Clodoveo Ferri (born 22 March 1947) is an Italian researcher of clinical

rheumatology Rheumatology (Greek ''ῥεῦμα'', ''rheûma'', flowing current) is a branch of medicine devoted to the diagnosis and management of disorders whose common feature is inflammation in the bones, muscles, joints, and internal organs. Rheumatolog ...

immunology Immunology is a branch of medicineImmunology for Medical Students, Roderick Nairn, Matthew Helbert, Mosby, 2007 and biology that covers the medical study of immune systems in humans, animals, plants and sapient species. In such we can see there ...

and internal medicine. Since January 2003, Clodoveo Ferri has been a professor of rheumatology, Chief of the Chair of Rheumatology and director of the Postgraduate School of Rheumatology at the

University of Modena and Reggio Emilia The University of Modena and Reggio Emilia ( it, Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia), located in Modena and Reggio Emilia, Emilia-Romagna, Italy, is one of the oldest universities in Italy, founded in 1175, with a population of 20, ...

Modena Modena (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language#Dialects, Modenese, Mòdna ; ett, Mutna; la, Mutina) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern I ...

, Italy. A native of Cropani, a small town in

Calabria , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

, Italy, Clodoveo Ferri graduated

cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sou ...

from the

University of Pisa The University of Pisa ( it, Università di Pisa, UniPi), officially founded in 1343, is one of the oldest universities in Europe. History The Origins The University of Pisa was officially founded in 1343, although various scholars place ...

and later specialized in internal medicine and rheumatology. Since 1972, the majority of Ferri's work has been in the fields of

systemic sclerosis Systemic scleroderma, or systemic sclerosis, is an autoimmune rheumatic disease characterised by excessive production and accumulation of collagen, called fibrosis, in the skin and internal organs and by injuries to small arteries. There are two m ...

cryoglobulinemic vasculitis Cryoglobulinemic vasculitis is a form of inflammation affecting the blood vessels caused by the deposition of abnormal proteins called cryoglobulins. These immunoglobulin proteins are soluble at normal body temperatures, but become insoluble below ...

and other

autoimmune In immunology, autoimmunity is the system of immune responses of an organism against its own healthy cells, tissues and other normal body constituents. Any disease resulting from this type of immune response is termed an "autoimmune disease". P ...

systemic disorders in the Rheumatology Unit of the University of Pisa. In January 2003, he moved to his current position at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia. His most notable discovery is on the causative role of the

hepatitis C virus The hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a small (55–65 nm in size), enveloped, positive-sense single-stranded RNA virus of the family ''Flaviviridae''. The hepatitis C virus is the cause of hepatitis C and some cancers such as liver cancer ( hepato ...

(HCV) in the majority of patients with mixed

cryoglobulinemia Cryoglobulinemia is a medical condition in which the blood contains large amounts of pathological cold sensitive antibodies called cryoglobulins – proteins (mostly immunoglobulins themselves) that become insoluble at reduced temperatures. T ...

(cryoglobulinemic vasculitis) and in a significant percentage of patients with B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Ferri is a member of the SIR (Italian Society of Rheumatology)SIR (Italian Society of Rheumatology)
/ref> and GISC (Italian Group for the Study of Cryoglobulinemias), and an international fellow of the American College of Rheumatology.American College of Rheumatology (ACR)
/ref>

Scientific activity

Ferri has been involved in the clinical and laboratory investigations of different

and neoplastic diseases. In particular, he investigated the pathogenetic role of some viruses in mixed cryoglobulinemia (cryoglobulinemic vasculitis) and systemic sclerosis (scleroderma). In 1991, soon after the discovery of the hepatitis C virus (HCV), he demonstrated the presence of serum viral genome (HCV-RNA) in a large series of mixed cryoglobulinemia patients. This finding suggested a causative role for the same virus in other extrahepatic manifestations of HCV infections, including autoimmune and lymphoproliferative disorders. The association of HCV with B-cell non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma was first demonstrated in 1994. On the basis of these studies, which were confirmed and expanded by other authors worldwide, Clodoveo Ferri suggested the term "HCV syndrome." This term refers to particular autoimmune-neoplastic complexes triggered by HCV infections in predisposed individuals. Starting in 1999, Ferri investigated the pathogenetic role of

parvovirus B19 Primate erythroparvovirus 1, generally referred to as B19 virus (B19V), parvovirus B19 or sometimes erythrovirus B19, is the first (and until 2005 the only) known human virus in the family ''Parvoviridae'', genus ''Erythroparvovirus''; it measur ...

and

cytomegalovirus ''Cytomegalovirus'' (''CMV'') (from ''cyto-'' 'cell' via Greek - 'container' + 'big, megalo-' + -''virus'' via Latin 'poison') is a genus of viruses in the order ''Herpesvirales'', in the family ''Herpesviridae'', in the subfamily ''Betaherpe ...

(CMV) in systemic sclerosis (scleroderma). A significantly higher prevalence of parvovirus B19 infections was originally demonstrated in both

bone marrow Bone marrow is a semi-solid tissue found within the spongy (also known as cancellous) portions of bones. In birds and mammals, bone marrow is the primary site of new blood cell production (or haematopoiesis). It is composed of hematopoietic ce ...

and skin scleroderma patients compared to controls. Since the 1970s, Ferri has published over 300 scientific papers in international journals that are available via

PubMed PubMed is a free search engine accessing primarily the MEDLINE database of references and abstracts on life sciences and biomedical topics. The United States National Library of Medicine (NLM) at the National Institutes of Health maintain the ...

over 300 scientific papers in international journals on PubMed
/ref> on the following topics: 1. Etiopathogenetic role of different viruses in autoimmune and neoplastic diseases: * 1990-91: identification of HCV as main triggering factor of mixed cryoglobulinemia (cryoglobulinemic vasculitis)

:* 1994: identification of HCV as triggering factor of a significant percentage of patients with B-cell non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. :* 1993: possible role of HCV in patients with porphyria cutanea tarda, autoimmune

hepatitis Hepatitis is inflammation of the liver tissue. Some people or animals with hepatitis have no symptoms, whereas others develop yellow discoloration of the skin and whites of the eyes (jaundice), poor appetite, vomiting, tiredness, abdominal pa ...

, autoimmune

thyroiditis Thyroiditis is the inflammation of the thyroid gland. The thyroid gland is located on the front of the neck below the laryngeal prominence, and makes hormones that control metabolism. Signs and symptoms There are many different signs and symptom ...

, and type 2

diabetes Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level ( hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ap ...

. :* 1999: possible role of HCV in papillary thyroid cancer. :* 1999: possible role of parvovirus B19 and CMV in systemic sclerosis (scleroderma).Ferri C, et al: Parvovirus B19 infection of bone marrow in systemic sclerosis patients. Clin Exp Rheumatol 1999; 17(6):718-20. 2. Serological studies and therapeutic trials on different rheumatic disorders (rheumatoid arthritis, SLE, systemic sclerosis, mixed cryoglobulinemia) 3. Etiopathogenesis, clinical features, survival, and treatment of mixed cryoglobulinemia (cryoglobulinemic vasculitis) patients 4. Etiopathogenesis and clinical follow-up of Raynaud’s phenomenon and systemic sclerosis including classification, visceral involvement (heart, lung), survival, and treatment 5. Role of plasmapheretic and dietetic treatments in some rheumatic disorders (cryoglobulinemic vasculitis, SLE, scleroderma, IgA nephropathy)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferri, Clodoveo 1947 births Living people Academic staff of the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia Italian rheumatologists University of Pisa alumni