Developing high-throughput HIV incidence assay with pyrosequencing platform.

Unlabelled: Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) incidence is an important measure for monitoring the epidemic and evaluating the efficacy of intervention and prevention trials. This study developed a high-throughput, single-measure incidence assay by implementing a pyrosequencing platform. We devised a signal-masking bioinformatics pipeline, which yielded a process error rate of 5.

Comparing alloimmunization in preterm infants after transfusion of fresh unmodified versus stored leukocyte-reduced red blood cells.

Purpose: To compare the occurrence of red blood cell (RBC), platelet (PLT), and white blood cell (WBC) antibodies in preterm infants after transfusions.

Methods: A randomized, blinded trial was conducted in which preterm infants were transfused either with stored RBCs, prepared by prestorage leukocyte reduction and transfused throughout 42 days of storage to limit donor exposure (n = 18), or with fresh RBCs prepared without leukocyte reduction and transfused within 7 days after collection from as many donors as needed to guarantee freshness (n = 17). Nontransfused preterm infants of comparable birth weight were control subjects (n = 11).

Diversity associated with the second expressed HLA-DRB locus in the human population.

Although diversity within the HLA-DRB region is predominantly focused in the DRB1 gene, the second expressed DRB loci, DRB3, DRB4, and DRB5, also exhibit variation. Within DRB1(*)15 or DRB1(*)16 haplotypes, four new variants were identified: 1) two new DRB5 alleles, DRB5*0104 and DRB5*0204, 2) a haplotype carrying a DRB1(*)15 or *16 allele without the usual accompanying DRB5 allele, and 3) a haplotype carrying a DRB5(*)0101 allele without a DRB1(*)15 or *16 allele. The evolutionary origins of these haplotypes were postulated based on their associations with the DRB6 pseudogene.

Reconstruction of the immune system after unrelated or partially matched T-cell-depleted bone marrow transplantation in children: functional analyses of lymphocytes and correlation with immunophenotypic recovery following transplantation.

Reconstitution of the immune system following T-cell-depleted bone marrow transplantation (BMT) in children has yet to be fully elucidated. Thus, we prospectively studied the recovery of immune function in 64 children who underwent T-lymphocyte-depleted marrow transplants using either matched family member donors or matched unrelated donors. We measured in vitro posttransplantation proliferative responses to phytohemagglutinin (PHA), concanavalin A, pokeweed mitogen, and Candida albicans antigen and assessed unidirectional allogeneic mixed-lymphocyte culture (MLC) responses at various times.