Thesis (M.S.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2008. / The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. "August 2008" Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis--University of Oklahoma. / Bibliography: leaves 90-93.

CD4+ T cells play a central role in immunity. During virus infections, CD4+ T cells provide the necessary help for B cells to secrete anti-viral antibody and may act as effector cells themselves through the secretion of anti-viral cytokines such as IFN-γ and TNF-α. Recent studies in the lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) system have shown that CD4+ T cells are required to maintain the clearance of persistent viral infections as well as maintain virus-specific memory CD8+ cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL). Despite these important functions, surprisingly little information exists concerning the longevity, magnitude, and stability of the CD4+ T cell response following a virus infection. This thesis takes advantage of the well-studied LCMV system to address the above issues as well as to examine the role CD4+ T cells play during heterologous virus infections and to determine the fate of CD4+T cells following a high-dose LCMV infection. The cell surface phenotype of the CD4+ T cells was first examined in C57BL/6 mice acutely infected with LCMV. FACS analysis revealed the modulation of several activation markers on CD4+ T cells during an acute infection with LCMV, consistent with an activated cell phenotype. In addition, 25% of the CD4+ T cells were blast-sized by day 7 post-infection (p.i.) even though the total number of CD4+ T cells did not increase in the spleen during the acute infection. Additional studies were performed using CZ-1, a novel monoclonal antibody (mAb) previously generated in our laboratory that defines a sialic acid-dependent CD45RB-associated epitope. Examination of the expression of the CZ-1 antigen on CD4+ T cells following LCMV infection revealed that the blast-sized CD4+ T cells at day 6 p.i. were CZ-1 +. Further cell surface phenotyping showed that those blast cells activated at day 6 p.i. were CD45RB1oCD44hiCD62L-. This contrasts with the CZ-1-CD45RBhiCD441oCD62L+ resting cell population prior to infection. To determine if memory CD4+ T cells continued to express the CZ-1 epitope long after resolution of the LCMV infection, CD4+CZ-1+ and CD4+CZ-1- populations were purified by cell sorting and placed into an in vitro proliferation assay with LCMV-infected antigen-presenting cells (APC). It was found that the CD4+CZ-1+ population contained virtually all of the virus-specific memory. Thus, these studies indicate that the CZ-1 epitope defines a novel activation and memory marker for murine CD4+T cells. Examination of virus-specific cytokine production using ELISPOT assays showed a significant increase in the number of IFN-γ-secreting cells in the spleen during an acute LCMV-infection. CD8+ T cells made up the majority of the IFN-γ-producing cells, but analysis of the cell culture supernatants by ELISA revealed that the CD4+T cells produced more IFN-γ on a per cell basis. No significant increase in IL-4 levels was detected under these experimental conditions. These data suggest that LCMV infection induces primarily a virus-specific Th1 response that is characterized by increased IFN-γ production. No quantitative information was known about the frequency and longevity of the LCMV-specific CD4+ T cell response. Using limiting dilution assays (LDA), I examined the CD4+ T cell precursor (Thp) frequency in C57BL/6 mice infected with LCMV. The virus-specific CD4+ Thp frequency increased from <1/100,000 in uninfected mice to a peak of approximately 1/600 in FACS-purified splenic CD4+ T cell populations by 10 days p.i. with LCMV. After the peak of the response, the CD4+ Thp frequency decreased only about 2-fold per CD4+ T cell to approximately 1/1200 and remained stable into long-term memory. The CD4+ Thp frequency to each of the two known LCMV major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II-restricted peptides dropped only 2- to 7-fold from the peak of the acute LCMV response into long-term memory. Thus, the CD4+T cell frequencies remain elevated after the acute infection subsides and remain extremely stable throughout long-term immunity. The