Prolonged remission state of refractory adult onset Still's disease following CD34-selected autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation

We report a 38-year-old patient affected by refractory adult onset Still's disease who achieved a prolonged remission following CD34-selected ABMT. The conditioning regimen was based on the use of CY and anti-thymocyte globulin. A 3.0 and 2.0 log reduction of T (CD3+) and B (CD19+) lymphocytes, respectively, was obtained using a Ceprate device to select CD34+ cells from PBSC. In the pre-transplant period (1994-1998) the patient had a chronic persistent disease course with frequent and recurrent systemic articular flares and loss of some functional abilities, despite daily prednisone, pulses of CY and immunosuppressive therapy (CYA or MTX). At the time of ABMT the patient had become non-ambulatory. Within 3 weeks of ABMT the patient showed a marked decrease in joint swelling, and morning stiffness. Joint pain and systemic symptoms disappeared, the patient was able to walk and run and gained general well being. ESR, C-reactive protein and WBC count were significantly decreased, while Hb level increased. This partial remission persisted for at least 1 year after ABMT, although at 15 months of follow-up a reappearance of moderate synovitis in the knees and wrists was noted. Our data further showed that both patient BM microenvironment and stem-progenitor cell function (as assessed by LTC-IC assay) were damaged even 1 year after CD34-selected ABMT, suggesting that the persistence of these alterations could have facilitated the favorable outcome of the disease following ABMT. Bone Marrow Transplantation (2000) 25, 1307-1310.

Gastric mucosa as an additional extrahepatic localization of hepatitis C virus: viral detection in gastric low-grade lymphoma associated with autoimmune disease and in chronic gastritis

The hepatitis C virus (HCV) has been linked to B-cell lymphoproliferation and autoimmunity, and has been localized in several tissues. The clinical observation of an HCV-infected patient with Sjögren's syndrome (SS) and Helicobacter pylori (HP) positive gastric low-grade B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL), which did not regress after HP eradication, led us to investigate the possible localization of HVC in the gastric microenvironment. HCV genome and antigens were searched in gastric biopsy specimens from the previously mentioned case, as well as from 9 additional HCV-infected patients (8 with chronic gastritis and 1 with gastric low-grade B-cell NHL). HCV-specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and immunohistochemistry procedures were used. The gastric B-cell NHL from the patient with SS was characterized by molecular analyses of B-cell clonality. HCV RNA was detected in both the gastric low-grade B-cell NHL and in 3 out of 6 gastric samples from the remaining cases. HCV antigens were detected in the residual glandular cells within the gastric B-cell NHL lesions, in glandular cells from 2 of the 3 additional gastric lesions that were HCV positive by PCR, and in 1 additional chronic gastritis sample in which HCV-RNA studies could not be performed. By molecular analyses, of immunoglobulin genes, the B-cell NHL from the patient with SS was confirmed to be a primary gastric lymphoma, subjected to ongoing antigenic stimulation and showing a significant similarity with rheumatoid factor (RF) and anti-HCV- antibody sequences. Our results show that HCV can localize in the gastric mucosa.