Papers by Graziella Calugi
Diseases
Background: SARS-CoV-2 T-cells are crucial for long-term protection against reinfection. The aim ... more Background: SARS-CoV-2 T-cells are crucial for long-term protection against reinfection. The aim was to demonstrate the Interferon-gamma Release Assay (IGRA) test could be useful for vaccination monitoring. Methods: In a prospective cohort of 98 vaccinated healthcare workers for SARS-CoV-2, we selected 23 people in low-antibodies (Group 1, N = 8), high-antibodies (Group 2, N = 9), and negative control groups (Group 3, N = 6). SARS-CoV-2-specific humoral and cellular responses were analyzed at 8 months after two doses of Pfizer BioNTech, evaluating anti-RBD (Receptor Binding Domain) and RBD-ACE2 (Angiotensin Converting Enzyme-2) blocking antibodies in sera through a Chemiluminescence Immunoassay (CLIA) and T-cells through the IGRA test in heparinized plasma. Moreover, lymphocyte subtyping was executed by a flow cytometer. Statistical analysis was performed. Results: The data confirmed that RBD and RBD-ACE2 blocking ACE2 antibody levels of Group 1 were significantly lower than Group 2...
European review for medical and pharmacological sciences, 2021
OBJECTIVE It was hypothesized that activity exercise at professional levels could lead to an incr... more OBJECTIVE It was hypothesized that activity exercise at professional levels could lead to an increase in metabolic levels and a decrease in performance parameters. These trends are explained by physical activity as a cellular stressor. SUBJECTS AND METHODS We used an algorithm, Laboratory Index which evaluates salivary cortisol, CK and d-ROMs, collected previously from elite Italian soccer players, compared to InStat Index. The last one estimates analytically the athlete's performance in soccer pitch, applying the Heath Maps. RESULTS A good agreement between the two Index was obtained, especially for two players, who showed an ideal combined trend. CONCLUSIONS We would investigate the clinical and activity profile of soccer players with the aim of providing information for the development of training strategies. Also, the performances, during training and match time, are an objective evaluation of the athlete's physical preparation. As a consequence, the combination of two I...
Spermatozoa with chromosomal abnormalities may result in a higher rate of recurrent abortion
Fertility and Sterility, 1998
To determine whether sperm aneuploidy can lead to abortion. Clinical study. Couples with reproduc... more To determine whether sperm aneuploidy can lead to abortion. Clinical study. Couples with reproductive problems evaluated in a private diagnostic laboratory. Two men whose wives had histories of multiple abortions. Whole and Percoll-processed semen samples were analyzed. The results of fluorescence in situ hybridization. Aneuploidy rates in Percoll-processed samples were higher than those found in whole specimens. Aneuploid spermatozoa also displayed greater motility. Sperm aneuploidy should be studied before and after Percoll capacitation in all couples with unexplained infertility.
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, Nov 29, 2022
1) Background: A clinical laboratory index to assess gut dysbiosis is the F/B ratio < 0.8. In fac... more 1) Background: A clinical laboratory index to assess gut dysbiosis is the F/B ratio < 0.8. In fact, an elevated proportion of Firmicutes and a reduced population of Bacteroides in diabetes type 2 (T2D) subjects has been observed. This study aimed to detail the dysbiosis status in the Italian population, focusing on some pathogenic spectra (T2D) or metabolic disorders. (2) Material and methods: A quantity of 334 fecal samples was analyzed in order to perform genetic testing and sequencing. (3) Results: A trend in over imbalance was observed in the percentage of Proteobacteria (median value: 6.75%; interquartile range (IQR): 3.57-17.29%). A statistically significant association (χ 2 p = 0.033) was observed between type of dysbiosis and T2D, corresponding to an Odds Ratio (OR) of 1.86. It was noted that females with cystitis/candidiasis are significantly prevalent in T2D patients (p < 0.01; OR: 3.59; 95% CI: 1.43-8.99). Although, in non-diabetic males, a sugar craving is significantly associated with the rate of dysbiosis in non-diabetic males (p < 0.05; OR 1.07; 95% CI 1.00-1.16). (4) Conclusion: In T2D patients, the Bacteroidetes/Firmicutes ratio was biased in favor of Proteobacteria, to be expected due to the nutritional habits of the patients. Thus, T2D females had altered gut permeability favoring the development of infections in the vaginal tract.
