Do phonologic and rapid automatized naming deficits differentially affect dyslexic children with and without a history of language delay? A study of Italian dyslexic children.

OBJECTIVE: The study aims to verify whether phonologic and rapid automatized naming (RAN) deficits are present and associated in Italian dyslexic children and whether they differentially affect dyslexics with and without a history of previous language delay (LD). BACKGROUND: According to the phonologic core deficit hypothesis, dyslexia may stem from impairment of the representation and manipulation of phonemes and may be closely associated with oral language deficits. However, deficits in tasks not requiring fine-grained phonologic representations, such as RAN, have also been described in dyslexic children. METHODS: Thirty-seven children were selected on the basis of a reading deficit and were assigned to 2 groups according to whether or not they had a history of early LD as determined retrospectively by parental report. A battery of reading and writing, verbal working memory, metaphonologic, RAN, and visual search tests were administered. RESULTS: RAN deficits were shared by most dyslexics (with and without a history of LD), whereas phonologic deficits were mainly associated with a previous LD. This last condition did not result in a more profound impairment of reading and writing decoding skills. CONCLUSION: In a shallow orthography such as Italian, RAN, not phonologic deficits, may represent the main cognitive marker of developmental dyslexia.     

Pneumonia complicating abdominal sepsis: an experimental model of hematogenous contamination of the lung.

Pulmonary infection complicating intra-abdominal sepsis is a major clinical problem. An experimental model for intra-abdominal sepsis was created with implantation of gelatin capsules, containing 3 x 10(8) cfu E. coli strain no. 2554, in the peritoneal cavity of 20 rats (10 animals received and 10 did not receive antibiotic therapy with ceftriaxone) in order to verify the role of the primary site of infection in the pathogenesis of pneumonia. Ten rats were sacrificed to determine the relative pulmonary weight and 10 were submitted to simple laparotomy and insertion of a germ-free capsule (sham-operated group). In this group of animals there was only one death (10%). All the rats that received antibiotic therapy survived until sacrifice while all the rats that did not receive ceftriaxone died, 7 within the 2nd and 3 on the 6th postoperative day. Pneumonia and peritonitis developed only in the animals that did not receive ceftriaxone. Bacteriological findings of material obtained from peritoneal and pleural cavities revealed the same strain of E. coli used for the experiment, suggesting that bacteria involved in the pleuro-pulmonary infections may originate in the primary site of infection and that antibiotic therapy started at the moment of contamination, can prevent this major complication.     

Immunopathology of ocular sarcoidosis

Summary Sarcoidosis is a multisystem disease characterized by enhanced immune responses at sites of involvement. To elucidate the immunopathogenesis of ophthalmic lesions, cell infiltrates in biopsies from conjunctiva and other tissues involved (lungs, lymph nodes, skin) were studied in 26 patients with active sarcoidosis in order to define the surface phenotype and the distribution of cells in granulomatous lesions. Biopsy specimens were also stained for detection of immunoglobulins, complement and fibrinogen deposits. The data demonstrate a lymphocytes/macrophages interaction in the central core of granulomatous areas as the crucial event that initiates the maintains the state of inflammation: at all sites of disease activity is present a compartmentalization of T-cells expressing a helper-related phenotype which account for the great majority of infiltrating cells both in the early lesions (aggregate of macrophages surrounded by lymphocytic infiltrate) and in well-organized sarcoid granulomata. The presence of plasma cells and immunoglobulin deposits may represent an epiphenomenon in line with the helper infiltration, suggesting a local hyper-reactivity of the B-cells immune system. This study suggests some immunopathogenetic mechanisms leading to the formation and growth of conjunctival sarcoid granulomata.     

Seroprevalence of anti-HTLV I/II and anti-HIV-1 antibodies in a sample population in the Marche Region,Italy

A total of 1292 sera, provided by different USLs (Local Health Centers) in the Marche Region (Italy), was tested by ELISA and Western Blot for the detection of anti-HTLV I/II ad HIV-1 antibodies. It was decided not to follow any particular criterion when collecting the sera, so no protocol of admission was established in advance. Of the 1292 sera tested, 12 were found antibody positive to HTLV I/II, 18 to HIV-1 and 4 to both viruses. Of the seropositives, for HTLV I/II and HIV-1, respectively, 2 and 3 were prisoners; 2 and 4 were IVDAs, 3 and 7 were hematological patients, 3 and 2 were hospitalized subjects (not for hematological disorders), and 2 and 2 were positives belonging to a healthy population group. These data suggest that the viruses may also be spreading among groups other than the high-risk ones (homosexuals, IVDAs, prisoners, blood-transfusion recipients, promiscuous heterosexuals).     

