How do you… decide which platelet bacterial risk mitigation strategy to select for your hospital-based transfusion service?

The United States Food and Drug Administration Final Guidance for Industry titled, "Bacterial Risk Control Strategies for Blood Collection Establishments and Transfusion Services to Enhance the Safety and Availability of Platelets for Transfusion" provides nine strategies for platelet bacterial risk mitigation. Even if it is assumed all strategies are comparable in terms of safety and efficacy, the decision of which to implement remains challenging. Some additional factors that warrant evaluation before selecting a strategy include the financial impact, process for implementation, logistics upon implementation, institutional acceptance by blood bank staff, administration and clinicians, and effect on platelet availability.

Tumor-stage mycosis fungoides in palmoplantar localization with large-cell transformation and partial CD30 expression shows complete response to brentuximab vedotin.

Mycosis fungoides in palmoplantar localization (MFPP) is a rare variant of MF that is confined to the hands and feet. Patients commonly receive treatment over many years for suspected palmoplantar dermatitis before the diagnosis is made. Most MFPP patients remain at patch or plaque stage, and often respond to treatment with radiotherapy.

National Institutes of Health State of the Science Symposium in Therapeutic Apheresis: scientific opportunities in extracorporeal photopheresis.

The clinical use of extracorporeal photopheresis (ECP) for accepted indications such as graft-versus-host disease, transplant rejection, and cutaneous T-cell lymphoma continues to increase. Expanded applications for ECP, such as the treatment of select autoimmune diseases, are being explored. Extracorporeal photopheresis's capacity to both immunotolerize in the autoreactive setting, while immunizing against a lymphoma is unusual and suggestive of a unique mechanism.

National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute state of the science symposium in therapeutic apheresis-Therapeutic apheresis in cardiovascular disease.

The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute in collaboration with the American Society for Apheresis, convened a State of the Science Symposium in November of 2012 due to the expanding application of therapeutic apheresis despite the lack of well-designed research to address its efficacy. This article reviews the opportunities that were presented at this meeting in the area of cardiovascular disease (CVD), specifically the use of columns to adsorb autoantibodies in dilated cardiomyopathy or damaging lipids in peripheral vascular disease. Understanding how absorption of these pathologic substances alters the inflammatory response in these disorders is important for the application of these technologies to the treatment of CVD.

Inhibition of protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) prevents Mcl-1 protein dephosphorylation at the Thr-163/Ser-159 phosphodegron, dramatically reducing expression in Mcl-1-amplified lymphoma cells.

Abundant, sustained expression of prosurvival Mcl-1 is an important determinant of viability and drug resistance in cancer cells. The Mcl-1 protein contains PEST sequences (enriched in proline, glutamic acid, serine, and threonine) and is normally subject to rapid turnover via multiple different pathways. One of these pathways involves a phosphodegron in the PEST region, where Thr-163 phosphorylation primes for Ser-159 phosphorylation by glycogen synthase kinase-3.

Modeling the influence of vitamin D deficiency on cigarette smoke-induced emphysema.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. While the primary risk factor for COPD is cigarette smoke exposure, vitamin D deficiency has been epidemiologically implicated as a factor in the progressive development of COPD-associated emphysema. Because of difficulties inherent to studies involving multiple risk factors in the progression of COPD in humans, we developed a murine model in which to study the separate and combined effects of vitamin D deficiency and cigarette smoke exposure.

MCL1 increases primitive thymocyte viability in female mice and promotes thymic expansion into adulthood.

Increasing the pool of cells at early T-cell developmental stages enhances thymopoiesis and is especially beneficial when T-cell production is compromised by radiation or aging. Within the immature double-negative (DN; CD4(-)CD8(-)) thymocyte subpopulation, the DN1 subset contains the most primitive cells including the rare early T-cell progenitors (ETPs). In the present study, a human MCL1 transgene, under the control of its endogenous promoter, resulted in enlargement of an undistorted thymus in C57/BL6 mice.

Intraosseous epidermoid inclusion cyst presenting as a paronychia of the hallux.

Intraosseous epidermoid inclusion cysts are rare benign bone lesions that occur most commonly in the skull and in the distal phalanges of the fingers. Herein we report a case of an intraosseous epidermoid inclusion cyst occurring in the distal phalanx of the left hallux. Only six occurrences of this lesion have been described in the foot.

A role for the lymphotoxin/LIGHT axis in the pathogenesis of murine collagen-induced arthritis.

A lymphotoxin-beta (LTbeta) receptor-Ig fusion protein (LTbetaR-Ig) was used to evaluate the importance of the lymphotoxin/LIGHT axis in the development and perpetuation of arthritis. Prophylactic treatment with the inhibitor protein LTbetaR-Ig blocked the induction of collagen-induced arthritis in mice and adjuvant arthritis in Lewis rats. Treatment of mice with established collagen-induced arthritis reduced the severity of arthritic symptoms and joint tissue damage.

Lansoprazole-associated microscopic colitis: a case series.

Lansoprazole is a potent proton pump inhibitor that has been well tolerated with minimal serious adverse events. One of the most commonly reported side effects is diarrhea in 3-8% of study patients. During 1997, approximately 850 veterans at our institution had their proton pump inhibitor converted from omeprazole to lansoprazole because of a formulary change.