Mosquitoes collected in northern Italy were screened for flavivirus RNA. Positive amplicons were sequenced and found most similar to insect flavivirus (ISF), Usutu virus (USUV) and surprisingly also to Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV). The sequence (167 bp), obtained from one pool of Culex pipiens, was found identical to JEV strains from bats in China. Unfortunately additional sequence data or virus isolations were not obtained in this study. Confirmation of potential introduction of JEV to Italy and other European countries is urgently needed.

Vertical transmission of JC virus and BK virus has been investigated by few authors, with conflicting results. We performed a combined serological and genomic study of 19 unselected pregnant women and their newborns. Blood and urine samples were collected during each gestational trimester from the pregnant women. Umbilical cord blood, peripheral blood, urine and nasopharyngeal secretion samples were taken from newborns at delivery and after 1 week and 1 month of life. Polyomavirus DNA was detected by nested PCR. Polyomavirus IgG-, IgM- and IgA-specific antibodies were measured in maternal and newborn serum samples using a virus-like-particle-based ELISA method. BKV and JCV DNA were detected in urine from 4 (21 %) and 5 (26 %) women, respectively. BKV and JCV seroprevalences in the pregnant women were 84 % and 42 %, respectively. Using a rise in the IgG level or the transient appearance of an IgA or IgM response as evidence of infection in the newborn, we detected BKV and JCV infections in four (21 %) and three (16 %) newborns, respectively. Three infants had serological evidence of infection with both BKV and JCV. In two of the four possible BKV-infected newborns, the mothers seroconverted during pregnancy, while another mother was viruric and IgA seropositive. The mother of one of the three possible JCV-infected newborns was viruric and IgA seropositive; another mother was viruric. These results suggest JC virus and BK virus can be transmitted from mother to newborn during pregnancy or soon after birth.

The aim of this study was to determine whether detection of β-HPV gene products, as defined in epidermodysplasia verruciformis skin cancer, could also be observed in lesions from kidney transplant recipients alongside the viral DNA. A total of 111 samples, corresponding to 79 skin lesions abscised from 17 kidney transplant recipients, have been analyzed. The initial PCR analysis demonstrated that β-HPV-DNA was highly present in our tumor series (85%). Using a combination of antibodies raised against the E4 and L1 proteins of the β-genotypes, we were able to visualize productive infection in 4 out of 19 actinic keratoses, and in the pathological borders of 1 out of 14 squamous cell carcinomas and 1 out of 31 basal cell carcinomas. Increased expression of the cellular proliferation marker minichromosome maintenance protein 7 (MCM7), that extended into the upper epithelial layers, was a common feature of all the E4-positive areas, indicating that cells were driven into the cell cycle in areas of productive viral infections. Although the present study does not directly demonstrate a causal role of these viruses, the detection of E4 and L1 positivity in actinic keratosis and the adjacent pathological epithelium of skin cancer, clearly shows that β-HPV are actively replicating in the intraepidermal precursor lesions of kidney transplant recipients and can therefore cooperate with other carcinogenic agents, such as UVB, favoring skin cancer promotion.

As epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is involved in the pathogenesis of malignant pleural mesotheliomas (MPMs), the anti-EGFR drugs may be effective in treating MPM patients. Mutations of the EGFR gene or its downstream effectors may cause constitutive activation leading to cell proliferation, and the inhibition of apoptosis and metastases. Consequently, molecular profiling is essential for select patients with MPM who may respond to anti-EGFR therapies. After manual macrodissection, genomic DNA was extracted from 77 histological samples of MPM: 59 epithelioid, 10 biphasic, and 8 sarcomatoid. Epidermal growth factor receptor gene mutations were sought by means of real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and direct sequencing, KRAS gene mutations by mutant-enriched PCR, and PIK3CA and BRAF gene mutations by direct sequencing. Gene mutations were identified in nine cases (12%): five KRAS, three BRAF, and one PI3KCA mutation; no EGFR gene mutations were detected. There was no difference in disease-specific survival between the patients with or without gene mutations (P=0.552). Mutations in EGFR downstream pathways are not rare in MPM. Although none of those found in this study seemed to be prognostically significant, they may support a more specific selection of patients for future trials.

Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) gene mutational analysis is critical for guiding the treatment of lung adenocarcinoma. In everyday clinical practice, EGFR testing is frequently centralized in referral laboratories that may receive paucicellular cytologic specimens, often fixed in various ways. We conducted a search for EGFR mutations in 108 cytologic samples of lung adenocarcinoma from different hospitals using the TheraScreen EGFR29 kit. These samples included 80 (74.1%) fine-needle aspirations, 13 (12%) pleural/ascitic fluids, 13 (12%) bronchial washings, and 2 bronchial brushings. The samples were fixed in ethanol (n = 79), Duboscq-Brasil (n = 18) or formalin (n = 10); 1 was unfixed. Ninety-two (85.2%) were amplified, 16 (14.8%) were not. Mutations were detected in 22 (23.9%) of 92 amplified samples, 9 containing less than 200 cancer cells, and 4 with less than 50% cancer cells. DNA was amplified in 12 of 18 Duboscq-Brasil–fixed samples. These findings indicate that cytologic specimens are adequate for EGFR testing when a highly sensitive assay is used, even if they are paucicellular or not optimally fixed.