Generation of superoxide anion by alveolar macrophages in sarcoidosis: evidence for the activation of the oxygen metabolism in patients with high-intensity alveolitis.

We studied superoxide anion (O2) generation by alveolar macrophages (AM) isolated from bronchoalveolar lavages (BAL) of patients with sarcoidosis, and assayed immediately after the isolation or after maintenance in culture for 2 days. In assays of cells freshly isolated from BAL, AM of patients with active sarcoidosis with a high-intensity lymphocytic alveolitis produced more O2- in response to phorbol myristate acetate than AM of patients with inactive sarcoidosis. Also, after 2 days of cultivation sarcoid AM were heterogeneous in their capability to metabolize oxygen, although both AM of active and inactive sarcoid patients produced higher amounts of O2- than AM of healthy subjects. In vitro treatment with recombinant interferon-gamma (rIFN-gamma) caused an enhancement of the capability of AM of inactive sarcoid patients to produce O2- in response to PMA. AM of patients with active sarcoidosis did not respond to rIFN-gamma when they already produced O2- vigorously. However, they became sensitive to the activating effect of rIFN-gamma after the down-modulation of their capability to produce O2-, that occurred upon prolonged cultivation. Monocytes isolated from blood of sarcoid patients and assayed immediately or after different times of cultivation did not produce more O2- than control monocytes and monocyte-derived macrophages, thus indicating that the activation of AM in sarcoidosis is likely a local phenomenon. These studies strengthen the notion that T lymphocyte-macrophage interaction is a critical event in the pathogenesis of sarcoidosis and establish that the enhanced capability to metabolize oxygen to highly reactive intermediates by AM is one of the consequence of this interaction.     

Circulating gamma/delta T lymphocytes from systemic sclerosis (SSc) patients display a T helper (Th) 1 polarization

Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a connective tissue disease in which immune system activation is evidenced by high levels of different cytokines in the sera and/or in the supernatants of cultured peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) and by the presence of specific autoantibodies. gamma/delta T cells accumulate in the lung and the skin of SSc patients suggesting their potential role in the development and maintenance of the disease. The aim of this study was to assess cytokine production and cytotoxic activity of circulating gamma/delta T lymphocytes obtained from SSc patients and to evaluate their potential role during this disorder. Our results showed that both the proportion and the absolute number of IFN-gamma gamma/delta-producing cells (i.e. displaying a Th1 polarization) in SSc was significantly higher than either the proportion and the absolute number of IL-4 gamma/delta-producing cells in SSc or the proportion and the absolute number of IFN-gamma gamma/delta-producing cells in healthy controls (P < 0.05 for both groups). Furthermore, the cytotoxic activity of enriched gamma/delta T cells was significantly increased in SSc patients compared with controls. The results concerning the Vdelta1+ T cell subset paralleled those of total gamma/delta T lymphocytes. In contrast, alpha/beta T cells from SSc and control subjects displayed Th2 cytokine production. All these findings were independent of both disease subset and clinical status. Our data demonstrate that, although SSc is generally considered a Th2 autoimmune disease, Th1 polarization of gamma/delta T cells and an increase in their cytotoxic activity is observed in SSc, suggesting that gamma/delta T cells could have a relatively autonomous role in the pathogenesis in this disease.     

Observations on the arterial baroreflex in neurally mediated vasodepressor syncope

The arterial baroreflex was studied in subjects who had recently had an episode of vasodepressor syncope. This was determined using 2–3 mcg/kg intravenous boluses of phenylephrine and assessing the bradycardic response. The values were measured in ms/mmHg and expressed as the angular coefficient of the regression line between the increase in R—R interval on the electrocardiograph and the systolic arterial pressure. In subjects examined immediately after the vasodepressor syncope episode the bradycardic response was much more marked than in controls (p < 0.01) and in the subjects themselves 6 months after the episode, provided that they were symptom-free (p < 0.01). It is concluded that in vasodepressor syncope there is a phase in which the baroreflex is highly sensitive and that this is due not to a lowering of the stimulation threshold but to a gain in the efferent arc, which explains a vagotonic response.