above results show that LDA can account for +T cells as being virus-specific following LCMV infection. However, using newer, more sensitive assays based on intracellular cytokine production, >20% of the CD4+ T cells secreted IFN-γ after stimulation with phorbol myristic acid and ionomycin during the peak of the acute CD4+ T cell response. In addition, >10% of the CD4+ T cells secreted IFN-γ after stimulation with the LCMV MHC class II-restricted CD4 peptides. Thus, these new sensitive assays reveal a heretofore unappreciated, yet profound antigen-specific CD4+T cell response during LCMV infection. Infection of mice with a series of unrelated viruses, termed heterologous viruses, causes the reduction of memory CD8+ T cells specific to earlier infections. In order to examine the fate of CD4+ T cells under these conditions, I examined cytokine production and followed the CD4+ Thp frequency following heterologous virus infections. Challenge of LCMV-immune mice with vaccinia virus (VV) resulted in a significant increase in both the amount of IFN-γ protein and the frequency of IFN-γ-producing cells in the peritoneal cavity 3 days after infection as compared to control non-immune mice acutely infected with VV or to LCMV-immune mice alone. Intracellular IFN-γ staining revealed that both CD4+ and CD8+ T cells contributed to this increased IFN-γ production. LDA analysis of the LCMV-specific CD4+ Thp frequency following multiple heterologous virus infections or protein antigen immunizations, revealed that the CD4+ Thp frequency remains stable even under conditions that reduce the LCMV-specific CD8+ CTLp frequency. Additional studies using high-dose LCMV Clone 13 demonstrated that, like CD8+ T cells, there is a decline in detectable LCMV-specific CD4+Thp during overwhelming virus infections. The data presented in this thesis help provide a better understanding of the CD4+ T cell response during virus infections. I make several novel observations, including the demonstration that mAb CZ-1 defines a novel activation and memory marker for CD4+ T cells, that the LCMV-specific memory CD4+ Thp frequency remains extremely stable into long-term immunity, and that heterologous virus infections do not disturb the stable memory CD4+ T cell pool following a virus infection. I also provide data using new sensitive assays based on intracellular cytokine production that there is a much more profound antigen-specific CD4+ T cell response during viral infections than has previously been realized. Finally, I provide evidence that the virus-specific CD4+ T cells become unresponsive following a high-dose LCMV Clone 13 infection. Thus, the data presented in this thesis highlight some important similarities and differences between the CD4+ and CD8+ T cell responses during acute viral infections.

Resumo: Leucemia Linfóide Crônica (LLC) é uma neoplasia maligna de linfócitos B maduros com aspecto monomórfico, que se acumulam em tecidos linfóides secundários, medula óssea e sangue periférico. O diagnóstico é realizado com base em achados clínico-morfológicos e imunofenotípicos. Os pacientes com LLC são estratificados conforme o estadiamento clínico para definição de terapêutica; atualmente a descoberta de marcadores prognósticos, como ZAP-70, trouxe novas perspectivas ao tratamento, principalmente no estádio precoce. Os objetivos deste estudo foram: avaliar a eficácia da pesquisa da ZAP-70 em biópsia de medula óssea (BMO) e em inclusão do coágulo, utilizando-se a técnica de imuno-histoquímica; avaliar possíveis correlações deste marcador na BMO com evolução clínica e risco de progressão; correlacionar a imuno-expressão da ZAP- 70 com o arcabouço reticulinico das BMO; avaliar se este arcabouço possui correlação com o prognostico da doença e, por fim, traçar um perfil epidemiológico dos pacientes com LLC atendidos no Hospital das Clinicas da Faculdade de Medicina de Botucatu (FMB). Foram selecionados 153 pacientes com LLC, atendidos no ambulatório do Serviço de Hematologia da FMB-UNESP, de 1980 a 2008, e 9 pacientes assistidos no Serviço de Onco-Hematologia do Hospital Amaral Carvalho-Jaú, no período de 2000 a 2008, com o mesmo diagnóstico, perfazendo 162 casos. Destes, 79 possuíam prontuários que foram revisados, bem como dados morfológicos da BMO e AMO. Foi realizada a pesquisa da ZAP- 70 pela técnica de imuno-histoquímica nas amostras parafinadas de BMO e inclusão do coágulo. Observou-se que 55,7% dos pacientes eram do sexo masculino; 86,1% de etnia branca; a mediana de idade foi 65 anos; relação homem:mulher de 1,2:1. 