Thrombopoietin treatment of one graft in a double cord blood transplant provides early platelet recovery while contributing to long-term engraftment in NSG mice.

Human cord blood (CB) hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) transplants demonstrate delayed early neutrophil and platelet recovery and delayed longer term immune reconstitution compared to bone marrow and mobilized peripheral blood transplants. Despite advances in enhancing early neutrophil engraftment, platelet recovery after CB transplantation is not significantly altered when compared to contemporaneous controls. Recent studies have identified a platelet-biased murine HSC subset, maintained by thrombopoietin (TPO), which has enhanced capacity for short- and long-term platelet reconstitution, can self-renew, and can give rise to myeloid- and lymphoid-biased HSCs.

Diminished reliability of tryptase as risk indicator of mastocytosis in older overweight subjects.

Background: Currently, measurement of serum tryptase level is the most commonly used test to estimate the need for bone marrow biopsy in patients suspected to have indolent systemic mastocytosis (ISM). Yet tryptase levels do not solely reflect the mast cell load and can be elevated by overweight, older age, and impaired renal function. The influence of these factors on urinary methylhistamine (MH) and methylimidazole acetic acid (MIMA) is still unknown.

Ion chromatography for the precise analysis of chloride and sodium in sweat for the diagnosis of cystic fibrosis.

Background: Measurement of chloride in sweat is an essential part of the diagnostic algorithm for cystic fibrosis. The lack in sensitivity and reproducibility of current methods led us to develop an ion chromatography/high-performance liquid chromatography (IC/HPLC) method, suitable for the analysis of both chloride and sodium in small volumes of sweat.

Methods: Precision, linearity and limit of detection of an in-house developed IC/HPLC method were established.

No increased systemic fibrinolysis in women with heavy menstrual bleeding.

Background: Bleeding disorders have been recognized as important etiologic or contributory factors in women with heavy menstrual bleeding. Fibrinolysis in the endometrium plays a role in heavy menstrual bleeding. It is unknown whether increased systemic fibrinolysis might also increase the risk of heavy menstrual bleeding.

Rapid diagnosis of pyrazinamide-resistant multidrug-resistant tuberculosis using a molecular-based diagnostic algorithm.

There is an urgent need for rapid and accurate diagnosis of pyrazinamide-resistant multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB). No diagnostic algorithm has been validated in this population. We hypothesized that pncA sequencing added to rpoB mutation analysis can accurately identify patients with pyrazinamide-resistant MDR-TB.

Using vaginal Group B Streptococcus colonisation in women with preterm premature rupture of membranes to guide the decision for immediate delivery: a secondary analysis of the PPROMEXIL trials.

Objective: To investigate whether vaginal Group B Streptococcus (GBS) colonisation or other baseline characteristics of women with preterm premature rupture of membranes (PPROM) can help in identifying subgroups of women who would benefit from immediate delivery.

Design: Secondary analysis of the PPROMEXIL trials.

Setting: Sixty hospitals in the Netherlands.

First report on the antibody verification of HLA-ABC epitopes recorded in the website-based HLA Epitope Registry.

The International Registry of Antibody-Defined HLA Epitopes ( http://www.epregistry.com.

Barrier properties of an N/TERT-based human skin equivalent.

Human skin equivalents (HSEs) can be considered a valuable tool to study aspects of human skin, including the skin barrier, or to perform chemical or toxicological screenings. HSEs are three-dimensional skin models that are usually established using primary keratinocytes and closely mimic human skin. The use of primary keratinocytes has several drawbacks, including a limited in vitro life span and large donor-donor variation.

[Anemia in the critically ill child and adult: a narrative review].

Anemia is frequent in the pediatric and adult intensive care unit. Anemia decreases oxygen transport which can be harmful in the critically ill patient; it is independently associated with a poor prognosis. The major prophylactic measure against anemia is the limitation of blood draws: several approaches can be used to limit phlebotomy overdraw without harming the patient.

Can neonatal sepsis be predicted in late preterm premature rupture of membranes? Development of a prediction model.

Objective: Women with late preterm premature rupture of membranes (PROM) have an increased risk that their child will develop neonatal sepsis. We evaluated whether neonatal sepsis can be predicted from antepartum parameters in these women.

Study Design: We used multivariable logistic regression to develop a prediction model.

Mild hypoxia affects synaptic connectivity in cultured neuronal networks.

Eighty percent of patients with chronic mild cerebral ischemia/hypoxia resulting from chronic heart failure or pulmonary disease have cognitive impairment. Overt structural neuronal damage is lacking and the precise cause of neuronal damage is unclear. As almost half of the cerebral energy consumption is used for synaptic transmission, and synaptic failure is the first abrupt consequence of acute complete anoxia, synaptic dysfunction is a candidate mechanism for the cognitive deterioration in chronic mild ischemia/hypoxia.

TNF-α and Th2 cytokines induce atopic dermatitis-like features on epidermal differentiation proteins and stratum corneum lipids in human skin equivalents.

