Successful transfusion-free pancreatectomy in Jehovah's Witness patients.

Backgrounds/aims: Although perioperative therapies have improved greatly, pancreatectomies still often need blood transfusions. However, the morbidity from blood transfusions, the poor prognosis of blood transfused patients, high cost, and decreasing supply of blood products is accelerating transfusion-free (TF) surgery in the patients who have pacreatectomies. The aim of this study was to assess the feasibility of TF pancreatectomies for patients who are Jehovah's Witness.

A hyaluronic acid-methotrexate conjugate for targeted therapy of rheumatoid arthritis.

In an effort to improve the therapeutic efficacy of methotrexate (MTX), we prepared the hyaluronic acid-MTX conjugate for targeted therapy of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Owing to the pH-sensitive nature of the conjugate, MTX was rapidly released under the mildly acidic conditions, similar to the environment of inflamed synovial tissue in RA.