40,5% dos pacientes tiveram diagnóstico por achado incidental e 73,4%, já com adenopatia secundária à admissão. 17,2% ...(Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is a malignant neoplasm consisting of mature monomorphic B lymphocytes that accumulate in secondary lymphoid tissues, bone marrow and peripheral blood. Diagnosis is based on clinical, morphological and immunophenotypic findings. CLL patients are categorized according to clinical aspects for treatment management and currently, certain tools, such as prognostic marker ZAP- 70, have determined new treatment perspectives, especially for patients in early stages. The study aimed to evaluate the efficiency of ZAP-70 investigation in bone marrow biopsies (BMBs) and inclusion coagulate using immunohistochemistry; identify possible correlations of this marker in clinical evolution and risk of progression; correlate the immunoexpression of ZAP-70 with BMB reticulin network; evaluate whether this network correlates with disease prognosis and; outline an epidemiological profile of patients with CLL attended in the Clinics Hospital of Botucatu Faculty of Medicine (FMB). The sample consisted of 153 CLL patients attended at hematology outpatient clinic of the FMB-UNESP, from 1980 to 2008, and 9 CLL patients attended at the oncohematology service of the Amaral Carvalho Hospital, Jaú, from 2000 to 2008, totaling 162 cases. In 79 cases, medical records including BMB and bone marrow aspirate (BMA) morphological data were reviewed. Immunohistochemistry for ZAP-70 was conducted on paraffinated samples of BMB and inclusion coagulate. Observation revealed that: 55.7% were male, 86.1% white, with a median age of 65 years-old; 40.5% of cases were diagnosed by incidental findings in routine blood smears; 73.4% were diagnosed with peripheral adenomegaly on admission. 17.2% were diagnosed in the early stages and 15% of cases showed prolonged remission. BMB and BMA morphology revealed that 94.8% of patients presented increased cellularity... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Orientador: Lígia Niéro-Melo / Coorientador: Maria Aparecida Custódio Domingues / Banca: Lucilene Silva Ruiz e Resende / Banca: Lisandro Ferreria Lopes / Mestre

IntroduÃÃo: A Leucemia LinfocÃtica CrÃnica (LLC) à uma neoplasia caracterizada pela proliferaÃÃo clonal de linfÃcitos de aspecto maduro. Apresenta curso clÃnico e prognÃstico heterogÃneo. Rai e Binet criaram sistemas de prognÃsticos clÃnicos que classificam a LLC em baixo, intermediÃrio e alto risco. Surgiram os marcadores biolÃgicos de prognÃstico que aumentaram o poder preditivo na LLC. Objetivo:Caracterizar os marcadores clÃnicos e biolÃgicos de pognÃstico dos pacientes com LLC do ambulatÃrio do Hospital UniversitÃrio Walter CantÃdio (HUWC)/Centro de Hematologia e Hemoterapia do CearÃ/HEMOCE. Metodologia: Trata-se de um estudo retrospectivo, transversal e observacional com 43 pacientes portadores de LLC, recrutados de forma randomisada, no perÃodo de agosto de 2007 a Junho de 2009. Foram coletados dos pacientes dados nos prontuÃrios, entrevista e trÃs amostras com 5,0 ml de sangue venoso perifÃrico em Ãcido etilenodiaminotetraacÃtico (EDTA) para o hemograma, por metodologia automatizada no equipamento CellDynÂ, modelo 3.500; dosagem da Ã2-microglobulina (Ã2-M) sÃrica pelo teste quantitativo automatizado no aparelho MINI- VIDAS (BioMÃrieuxÂ) e imunofenotipagem em citÃmetro de fluxo Beckman Coulter EPICS XL-MCL (Coulter). Em seguida, foi coletado pela punÃÃo da medula Ãssea o aspirado para o mielograma e 4 a 5 ml, em 2 ml de heparina, para a avaliaÃÃo citogenÃtica por bandaâG. A anÃlise dos dados foi realizada utilizando os programas estatÃsticos Biostat 4.0 e GraphPad Prism (versÃo 5.0), o teste Coeficiente de Phi e o teste Coeficiente de Contingencia C. Os testes de Fisher e Qui-quadrado com Ãndice de significÃncia &#945; = 5%. Kaplan-Meier para funÃÃo de sobrevivÃncia e o teste log rank. Os resultados foram gerados usando o software livre R, versÃo 2.7. Resultados: Os pacientes (74,42%) tinham idade acima de 60 anos; 58,14% homens e 