Diseases
This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY
Evaluation of serological anti-SARS-CoV-2 chemiluminescent immunoassays correlated to live virus neutralization test, for the detection of anti-RBD antibodies as a relevant alternative in COVID-19 large-scale neutralizing activity monitoring
Clinical Immunology, 2021
The Spike-Receptor Binding Domain (S-RBD) is considered the most antigenic protein in SARS-CoV-2 ... more The Spike-Receptor Binding Domain (S-RBD) is considered the most antigenic protein in SARS-CoV-2 and probably the key player in SARS-CoV-2 immune response. Quantitative immunoassays may help establish an anti-RBD Abs threshold as an indication of protective immunity. Since different immunoassays are commercial, the standard reference method for the neutralizing activity is the live Virus Neutralization Test (VNT). In this study, anti-RBD IgG levels were detected with two chemiluminescent immunoassays in paucisymptomatic, symptomatic and vaccinated subjects, and their neutralizing activity was correlated to VNT titer, using SARS-CoV-2 original and British variant strains. Both immunoassays confirmed higher anti-RBD Abs levels in vaccinated subjects. Furthermore, despite different anti-RBD Abs median concentrations between the immunoassays, a strong positive correlation with VNT was observed. In conclusion, although the SARS-CoV-2 immune response heterogeneity, the use of immunoassays can help in large-scale monitoring of COVID-19 samples, becoming a valid alternative to VNT test for diagnostic routine laboratories.
Urinary tract infections (UTI) are the most frequent bacterial infections, and the detection of i... more Urinary tract infections (UTI) are the most frequent bacterial infections, and the detection of infection in urine samples is expensive and time-consuming. Also, in laboratories a significant proportion of samples processed yield negative results. For this, screening methods represent an important improvement towards the final UTI diagnosis. SediMAX is an automated microscopy, easier to use in laboratories due to its basic procedure and it is widely used for urine sediment analysis. In our study, we evaluated the performance of SediMAX, applying some screening parameters, compared with the gold standard methods, urine culture, to identify all the positive cases for UTI. We analysed 1185 urine samples from our daily laboratory routine. The basis of our screening model was to establish a cut-off for bacterial count (BACT), as 300 bacteria/µL in order to avoid missing positive cases. However, the sensitivity and the specificity achieved were not enough to identify all UTI infection in ...
Irish Journal of Medical Science (1971 -), 2021
Background Data from literature shows that antigen tests are rapid and helpful tools for diagnosi... more Background Data from literature shows that antigen tests are rapid and helpful tools for diagnosis of COVID-19. Aim This work aimed to evaluate the performances of the Elecsys SARS-CoV-2 Antigen test, in comparison to RT-qPCR, the gold standard. Methods A total of 110 swabs were tested; according to rRT-PCR, 76 were positive, and 34 were negative. The swabs were processed by Elecsys SARS CoV 2 Antigen assay (Roche Diagnostics GmbH, Mannheim, Germany), an electrochemiluminescence immunoassay (ECLIA). Results In a first evaluation, the overall sensitivity and specificity were 85% and 100%, respectively. It was noted that most of the discordant cases had cycle threshold (Ct) values > 28. Therefore, it was assumed a new measure to evaluate sensitivity and specificity, then samples with Ct values < 28 were selected. In this way, it was achieved a Ct < 28 sensitivity of 94%. The level of agreement between the two tests was 89. 1% with κ value of 0.77 for total data and 95.9% with κ value of 0.95 for samples with < 28 Ct. The antigen test performs well in the presence of high viral loads, whereas lower levels are missed. Conclusions The comparison data obtained in this study support that this method seems a proper approach for rapid screening of patients with high SARS-CoV-2 viral load; however, the rate of sensitivity is highly Ct-dependent.
The Entire Genome of a nef-Deleted Strain of Human
Abstract. Monoclonal gammopathies represent a wide spectrum of related diseases. The common denom... more Abstract. Monoclonal gammopathies represent a wide spectrum of related diseases. The common denominator is the presence of a monoclonal protein in the serum or urine, which can be in the form of intact immunoglobulin, immunoglobulin fragments, and/or free light chains (κ and λ). We can detect these abnormalities by immunofixation electrophoresis (IFE) in which specific antibodies are overlaid after electrophoresis and the corresponding immunoglobulin. In our study, we compared gel-based and capillary-based serum protein electrophoresis methods to identify and characterize monoclonal immunoglobulins in serum samples. We analyzed 500 serum samples by Sebia Hydragel agarose gel electrophoresis (AGE)/immunofixation electrophoresis (IFE) and CAPILLARYS 2 capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE)/immunosubtraction (IS). AGE/IFE and CZE/IS had an overall agreement of 98% on serum protein electrophoresis. In our hands, AGE/IFE and CZE/IS had the same specificity for detection of monoclonal prote...
