Diagnostic performance of 1,3-beta-D-glucan serum screening in patients receiving hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

Background: The polysaccharide cell wall component, 1,3-beta-D-glucan (BDG), is used as a serum biomarker for invasive fungal infection (IFI). Patients receiving hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) are considered a highly vulnerable group for IFI development. We evaluated the diagnostic performance of serum BDG screening in HSCT recipients.

Specificity of mannan antigen and anti-mannan antibody screening in patients with haematological malignancies at risk for fungal infection.

Combination of mannan antigen and anti-mannan antibody (Mn/A-Mn) testing has been reported a useful and specific strategy for diagnosis of invasive Candida infections (ICIs). We evaluated Mn/A-Mn as a screening tool in patients with haematological malignancies. This clinical prospective study was performed at the Division of Hematology, Medical University Graz, Austria between July and December 2012.

Monoglyceride lipase deficiency modulates endocannabinoid signaling and improves plaque stability in ApoE-knockout mice.

Background And Aims: Monoglyceride lipase (MGL) catalyzes the final step of lipolysis by degrading monoglyceride (MG) to glycerol and fatty acid. MGL also hydrolyzes and thereby deactivates 2-arachidonoyl glycerol (2-AG), the most abundant endocannabinoid in the mammalian system. 2-AG acts as full agonist on cannabinoid receptor type 1 (CB1R) and CB2R, which are mainly expressed in brain and immune cells, respectively.

Impact of galactomannan testing on the prevalence of invasive aspergillosis in patients with hematological malignancies.

Galactomannan (GM) is a polysaccharide component of the cell wall of Aspergillus spp. and is released into the host's circulation by growing hyphae. GM testing of patients with hematological malignancies has been rarely considered in recent epidemiologic studies of invasive mould infections (IMIs).