41,86% mulheres; a maioria (32,56%) trabalhava na agricultura; pardos (74,42%), procedentes da capital (53,49%); histÃria familiar de LLC desconhecida (46,51%); sintomÃticos ao diagnÃstico (53,49%); com comorbidades (hipertenÃÃo arterial e Diabetes Melitus) (51,16%); estÃgio 0 (34,89%), I e II (51,16%), III e IV (13,95%) de Rai; A (44,19%), B (44,19%) e C (11,62%) de Binet ; tempo de duplicaÃÃo linfocitÃra (TDL) ausente (81,40%); biÃpsia da medula Ãssea com padrÃo nÃo difuso (57,14%); a desidrogenase lÃctica (LDH) normal (83,72%), avaliados ao diagnÃstico. Os exames obtidos durante a evoluÃÃo dos pacientes revelaram um perfil imunofenotÃpico clÃssico de LLC- B, com expressÃo de CD5+, CD19+, CD23+ e imunoglobulina de superfÃcie de baixa expressÃo; a maioria com Zap-70 negativa (77,50%); expressÃo de CD38 negativa (73,81%); Ã2-M aumentada (55,81%); cariÃtipo normal (44,4%) e alteraÃÃes genÃticas em 11, 11% pela citogenÃtica clÃssica. As curvas de sobrevidas dos pacientes com Zap-70 e CD38 negativos apresentaram maior tempo de sobrevida livre de tratamento. ConclusÃo:Os pacientes avaliados eram idosos, com tendÃndia ao diagnostico tardio decorrente do contexto socioeconÃmico; apresentaram LLC indolente, pelos critÃrios de estadiamentos clÃssicos (Rai, Binet, TDL, padrÃo da histologia da medula Ãssea, LDH) e biolÃgicos (as expressÃes da Zap-70 e CD38), exceÃÃo à Ã2-M, porÃm, sem significÃncia. Aqueles com Zap-70 e CD38 negativos apresentaram maior sobrevida livre de tratamento. Pacientes do sexo masculino apresentaram evoluÃÃo e prognÃstico semelhantes ao feminino. O tratamento prevalente foi clorambucil associado à prednisona e nÃo levou os pacientes à remissÃo clÃnica ou hematolÃgica. Os marcadores de prognÃsticos tenderam à correlaÃÃo na identificaÃÃo dos pacientes dentro dos subgrupos de riscos. / Introduction: Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is a neoplasm characterized by clonal proliferation of lymphocytes of mature appearance. Clinically and prognostic heterogeneous. Rai and Binet established clinical prognostic systems that classify LLC in low, intermediate and high risk. Soon, the biological markers of prognosis that increased the predictive power of the LLC. Objective: To characterize the clinical and biological markers of pognÃstico of patients with CLL the outpatient department of a university hospital (HUWC) / Center for Hematology and Hemotherapy Cearà / HEMOCE). Methodology: This is a retrospective, cross-sectional and observational 43 patients LLC, recruited so randomisation, from August 2007 to June 2009. We collected patient data from medical records, interview and three samples with 5.0 ml of peripheral venous blood in ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) for blood, for automated methodology CellDyn  equipment, model 3500, measurement of Ã2-microglobulin (Ã2 - M) serum by automated quantitative test on the device MINI-VIDAS (BioMÃrieux Â) and immunophenotyping on flow cytometry Beckman Coulter  EPICS XL-MCL (Coulter). Then collect the puncture of bone marrow aspirate and bone marrow examination for 4 to 5 ml in 2 ml of heparin for cytogenetic evaluation by Banda - G. Data analysis was performed using the statistical programs Biostat 4.0 and GraphPad Prism (version 5.00), the Phi coefficient test and the test coefficient Contingency C. The Fisher and chi-square test with significance level &#945; = 5%. Kaplan-Meier survival function and log rank test. The results were generated using the free software R, version 2.7. Results: The patients (74.42%) were aged over 60 years, 58.14% 41.86% men and women, the majority (32.56%) worked in agriculture; brown (74.42%), coming the capital (53.49%), family history of unknown LLC (46.51%), symptomatic at diagnosis (53.49%), with comorbidity (arterial hypertension and Diabetes Mellitus) (51.16%), stage 0 ( 34.89%), I and II (51.16%), III and IV (13.95%) Rai, A (44.19%), B (44.19%) and C (11.62%) of Binet, lymphocyte doubling time (SRT) absent (81.40%), bone marrow biopsy with non-diffuse pattern (57.14%), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) normal (83.72%), valued at diagnosis. The tests obtained during the course of the patients showed an immunophenotypic profile of classic B-CLL with expression of CD5 +, CD19 +, CD23 + surface immunoglobulin and low-expression, most