It is well known that lithium chloride (LiCl) is able to trigger human monocytes to release tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF alpha). In this study we have evaluated the in vitro effect of LiCl on TNF alpha and interleukin-6 (IL-6) release by monocytes from patients affected by non-metastatic (BCa/M0) and metastatic breast cancer (BCa/M1), preincubated with autologous serum (sPt). Our data demonstrate that monocytes from cancer patients (BCa) treated with LiCl released lower amounts of TNF alpha compared to those from healthy donors (HD). Preincubation in autologous serum (sPt) impaired TNF alpha production by monocytes from BCa with LiCl. On the contrary, our data indicate that IL-6 production by monocytes treated was not impaired. Moreover, the results obtained from the same cells, preincubated in sPt and treated with LiCl, indicate that serum factors may synergize with LiCl treatment in releasing IL-6.

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In this study the preliminary results obtained by investigating factor VII:antigen and activity in 38 subjects with arterial disease of the extremities are reported. The antigen determination (VIl:Ag) was performed by using an inhibitor neutralization assay; factor VII activity (VIl:C) was determined by one-stage assay with human factor VII artificially depleted plasma. All the patients showed increased levels of VIl:C and VIl·Ag compared to the reference population (p < 0.001). There is a significant correlation between VIl:C and VIl:Ag (r = 0.47), but the ratio VIl:C/VIl:Ag is slightly increased. Our results confirm that elevated levels of factor VII are present in patients with tendency to thrombosis.

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