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic inflammatory skin disease in which the skin barrier function is disrupted. In this inflammatory AD environment, cytokines are upregulated, but the cytokine effect on the AD skin barrier is not fully understood. We aimed to investigate the influence of Th2 (IL-4, IL-13, IL-31) and pro-inflammatory (tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α)) cytokines on epidermal morphogenesis, proliferation, differentiation, and stratum corneum lipid properties.

Optimization of standard in-house 24-locus variable-number tandem-repeat typing for Mycobacterium tuberculosis and its direct application to clinical material.

Variable-number tandem-repeat (VNTR) typing with a panel of 24 loci is the current gold standard in the molecular typing of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex isolates. However, because of technical problems, a part of the loci often cannot be amplified by multiplex PCRs. Therefore, a considerable number of single-locus PCRs have to be performed for the loci with missing results, which impairs the laboratory work flow.

[AL amyloidosis-associated factor X deficiency].

Background: An acquired bleeding tendency is a specific symptom that can indicate an underlying disease.

Case Description: Here we describe a 69-year-old patient with an acquired bleeding tendency resulting from a factor X deficiency due to an underlying amyloid light-chain (AL) amyloidosis. Factor X deficiency in AL amyloidosis arises from a quantitative and qualitative deficiency of factor X because it binds to amyloid fibrils exposed to circulating blood.

Economic analysis comparing induction of labor and expectant management in women with preterm prelabor rupture of membranes between 34 and 37 weeks (PPROMEXIL trial).

Objective: To compare the costs of induction of labor and expectant management in women with preterm prelabor rupture of membranes (PPROM).

Design: Economic analysis based on a randomized clinical trial.

Setting: Obstetric departments of eight academic and 52 non-academic hospitals in the Netherlands.

Genetic, maternal and placental factors in the association between birth weight and physical fitness: a longitudinal twin study.

Background: Adult cardiorespiratory fitness and muscle strength are related to all-cause and cardiovascular mortality. Both are possibly related to birth weight, but it is unclear what the importance is of genetic, maternal and placental factors in these associations.

Design: Peak oxygen uptake and measures of strength, flexibility and balance were obtained yearly during adolescence (10-18 years) in 114 twin pairs in the Leuven Longitudinal Twin Study.

Evaluation of the benefit of routine intraoperative frozen section analysis of sentinel lymph nodes in breast cancer.

Aims. Intraoperative analysis of the sentinel lymph node (SLN) by frozen section (FS) allows for immediate axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) in case of metastatic disease in patients with breast cancer. The aim of this study is to evaluate the benefit of intraoperative FS, with regard to false negative rate (FNR) and influence on operation time.

Knock-down of filaggrin does not affect lipid organization and composition in stratum corneum of reconstructed human skin equivalents.

Human skin mainly functions as an effective barrier against unwanted environmental influences. The barrier function strongly relies on the outermost layer of the skin, the stratum corneum (SC), which is composed of corneocytes embedded in an extracellular lipid matrix. The importance of a proper barrier function is shown in various skin disorders such as atopic dermatitis (AD), a complex human skin disorder strongly associated with filaggrin (FLG) null mutations, but their role in barrier function is yet unclear.

Synergistic inhibition of natural killer cells by the nonsignaling molecule CD94.

Peptide selectivity is a feature of inhibitory receptors for MHC class I expressed by natural killer (NK) cells. CD94-NKG2A operates in tandem with the polymorphic killer cell Ig-like receptors (KIR) and Ly49 systems to inhibit NK cells. However, the benefits of having two distinct inhibitory receptor-ligand systems are not clear.

Genetic and environmental factors in associations between infant growth and adult cardiometabolic risk profile in twins.

Background: Accelerated infant growth is associated with an altered, mostly adverse adult cardiometabolic risk profile. The importance of genetic and environmental factors to these associations is unclear.

Objective: The objective was to examine the importance of genetic and environmental factors in the associations between infant growth and adult cardiometabolic risk factors (anthropometric characteristics, lipids, insulin sensitivity, leptin, blood pressure, and fibrinogen) in twins.

Changes in Farr radioimmunoassay and EliA fluorescence immunoassay anti-dsDNA in relation to exacerbation of SLE.

Measuring anti-dsDNA levels could support treatment adjustment during follow-up of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). We investigated whether patients with exacerbations of SLE showed changes in anti-double-stranded DNA (anti-dsDNA) levels prior to the exacerbation using the Farr and EliA assay and examined which assay showed highest specificity and predictive value for exacerbations. Changes in anti-dsDNA of ≥ 25% prior to exacerbation were considered of clinical significance.

[Specific IgE testing in food allergies].

The interpretation of specific IgE test results in patients with suspected food allergies is not always straightforward. In fact, specific IgE test results for food allergens can provide physicians with more questions than answers. Based on the description of two patient cases, we discuss the interpretation of specific IgE test results for food allergens; the description includes the diagnostic process, cross-reactivity and component-resolved diagnostics.