with Zap-70 negative (77.50%); expression CD38 negative (73.81%), beta-2 microglobulin increased (55.81%), normal karyotype (44.4%) and genetic alterations in 11, 11% by classical cytogenetics. Survival curves of patients with Zap-70 negative and CD38 showed longer survival free of treatment. Conclusion: The patients studied were elderly, to encourage improve with late diagnosis due to the socioeconomic context, LLC indolent presented by classical staging criteria (Rai, Binet, TDL, standard bone marrow histology, LDH) and biological (the expression of Zap -70 and CD38), except for beta-2 microglobulin, but without statistical significance. Those with Zap-70 and CD38 negative had higher survival free of treatment. Male patients showed progress and prognosis similar to female. The prevalent treatment was associated with chlorambucil prednisone and did not lead patients to clinical remission or hematologic. The prognostic markers of the correlation tended to identify patients within the subgroups of risk.

CoordenaÃÃo de AperfeiÃoamento de Pessoal de NÃvel Superior / A Leucemia LinfocÃtica Aguda (LLA) e o Linfoma nÃo-Hodgkin (LNH) estÃo entre os mais frequentes tipos de neoplasias em crianÃas. A prevenÃÃo e controle do cÃncer devem ser priorizados, tendo em vista sua alta prevalÃncia e crescente relevÃncia como causa de morte em muitos paÃses, alÃm do grande volume de recursos financeiros consumidos. O nordeste brasileiro à pobre em estudos epidemiolÃgicos sobre o cÃncer infantil. O objetivo deste estudo foi traÃar o perfil dos pacientes portadores de LLA e LNH admitidos no perÃodo de 2001 a 2005 no Hospital Infantil Albert Sabin. Estudo observacional, descritivo e retrospectivo. 325 prontuÃrios (254 casos de LLA e 71 de LNH) de pacientes entre 0 e 18 anos e 11 meses foram revisados. Os dados foram inseridos em bancos de dados dos programas SPSS 14.0, Epi Info 3.3.2 e Microsoft Excel 2007. O ponto de corte para desnutriÃÃo foi o escore Z igual a -2 desvios-padrÃo. Na anÃlise estatÃstica foram utilizados o teste exato de Fisher, Qui-quadrado, Student (t), Mann-Whitney, Shapiro-Wilk, Levene, Log-rank, modelo de regressÃo de Cox e mÃtodo de Kaplan Meier para anÃlise de sobrevida. O nÃvel de significÃncia foi p<0,05. A populaÃÃo deste estudo constituiu-se predominantemente por pacientes do sexo masculino (63,4%), faixa etÃria de 02 a 06 anos (49,8%), cor nÃo-branca (62,5%); provenientes da capital e regiÃo metropolitana (56,9%) e com prognÃstico de alto risco (59,1%). 38,3% evoluÃram a Ãbito. As principais manifestaÃÃes clÃnicas iniciais foram febre, anemia, emagrecimento e cansaÃo nos casos de LLA; e febre, massa tumoral palpÃvel, anemia e dor abdominal nos casos de LNH. O tempo mÃdio de duraÃÃo das queixas foi de 3,9 meses. CrianÃas de 0-1 e de 13-18 anos apresentaram pior prognÃstico. A cor da pele, o prognÃstico, o protocolo de tratamento e os sintomas/sinais iniciais febre, cansaÃo e vÃmito mostraram associaÃÃo significativa em relaÃÃo aos Ãbitos. Os protocolos terapÃuticos mais utilizados foram adaptados do LLA 93 e LNH 95. 31% dos pacientes em uso do LLA 93 e 49,2% em uso do LNH 95 evoluÃram a Ãbito. Maior percentual de Ãbito ocorreu no grupo de alto risco (56,94%) e durante a fase de induÃÃo (36,11%) do protocolo LLA 93. Entre os pacientes de baixo risco, 39,28% faleceram durante a fase de manutenÃÃo e 17,85% apÃs o fim do protocolo. 48,78% dos pacientes de alto risco faleceram durante a fase de induÃÃo. Entre os 25 casos que utilizavam o protocolo LNH 95 e faleceram, 4% correspondiam a Linfoma de alto risco oriundos de cÃlulas T e 96% de cÃlulas B. 53,31% (n=15) dos pacientes com Linfoma de cÃlulas B e risco intermediÃrio para recaÃda faleceram durante o Ciclo A do tratamento. Nove pacientes apresentavam alto risco para recaÃda e 33,34% faleceram na fase de CitorreduÃÃo. O Ãndice de desnutriÃÃo para os pacientes com LLA foi de 8,3%, 6,0% e 5,6% e para LNH foi 12,3%, 14,1% e 15,9% em relaÃÃo a peso/estatura, peso/idade e estatura/idade, respectivamente. Pacientes com LLA apresentaram dÃficit maior no Ãndice peso/estatura, indicativo de um processo de desnutriÃÃo aguda. Maior dÃficit no Ãndice estatura/idade entre os pacientes com LNH indica um processo de desnutriÃÃo crÃnica. Os resultados acerca da frequÃncia dessas patologias, faixa etÃria e sexo