Factors influencing the success of cord blood collection: a tertiary perinatal medicine center’s experience.

Background/aim: This study aimed to evaluate the effects of certain maternal, fetal, and umbilical cord blood unit factors on storage and/or discard incidence of collected cord blood units from perinatal medicine patients. Materials and methods: A total of 273 cord blood units collected between January 2011 and December 2016 in the Division of Perinatology of Hacettepe University Hospital were evaluated retrospectively in this study. Results: Of the collected cord blood units, 53.

Flow Cytometric Aldehyde Dehydrogenase Assay Enables a Fast and Accurate Human Umbilical Cord Blood Hematopoietic Stem Cell Assessment.

Objective: Colony-forming units of granulocytes/macrophages (CFU-GM) analysis is the most widely used method to determine the hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) content of human umbilical cord blood (CB) for prediction of engraftment potential. The measurement of aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) activity is a more recent method for HSC qualification. Our aim was to correlate phenotypic and functional assays to find the most predictive method.

How to Improve Cord Blood Engraftment?

Various factors make cord blood (CB) a significant source of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), including ease of procurement and lack of donor attrition, with the ability to process and store the donor cells long term. Importantly, high proliferative potential of the immature HSCs allows one log less use of cells compared to bone marrow or peripheral blood stem cells. As total nucleated cell (TNC) and CD34(+) cell content of CB grafts are correlated to engraftment rate and speed, strategies to expand HSC and homing have been developed.

Molecular methods for detection of invasive fungal infections and mycobacteria and their clinical significance in hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

Infection remains an important source of morbidity and mortality in patients who undergo hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). In the immune reconstitution period after transplantation, HSCT recipients are most likely to have bacterial or fungal infections. Invasive fungal infections (IFIs) and mycobacterial infections (MBIs) are among the complications of HSCT, with high morbidity and mortality rates.

[Evaluation of Tetrazolium Violet and Resazurin Assays for Ciprofloxacin Susceptibility Testing of Resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis Isolates].

Tuberculosis, caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, is still a serious public health concern. Antimycobacterial drug resistance which is in an increasing trend worldwide aids to the importance of tuberculosis problem. Fluoroquinolones which exhibit in vitro and in vivo anti-mycobacterial activity, are being recommended by World Health Organization as alternative drugs particularly for the treatment of multidrug resistant tuberculosis.

Predominance of hospital-associated MRSA among cystic fibrosis patients in a Turkish reference cystic fibrosis centre.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strains are the major causative agents of numerous hospital- and community-acquired infections. Increasing prevalence of MRSA in cystic fibrosis (CF) populations is reported all over the world. Although there are papers reporting the prevalence and genetic backgrounds of MRSA isolates from different settings in Turkey, there is no information regarding the situation in the CF community.

Compartment-specific remodeling of splenic micro-architecture during experimental visceral leishmaniasis.

Progressive splenomegaly is a hallmark of visceral leishmaniasis in humans, canids, and rodents. In experimental murine visceral leishmaniasis, splenomegaly is accompanied by pronounced changes in microarchitecture, including expansion of the red pulp vascular system, neovascularization of the white pulp, and remodeling of the stromal cell populations that define the B-cell and T-cell compartments. Here, we show that Ly6C/G(+) (Gr-1(+)) cells, including neutrophils and inflammatory monocytes, accumulate in the splenic red pulp during infection.

Influence of serum on in vitro susceptibility testing of echinocandins for Candida parapsilosis and Candida guilliermondii.

Echinocandins are antifungal drugs used for the treatment of invasive candidiasis and aspergillosis. They bind to serum proteins within a rate of 96 to >99%. The effect of serum on in vitro echinocandin susceptibility tests of certain Candida and Aspergillus species was reported.

[Isolation and identification of Burkholderia cepacia complex from cystic fibrosis patients].

In this study, sputum samples collected from cystic fibrosis patients with preliminary diagnosis of pulmonary infection were evaluated for the presence of bacteria belonging to Burkholderia cepacia complex by commercial phenotypic systems and recA polymerase chain reaction (PCR). A total of 85 patients ages between 5-30 years (mean age: 12.8 years) were included to the study with female/male ratio of 44/41.

[Immunopathogenesis of Leishmania infections].

Leishmaniasis represents a complex of diseases with a clinical and epidemiological diversity. Leishmaniasis remains a severe public health problem and its burden is increasing. The disease is caused by a parasite belonging to the genus Leishmania.

Some fused heterocyclic compounds as eukaryotic topoisomerase II inhibitors.

Our previously synthesized 37 compounds, which are 2,5,6-substituted benzoxazole, benzimidazole, benzothiazole, and oxazolo(4,5-b)pyridine derivatives, were tested for their eukaryotic DNA topoisomerase II inhibitory activity in cell free system and 28 were found to inhibit the topoisomerase II at an initial concentration of 100 microg/ml. After further testing at a lower range of concentrations, 12 derivatives, which were considered as positive topoisomerase inhibitors, exhibited IC50 values between 11.4 and 46.

Comparison of two methods and three end points in determination of in vitro activity of micafungin against Aspergillus spp.

We investigated the in vitro activity of micafungin against clinical Aspergillus isolates (n = 37) (Aspergillusfumigatus [n = 21], Aspergillusflavus [n = 14], and Aspergillus niger [n = 2]) by using NCCLS M38A microdilution and an investigational disk diffusion assay. Microdilution assay results were evaluated by using the end points of a MIC-2 (measured in micrograms per milliliter) and minimum effective concentration (MEC, measured in micrograms per milliliter; the lowest concentration of micafungin that produces short and aberrant hyphal branchings microscopically). Disk diffusion results were interpreted by measuring the zone(s) of inhibition (ZOI, measured in millimeters).

[Ecological factors for host tissue colonization].

The first stage of microbial infection is colonization; the establishment of the pathogen at the appropriate portal of the entry. Organisms that have the ability to colonize host tissues, have usually developed tissue adherence mechanisms and some ability to overcome or withstand the constant pressure of host defense mechanisms. There are namely 3 adaptations that are important for bacteria to colonize human hosts: Coaggregation, osmo-adaptation, acid tolerance and resistance.