Clodoveo Ferri

..A causative role of hepatitis C virus in over 80% patients has been definitively established, with heterogeneous geographical distribution. This review focuses on recent etiopathogenetic, clinico-diagnostic, and therapeutical studies...

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..The present review analyzes the complex virological, clinico-pathological, and therapeutic implications of B-cell proliferation, with or without HCV infection, in MC patients...

..Several vasodilator approaches (prostacycline or NO/endothelin) may counteract the microvascular dysfunction at peripheral and cardiopulmonary level, and fight the sequelae of pulmonary hypertension...

..This multicenter study retrospectively evaluated the effects of rituximab in a large series of patients with active MCs. The observed results were compared to those emerging from the updated review of the literature on this topic...

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..The aims of the study were to evaluate serum levels of IL-6 in MC+HCV patients and to correlate this parameter with the presence of AT and with circulating levels of TNF-α...

..We evaluated contemporarily serum alpha and beta chemokines in patients with newly diagnosed systemic sclerosis (SSc) in the presence or absence of autoimmune thyroiditis (AT)...

..We measured CXCL11, and correlated this measurement to the clinical phenotype...

..The increase of NT-proBNP may indicate the presence of a subclinical cardiac dysfunction. Further prospective studies quantifying symptoms and correlating these with echocardiographic parameters are needed to confirm this association...

..This study was undertaken to evaluate serum levels of these cytokines in patients with HCV-MC...

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..We evaluated serum levels of IL-1beta, IFN-gamma, and CXCL10 in a series of patients with hepatitis C-related MC (MC+HCV), and correlated these measurements with clinical disease features...

..The aim of the present study, therefore, was to evaluate serum CXCL11 levels in these patients...

..The therapeutical administration of cytokines such as IFN-alpha may result in viral clearance during persistent infection and reverts this process...

..These results underline the importance of a Th1 immune attack in the initiation of AT...

..Future studies in larger series will be needed to evaluate the potential usefulness of serum CXCL10 and CCL2 determination as a prognostic marker in the follow-up of MC patients, also in relation to the presence of AT...

..07). The study revealed high levels of circulating NTproBNP and IL-6 in patients with mixed cryoglobulinemia and chronic HCV infection. The increase in NTproBNP could indicate the presence of a subclinical cardiac dysfunction...

..Nonetheless, additional studies will be necessary to elucidate fully all the mechanisms involved in HCV-related endocrine dysfunction...

..0001). In conclusion, our study is the first to demonstrate high serum levels of CXCL10 in MC and that CXCL10 in MC+AT patients are significantly higher compared to MC patients...

..Moreover, a pathophysiological association between high circulating levels of IL-1β and CXCL10 has been suggested. A possible therapeutic role of the anti-IL-1 receptor antagonist (Anakirna) in MC remains to be evaluated...

..This process may lead to the appearance of thyroid autoimmune disorders or T2D in genetically predisposed subjects...

..01). The study demonstrates high IL-6 and TNF-a serum levels in HCV-MC patients; moreover, IL-6 levels tended to be higher in HCV-MC patients in presence of active vasculitis...

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..Our study aimed to evaluate whether the normalization of BAL cellularity correlates with long-term response to CYC...

..MC is characterized by multiple organ involvement, mainly skin, liver, renal, peripheral nerves, and less frequently by widespread vasculitis and cancer...

..The aim of the present study is to provide information on clinical outcome of the patients affected by HCV-positive mixed cryoglobulinemia (MC) treated with PEG-IFN and Ribavirin for 6 or 12 months according to the HCV genotype...

..The aim of the introduction of these targeted therapies is to extend life duration assuring a good quality of life; however, further studies are needed to reach these goals...

..08 ± 13.5 to 57.9 ± 12.6; p < 0.0001 and HAQ from 0.73 ± 0.43 to 0.57 ± 0.22; p < 0.0001. PG may represent a novel therapeutic option for SSc skin ulcers refractory to conventional treatments...

..The therapeutic approach to these disorders should be decided according to each individual patient's evaluation, including hepatic, virological, and immunological findings...

..Available pathogenetic hypotheses and suggestions about the most appropriate, currently available, therapeutic approaches will also be discussed...

..Progress is being made toward effective targeted DeTC therapy. The possibility of testing the sensitivity of primary DeTC cells from each subject to different TKIs could increase the effectiveness of the treatment...

..Our study confirmed the higher frequency of lung cancer among SSc patients compared to general population, particularly within patients' subset with serum anti-Scl70 antibodies and lung involvement...

..Numerous pathogens of different origin may be involved, including bacteria from patient endogenous flora. Here we evaluated the possible involvement of fecal pathogens in scleroderma digital ulcers...

..In these patients, anti-tumor necrosis factor-alpha (anti-TNF-alpha) therapy may aggravate hepatitis and increase viremia. We evaluated the safety of these treatments, which remain controversial...

..The neonate had severe respiratory distress syndrome complicated by severe infection and died at day 28. Although limited, our pilot study suggests that L-arginine may be a useful therapeutic agent in pregnant SSc women...

..The abovementioned evidences seem sufficient to suggest careful thyroid monitoring during the follow-up of patients with HCV infection...

..The overall prognosis is poorer in patients with renal disease, liver failure, lymphoproliferative disease and malignancies...

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..To demonstrate the efficacy and safety of long-term therapy with oxycodone in severe pain of scleroderma skin ulcers...

..An increased prevalence of bcl-2 rearrangement (the t(14;18) translocation) has been shown in patients infected with HCV...

..If confirmed, the observed beneficial effects suggest that protein A-based immunoadsorption and thalidomide can represent an alternative option in dermatomyositis, especially when cutaneous manifestations are predominant...

..To identify the determinants of anti-TNF-naive patients' preferences for the route of administration of anti-TNF agents...

..We describe the case of a patient who developed a symptomatic EBV reactivation 11 days after the first infusion of infliximab...

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..0001). Differential diagnosis with other types of acellular globular materials observed in BAL samples is also discussed...

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..The indirect immunofluorescent rodent lung assay and Western blot data support a potential role of anti-endothelial cell antibodies in the propagation of scleroderma-associated pulmonary disease...

..To explore the association of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection with thyroid disorders...

..The presence of CS did not significantly affect the treatment of newly diagnosed lymphomas...

..Tropism of the virus to B lymphocytes provides a mechanism for the development of low-grade clonal B cell lymphoproliferative disease in this setting...

..These last data need to be confirmed by other studies, but seem to be sufficient to suggest careful thyroid monitoring during the follow-up of patients with HCV infection...

..To verify the effectiveness of G-CSF in the treatment of non-healing skin lesions in SSc patients...

..The role of tumor necrosis factor alpha blockers in scleroderma cases temporally associated with CMV infection requires further evaluation...

..Juvenile SSc appears to be less severe than in adults because children have less internal organ involvement, a less specific autoantibody profile, and a better long-term outcome...

..Several studies have reported the association of systemic sclerosis (SSc) with thyroid autoimmune disorders, but most of them have neither an appropriate control group nor include a complete thyroid work-up...

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