foram equivalentes aos encontrados na maioria dos estudos. O prognÃstico inicial e o protocolo terapÃutico indicam uma possÃvel influÃncia sobre o desfecho do tratamento. Estudos adicionais sÃo necessÃrios para avaliar a influÃncia da quimioterapia, cor da pele, estado nutricional e outros fatores sobre o tempo de sobrevida do paciente com cÃncer. Os profissionais de saÃde e a populaÃÃo leiga precisam conhecer melhor e estar atentos Ãs manifestaÃÃes clÃnicas iniciais das neoplasias a fim de facilitar o diagnÃstico precoce. / The Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia (ALL) and the Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma (NHL) are among the most frequent types of cancer in children. The prevention and control of the cancer must be prioritized, in view of its high prevalence and increasing relevance as cause of death in many countries, beyond the great sum of consumed financial resources. The Brazilian northeast is poor in epidemiological studies about cancer in the children. The objective of this paper was to set the profile of the patients with LLA and LNH admitted in the Hospital Infantil Albert Sabin between 2001 and 2005. Observational descriptive and retrospective study. 325 medical registers (254 cases of LLA and 71 of LNH) of patients among 0 and 18 years and 11 months had been revised. The data had been inserted in data bases of the programs SPSS 14.0, Epi 3.3.2 Info and Microsoft Excel 2007. A Z-score cut-off point of <-2 SD was used to classify the malnutrition. The Fisherâs Exact Test, Qui-square, Student (t), Mann-Whitney, Shapiro-Wilk, Levene, Log-rank, Cox regression and Kaplan Meier Survival Probability Estimates were used in the statistical analyses. The level of significance was p<0,05. The population of this study was predominantly male (63.4%), 02 to 06 years age-group (49.8%), non-white (62.5%), from the capital and metropolitan region (56.9%) and with prognostic of high risk (59.1%). 38.3% died. The main clinical manifestations had been fever, anaemia, loss of weight and fatigue in the LLA cases; and fever, anaemia, palpable tumor mass and abdominal pain in the LNH cases. The mean duration time of the complaints was 3.9 months. Children with 0 to 1 and 13 to 18 years had presented worse prognosis. The color of the skin, the prognosis, the treatment protocol and the initial clinical manifestations (fever, fatigue and vomit) had shown significant association in relation to the deaths. The therapeutical protocols more used were adapted of the LLA 93 and LNH 95. 31% of the patients in use of LLA 93 and 49.2% in use of LNH 95 died. The largest percent of deaths were in the group of high risk (56.94%) and in the induction phase (36.11%) of protocol LLA 93. Between the patients of low risk, 39.28% died during the maintenance phase and 17.85% after the end of the protocol. 48.78% of the patients of high risk died during the induction phase. Among the 25 cases that used protocol LNH 95 and died, 4% corresponded to lymphoma of high risk deriving of the cells T and 96% of the cells B. 53.31% (n=15) of the patients with lymphoma of the cells B and intermediate risk to fallen died during the Cycle A of the treatment. Nine patients presented high risk for fallen and 33.34% died in the cytoreduction phase. The malnutrition indices to the LLA patients were of 8.3%, 6.0% and 5.6% and to LNH were 12.3%, 14.1% and 15.9% in relation the weight/height, weight/age and height/age, respectively. Patients with LLA had presented larger deficit in the index weight/height, indicative of a process of acute malnutrition. Larger deficit in the height/age index between the patients with LNH indicates a process of chronic malnutrition. The results about the frequency of these disease, age-group and gender were equivalents to those encountered in the majority of studies. The initial prognosis and the therapeutical protocol indicate an influence on the outcome of the treatment. Other studies are necessary to evaluate the influence of the chemotherapy, color of the skin, nutritional status and other factors on the survival time of the patient with cancer. The professionals of health and the laypeople need to know better and to be intent to the initial clinical manifestations of the neoplasm disease in order to facilitate the precocious diagnosis.

