively, but not completely resistant to in vitro lysis. Furthermore, the evidence that anti-CD3 antibodies increase the efficacy of the cytotoxic machinery might support the use of these molecules in designing new immunotherapeutic approaches against tumor targets.

…, 1995

Human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1) infection of CD8+ lymphocytes has been described in severa... more Human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1) infection of CD8+ lymphocytes has been described in several in vitro culture systems, but whether CD8+ cells are a target and also serve as a reservoir for infection in vivo as yet is unknown. We addressed this issue in ...

Blood, 2012

Figure 1. Kaplan-Meier curves for patients with CVID. (1) Cumulative; (2) without cancers; and (3... more Figure 1. Kaplan-Meier curves for patients with CVID. (1) Cumulative; (2) without cancers; and (3) with cancer complications.

…, 2000

In 21 patients with lymphoproliferative disease of granular lymphocytes (LDGL), we investigated t... more In 21 patients with lymphoproliferative disease of granular lymphocytes (LDGL), we investigated the expression and the function of molecules belonging to TNF-receptor and TNF-ligand superfamilies (CD30/CD30L; CD40/CD40L; CD27/CD70; Fas [CD95]/FasL[CD95L]). Fourteen patients were characterized by a proliferation of granular lymphocytes (GLs) expressing the CD3(+)CD16(+) phenotype, whereas 7 cases showed the CD3(-)CD16(+) CD56 +/- phenotype. Our data show that both CD3(+) and CD3-GLs are preferentially equipped with CD30, CD40, CD40L, CD70, and CD95 antigens; this pattern is usually associated with the lack of CD27 and CD30L antigens expression. CD95L was demonstrated in the cytoplasm in 14 of 21 cases by flow cytometry, but a definite signal was demonstrated in all cases studied using polymerase chain reaction analysis. On functional grounds, a stimulatory activity on rIL-2 mediated redirected-cytotoxicity against Fcgamma+ P815 targets was demonstrated with anti-CD30, CD40, CD40L, CD70, CD95, and CD95L mAbs, although resting cells were unable to exhibit significant redirected-cell lysis. The addition of anti-CD30, CD30L, CD40, CD40L, CD95, and CD95L mAbs did not show any significant effect on cell proliferation at resting conditions or after rIL-2 stimulation, whereas anti-CD70 mAb mediated cell proliferation in 6 of 10 cases tested. This figure was not related to an increase in apoptotic cells, as investigated by Annexin-V expression. Our data indicate that both CD3(+) and CD3(-) GLs are equipped with different costimulatory antigens, supporting the concept that these cells are in vivo activated and suggesting that these molecules might play a role in the cytotoxic mechanisms of GLs. (Blood. 2000;96:647-654)

Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology, 2008

Objective— Endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) participate in vascular homeostasis and angiogenes... more Objective— Endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) participate in vascular homeostasis and angiogenesis. The aim of the present study was to explore EPC number and function in relation to cardiovascular risk, gender, and reproductive state. Methods and Results— As measured by flow-cytometry in 210 healthy subjects, CD34 + KDR + EPCs were higher in fertile women than in men, but were not different between postmenopausal women and age-matched men. These gender gradients mirrored differences in cardiovascular profile, carotid intima-media thickness, and brachial artery flow-mediated dilation. Moreover, EPCs and soluble c-kit ligand varied in phase with menstrual cycle in ovulatory women, suggesting cyclic bone marrow mobilization. Experimentally, hysterectomy in rats was followed by an increase in circulating EPCs. EPCs cultured from female healthy donors were more clonogenic and adherent than male EPCs. Treatment with 17β-estradiol stimulated EPC proliferation and adhesion, via estrogen r...

Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1988

Respiratory medicine, 2010