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Editor-in-chief
Maria Stella Graziani

Deputy Director
Martina Zaninotto

Associate Editors
Ferruccio Ceriotti
Davide Giavarina
Bruna Lo Sasso
Giampaolo Merlini
Martina Montagnana
Andrea Mosca
Paola Pezzati
Rossella Tomaiuolo
Matteo Vidali

EIC Assistant
Francesco Busardò

International Advisory Board Khosrow Adeli Canada
Sergio Bernardini Italy
Marcello Ciaccio Italy
Eleftherios Diamandis Canada
Philippe Gillery France
Kjell Grankvist Sweden
Hans Jacobs The Netherlands
Eric Kilpatrick UK
Magdalena Krintus Poland
Giuseppe Lippi Italy
Mario Plebani Italy
Sverre Sandberg Norway
Ana-Maria Simundic Croatia
Tommaso Trenti Italy
Cas Weykamp The Netherlands
Maria Willrich USA
Paul Yip Canada


Publisher
Biomedia srl
Via L. Temolo 4, 20126 Milano

Responsible Editor
Giuseppe Agosta

Editorial Secretary
Chiara Riva
Biomedia srl
Via L. Temolo 4, 20126 Milano
Tel. 0245498282
email: biochimica.clinica@sibioc.it

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ISSN print: 0393 – 0564
ISSN digital: 0392- 7091



BC: Articoli scritti da U. Dianzani

SARS-CoV-2 e la nuova era dei vaccini - Parte I: Introduzione sulle tipologie dei vaccini e sui loro meccanismi di azione
SARS-CoV-2 and the new era of vaccines - Part I: Introduction to the available vaccine platforms and their mechanism of action
<p>The introduction of vaccination programs aiming at inducing an active immune response against pathogens dates back to the first experimental approaches at the end of the 18th century and, since then, has represented a turning point in public health measures to contrast infections. The scientific improvements of the last few years in the field of molecular biology, immunology and genetic engineering have allowed to design new vaccines able to solve, at least in part, the hurdles of conventional vaccine platforms. From the first vaccines based on the inoculation of the whole microorganism, the scientific research has gone in the direction of platforms able to carry only a few or even a single antigenic component of the pathogen, ranging from subunit vaccines to those based on mRNA or DNA. This achievement has made vaccines easier and quicker to develop and, above all, much safer, and it has involved scientific fields that extend far beyond the attempt to fight infectious diseases, such as cancer research. The purpose of this review is to present an overview of the currently available vaccine platforms, their mechanism of action, and the advantages and pitfalls behind each approach.</p>
Biochimica Clinica ; 46(1) 009-015
Rassegne - Reviews
 
SARS-CoV-2 e la nuova era dei vaccini – Parte II: I vaccini oggi in uso per contrastare la pandemia da COVID-19 e il ruolo del laboratorio nella campagna vaccinale
SARS-CoV-2 and the new era of vaccines – Part II Currently available vaccines to fight the COVID-19 pandemic and the laboratory role in the vaccination campaign
<p>The COVID-19 pandemic has prompted an unprecedented race to find the means to contrast the SARS-CoV-2 infection, resulting in a huge common effort to develop an efficacious vaccine as soon as possible and an exceptional acceleration of the review process to ensure its safety and efficacy. Many technological platforms are currently under investigation or have already been approved, including those based on the inactivated virus, mRNA- or DNA-based vaccines expressing viral antigens, recombinant SARS-CoV-2 proteins and vector-based vaccines exploiting chimeric adenoviruses. The emergence of new viral variants has represented ad additional challenge and has induced the entire scientific community to potentiate the monitoring process of the ongoing vaccination campaigns. In this scenario, laboratory medicine certainly plays a pivotal role not only in the diagnosis of the infection but also in monitoring the immune response to vaccines and in the detection and prevention of clinically significant adverse events, ultimately contributing to the determination of the biological and clinical efficacy of the available vaccines. This review offers an overview of the most recent and updated data on anti-SARS-CoV-2 vaccines and the technological principles behind them as well as on the resources that laboratory medicine can offer to support the vaccination campaigns. All these aspects represent a rapid step forward in the clinical field which transcends the COVID-19 outbreak and that will certainly pave the way for the future scientific research.</p>
Biochimica Clinica ; 46(1) 016-033
Rassegne - Reviews
 
Assenza di bande monoclonali liquorali e positività del rispettivo indice siero-liquor: una discrepanza da indagare attenatamente
Absence of liquoral monoclonal bands and positivity of the respective serum-liquor index: an unespected findings to be carefully investigated
<p>A 13 year-old child whit headache, nausea and repeated episodes of vomiting was hospitalized at the Major Hospital of Charity of Novara. A lumbar puncture and biochemical investigations on cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) including oligoclonal bands (OCB) screen were performed. Kappa and Lambda free light chains (kFLC and &lambda;FLC) and IgG concentrations were measured in serum and CSF by nephelometry. OCB were evaluated by isoelectric focusing (IEF) followed by immunofixation (IMF). A negative IgG index, no OCB IgG (type I pattern), positive kFLC index with increased levels of kFLC (0.14 mg/dL) and &lambda;FLC (0.14 mg/dl in CSF) were found. The FLC data suggested an intrathecal synthesis. A CSF IMF was then performed using anti-IgM peroxidase together with the IgM index using Reiber&rsquo;s hyperbolyc graphic. The presence of a monoclonal IgM band and 76% of intrathecal IgM synthesis was demonstrated. A subsequent molecular biology investigation was performed on CSF and revealed a clear positivity for enterovirus.</p>
Biochimica Clinica ; 44(4) e34-e36
Casi Clinici - Case Report