Magister Scientiae (Nutrition Management) - MSc(NM) / Acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) is the most common type of childhood cancer accounting for approximately 25% of cancers diagnosed in children less than 20 years of age. It originates in the bone marrow and prevents the normal manufacture of red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets. A poor nutritional status is frequently observed in children with ALL at the time of diagnosis and during treatment which may result in protein energy malnutrition if nutrition intervention is delayed. This retrospective study aims to assess the nutritional status of children newly diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) using 20 case studies between 1 January 2013 and 31 December 2014 from Sheikh Khalifa Medical City (Abu Dhabi, UAE), in order to develop an appropriate nutritional support protocol for pediatric ALL patients treated at this institution. Study Design: A retrospective descriptive case study design was used. The study population consisted of 20 electronic medical records of patients aged between 1-14 years who were newly diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) and admitted to Sheikh Khalifa Medical City for treatment during the period 1 January 2012 and 31 Dec 2014. Data Collection: Identification of suitable participants began through a review of each potential study participant`s electronic medical record. Data was collected and recorded on a data collection form (Appendix III) from the electronic medical record for each suitable participant for the following at admission and during the full duration of all phases of cancer treatment namely induction, consolidation, interim maintenance, delayed intensification and maintenance. The data collected comprised of the following: age, gender, date of diagnosis, symptoms on diagnosis, the cancer diagnosis (type and subtype), anthropometric measurements (weight, length/ height, head circumference), biochemical values (visceral proteins, blood glucose levels, hemoglobin, hematocrit, lymphocyte count), clinical assessment (stomatitis, anemia, mucositis), diet history (home feeding regimes; consumption of daily requirements; food preferences – types, textures; food allergies, food intolerances; food aversions; use of oral nutritional supplements; treatment-related side-effects; systemic related side-effects (nausea; vomiting; diarrhea; anorexia; appetite changes; taste changes; physical activity level; depression), dietary requirements (age and gender related nutritional requirements for energy, protein, fat and fluids) and indications for nutritional support (oral feeding; enteral feeding; parenteral feeding). Analysis of Results: The weights and length/ heights of participants recorded in the electronic medical records were converted to z-scores on the World Health Organization growth charts. The diet prescription of nutritional intervention was interpreted in comparison to the biochemical indices, anthropometric status and dietary intake of each participant. All the data involving changes in anthropometrics, biochemistry, diet history and nutritional interventions from each case study (from diagnosis and through all stages of treatment) was screened and compared with reference values in the context of the age and sex of the child. Evidence based nutritional guidelines were used to document the outcomes of the medical nutrition treatment provided in order to develop a nutrition support protocol for children with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia at Sheikh Khalifa Medical City. Results: The results showed that weight loss expressed as a percentage of body weight provided a more accurate estimate of the true significance of weight loss in subjects undergoing cancer treatment (chemotherapy) for ALL. A weight loss of greater than 5% of body weight over a period of one month is considered a sign of nutritional deprivation even if the subject is not classified as undernourished by anthropometric parameters. Subjects experienced the highest weight loss during the consolidation phase and interim maintenance phases of treatment. Conclusion: It can therefore be concluded that pediatric subjects on cancer treatment for ALL at SKMC and receiving nutritional support underwent changes in nutritional status as manifest by a reduction in more than 5% of their body weight during three phases of treatment namely induction, consolidation and interim maintenance. An appropriate nutrition support protocol was developed based on the results and experience obtained from this study for pediatric ALL patients treated at SKMC.