The WHO International Standard for COVID-19 serological tests: towards harmonization of anti-spike assays
International Immunopharmacology
Serological anti-SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies association to live virus neutralizing test titers in COVID-19 paucisymptomatic/symptomatic patients and vaccinated subjects
International Immunopharmacology
SARS-CoV-2 infection serology validation of different methods: Usefulness of IgA in the early phase of infection
Clinica Chimica Acta
Evaluation of S-RBD and high specificity ACE-2-binding antibodies on SARS-CoV-2 patients after six months from infection
International Immunopharmacology
Evaluation and analytical performance of the new Roche T411 and T511 coagulation analysers
Thrombosis Research
Ploidy analysis of paraffin-embedded breast fibroadenomas with flow cytometry and fluorescence in situ hybridization
European journal of histochemistry : EJH, 1997
DNA flow cytometric analysis and numerical chromosome 9 aberrations detected by interphase cytogenetics in superficial bladder TCC
European journal of histochemistry : EJH, 1997
Journal of Virology, 2006
We report the complete sequence analysis of the provirus harbored in a long-term nonprogressor (p... more We report the complete sequence analysis of the provirus harbored in a long-term nonprogressor (patient SG1) 20 years after the first infection with a human immunodeficiency virus type 1 strain lacking nef. The sequencing showed large deletions in the nef-nef and nef-U3 regions. Except for vpu, all of the other accessory genes were intact. The gag and pol genes did not show significant alterations. We found large deletions in env, spanning the V1, V2, V3, V4, and V5 regions. We believe that, when down-regulation of the class 1 major histocompatibility complex molecules is inhibited by the lack of nef function, the cells containing Env-defective molecules evade cytotoxic T lymphocyte killing and accumulate progressively.
Unusual Chromosome Patterns of Renal Cell Carcinomas Common to Two Brothers
Cancer Genetics and Cytogenetics, 1999
In this study, we describe two renal cell carcinomas (RCC) that occurred at the same time in two ... more In this study, we describe two renal cell carcinomas (RCC) that occurred at the same time in two brothers, yielding information on the carcinogenic process. We used flow cytometry (FCM) to evaluate nuclear DNA content, and performed cytogenetic analysis. We also carried out fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) with a panel of centromeric probes for chromosomes 3, 7, 8, 9, 12, 17, 20, and Y in interphase cells. Flow cytometry analysis revealed diploid histograms in the tumor and &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;quot;nonmalignant&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;quot; samples of patient 1, while an aneuploid cell subpopulation was found in the tumor and &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;quot;nonmalignant&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;quot; samples of patient 2. Tumor samples from the two brothers were studied by FISH, and had common numerical chromosome aberrations: trisomy of chromosomes 3 and 7, and monosomy and trisomy of chromosomes 9 and 17. Moreover, in normal samples from both brothers, we found monosomy 9, and in a normal sample from patient 1, monosomy 17. Cytogenetic analysis revealed trisomy 3 in some cells grown from normal kidney tissue of each brother. The identification of the same chromosome alterations in both brothers appears to provide evidence of an unusual process of carcinogenesis, probably due to a common genetic basis.
Unusual Chromosome Patterns of Renal Cell Carcinomas Common to Two Brothers
In this study, we describe two renal cell carcinomas (RCC) that occurred at the same time in two ... more In this study, we describe two renal cell carcinomas (RCC) that occurred at the same time in two brothers, yielding information on the carcinogenic process. We used flow cytometry (FCM) to evaluate nuclear DNA content, and performed cytogenetic analysis. We also carried out fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) with a panel of centromeric probes for chromosomes 3, 7, 8, 9, 12, 17, 20, and Y in interphase cells. Flow cytometry analysis revealed diploid histograms in the tumor and &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;quot;nonmalignant&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;quot; samples of patient 1, while an aneuploid cell subpopulation was found in the tumor and &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;quot;nonmalignant&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;quot; samples of patient 2. Tumor samples from the two brothers were studied by FISH, and had common numerical chromosome aberrations: trisomy of chromosomes 3 and 7, and monosomy and trisomy of chromosomes 9 and 17. Moreover, in normal samples from both brothers, we found monosomy 9, and in a normal sample from patient 1, monosomy 17. Cytogenetic analysis revealed trisomy 3 in some cells grown from normal kidney tissue of each brother. The identification of the same chromosome alterations in both brothers appears to provide evidence of an unusual process of carcinogenesis, probably due to a common genetic basis.
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Papers by Graziella Calugi