The estrogen receptor alpha (ERa) and estrogen receptor beta (ER~) have been demonstrated to be important for immune system regulation and studies have suggested an antiproliferative effect of ER~ in lymphoid malignancies. We have studied the expression of ERa and ER~ in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Expression of ERa was low, while ER~ was highly expressed in CLL cells. In order to investigate the possible inhibitory effect of ligand-activated ER~ , we treated CLL cells and Mecl cell lines with the selective ER~ agonist diarypropionitrile (DPN) in culture. Treating Mecl cell lines with DPN showed an antiproliferative effect of ER~ agonist by significantly inhibit the growth of Mec 1 cell lines. This suggests that ER~ agonist may be useful in the treatment of CLL.

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) cells are considered to be derived from antigen-exposed B cells. To further explore the antigen-driven selection behind the leukemogenesis of CLL, we performed immunoglobulin (Ig) specificity screening of 7 CLL cell lines and 23 primary CLL clones from patient peripheral blood. We also included a recombinant monovalent monoclonal antibody (mAb) belonging to a subset of CLL cases with identical or semiidentical heavy chain complementarity determining region 3 (HCDR3) of the IGHV3-21 gene rearrangement. We found CLL mAb specificities against vimentin, filamin B, cofilin-1, proline-rich acidic protein 1, cardiolipin, oxidized low density lipoprotein and Streptococcus pneumoniae polysaccarides. These molecules are functionally associated with microbial infection and/or apoptotic cell removal. An antigen-driven selection would therefore imply that CLL B cell precursors are involved in the elimination and scavenging of pathogens and apoptotic cells, which could trigger the development of the disease. The limited in vitro survival of CLL cells makes Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) immortalization of CLL cells a useful experimental model for studies on antibody-specificity screening. Considering the intricate procedure of EBV transformation of CLL cells and the many false cell lines used worldwide, we also wanted to characterize and evaluate the authentic origin of several previously established CLL cell lines and their normal lymphoblastoid counterparts. Three of the CLL cell lines tested were truly authentic (I83-E95, CLL-HG3 and CII), two had features of a biclonal Ig expression (232B4 and WaC3CD5+), one was only tentatively verified (PGA-1), whereas one cell line could not be verified (EHEB) due to lack of original patient cells for comparison. Two of the presumed normal lymphoblastoid cell lines tested were shown to be a neoplastic CLL clone. This study emphasizes the importance of proper cell line authentication and we will continue to verify additional cell lines not yet proven authentic. In conclusion, we provide evidence for natural Ab production by CLL cells and suggest that these cells might be derived from B cell precursors involved in the innate immunity and, thus, providing a first-line-defence against pathogens and in elimination of apoptotic cells.

To supplement and modify the diagnosis and clinical research of B-cell Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (B-CLL), a new method based on cell imaging and image processing was developed and applied to the B-CLL patient samples. The fluorophore-labelled leukemia cells were clearly visualized, reflecting the positive/negative expression of the corresponding surface markers and their distribution. Computer algorithms were devised and used to analyze a large number of images. The fluorescence intensity of the labelled antibodies on a given cell directly reflects the expression of the corresponding surface markers. The morphology and size of leukemia cells were not identical even in the same patient’s sample and the size variation does not correlate with the number of surface markers. The amount of each surface marker was approximately fixed for each patient, but there were some relationships, for instance, the number of CD19 and CD38 markers were correlated to each other. The heterogeneous expression of surface markers confirmed an assumption that surface markers have their preferred membrane positions. One of the most important results is that the cell imaging and our image processing method has provided an alternative and reliable way to diagnose B-CLL and new insights in the prognosis of subtype of B-CLL.