Cord blood banking and transplantation at the Mexican Institute of Social Security: the first 5 years.

Background: In January 2005, the Cord Blood Bank (CBB) at the Mexican Institute of Social Security initiated activities. Herein, we describe the experience generated during this period (January 1, 2005-December 31, 2009).

Study Design And Methods: Good manufacturing practices and standard operating procedures were used to address donor selection, as well as umbilical cord blood (UCB) collection, processing, and cryopreservation.

Prevalence of scleroderma in Spain: an approach for estimating rare disease prevalence using a disease model.

Purpose: To estimate scleroderma prevalence in Spain.

Methods: As no data were available for Spain we used reported scleroderma incidence (Silman's study on UK and Alamanos' on Greece), scleroderma cause-specific mortality, obtained through the National Institute of Statistics (codes included in M34 of the International Classification of Diseases, 10th revision) in Spain and remission data. Estimates were applied to the Spanish population and to all-cause mortality for 2004, broken down by age group and gender.

Establishing a cord blood banking and transplantation program in Mexico: a single institution experience.

Background: Over the past decade, umbilical cord blood (UCB) banking and transplantation have increased significantly worldwide. The experience in developing countries, however, is still limited. In January 2005 the Mexican Institute of Social Security (IMSS) initiated its UCB banking and transplantation program.

Estimating the burden of scleroderma disease in Spain.

Objective: Scleroderma (systemic sclerosis) is a rare disease that results in great suffering. We estimated the burden of disease posed by scleroderma and its relative importance in the health of the Spanish population.

Methods: We estimated scleroderma-based burden of disease following procedures developed for the Global Burden of Disease study to ensure comparability.

Estimating the burden of disease for autism spectrum disorders in Spain in 2003.

Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) are lifelong neurodevelopmental disabilities. Burden of Disease is an indicator that provides important information on health status and outcomes such as premature mortality and disability. In order to estimate the burden of disease of ASD in the Spanish population during 2003, we followed the procedures used in the WHO Global Burden of Disease Study.

Deficient proliferation and expansion in vitro of two bone marrow cell populations from patients with acute myeloid leukemia in response to hematopoietic cytokines.

One has previously characterized two different hematopoietic cell populations (obtained by negative-selection) from normal bone marrow. Population I was enriched for CD34+ Lin- cells, whereas Population II was enriched for CD34+ CD38- Lin- cells. Both populations showed elevated proliferation and expansion potentials in serum-free liquid cultures, supplemented with a combination of eight different cytokines, with the latter displaying more immature features than the former.

In vitro functional alterations in the hematopoietic system of adult patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

In previous studies, we have demonstrated that progenitor cell-enriched marrow cell populations from patients with myeloid leukemia - including both acute (AML) and chronic (CML) - show severe functional alterations when cultured in stroma-free liquid cultures supplemented with stimulatory cytokines. In trying to expand our characterization of the biology of leukemic cells, in the present study we have used a similar approach and analyzed the in vitro growth of equivalent cell populations from patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). ALL marrow cell populations -enriched for hematopoietic progenitors by means of a negative selection procedure- were assessed for their proliferation and expansion potentials, in liquid cultures supplemented with a mixture of early- and late-acting recombinant stimulatory cytokines, throughout a 25-day culture period.

Functional integrity in vitro of hematopoietic progenitor cells from patients with chronic myeloid leukemia that have achieved hematological remission after different therapeutic procedures.

In this study, we have assessed the in vitro growth of hematopoietic progenitor cells (HPC) from chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) patients that have recovered after different treatments. Bone marrow cells were obtained from 33 CML patients, including patients at diagnosis, before treatment (n=12), and patients that have achieved hematological remission (and in most cases a major cytogenetic response) after different therapeutic procedures (n=21), including patients treated with Interferon-alpha (IFN; n=5), imatinib mesylate (IMATINIB; n=8) and patients that received an allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT; n=8). Marrow cells were enriched for CD34(+) cells and cultured in a serum- and stroma-free liquid culture system, supplemented with a combination of 8 recombinant cytokines.

In vitro proliferation and expansion of hematopoietic progenitors present in mobilized peripheral blood from normal subjects and cancer patients.

In the present study, we have assessed, in a comparative manner, the in vitro proliferation and expansion potentials of hematopoietic progenitor cells (HPC) present in mobilized peripheral blood from normal subjects (MPB-n; n = 18) and cancer patients (MPB-c; n = 18). The latter included patients with breast cancer (BrCa; n = 8), Hodgkin disease (HD; n = 4), non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL; n = 3), and acute myeloid leukemia (AML; n = 3). Progenitor cells from normal bone marrow (BM) and umbilical cord blood (UCB) were included as controls.

Incidence of aplastic anemia in a defined subpopulation from Mexico City.

Aplastic anemia (AA) is a hematological disease characterized by the deficient production of blood cells. The incidence of AA worldwide is low (1-5 new cases per 10(6) individuals per year). In contrast to other countries, no current reports exist on the incidence of this disorder in Mexico.

Kinetics of hematopoiesis in bone marrow cultures from patients with chronic myeloid leukemia: effect of recombinant cytokines in dexter-type long-term cultures.

Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) is a hematological neoplasia that results from the transformation of a hematopoietic stem cell. It is characterized by the expansion of the myeloid lineage, which results in the accumulation of mature and immature granulocytes in peripheral blood and bone marrow. However, when CML marrow cells are cultured in Dexter-type long-term cultures (LTMC) hematopoiesis is defective and can be sustained for only a few weeks.

Effect of rhGM-CSF on the kinetics of hematopoiesis in long-term marrow cultures from patients with acute myelogenous leukemia.

In the present study, we have assessed the effects of recombinant human Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor (rhGM-CSF) in Dexter-type long-term marrow cultures (LTMC) from patients with acute myelogenous leukemia (AML). Addition of rhGM-CSF to AML LTMC resulted in a significant increase in the number of total nucleated cells (1.3-4.

High doses of dexamethasone in adult patients with idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura.

Background: High-dose dexamethasone (DXM) has been used in treatment of patients with idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) who are refractory to other treatments such as prednisone and splenectomy; nevertheless, different studies show variable success rates, this postulated as possibly being due to racial differences. The objective of this study was to determine DXM effectiveness at high doses in Mexican mestizo adult patients diagnosed with ITP with and without splenectomy.

Methods: Nonhospitalized adult patients with ITP were included, eight patients previously splenectomized (group 1) and 11 who had not undergone splenectomy (group 2).

Comparative analysis of the in vitro proliferation and expansion of hematopoietic progenitors from patients with aplastic anemia and myelodysplasia.

Aplastic anemia (AA) and myelodysplasia (MDS) show great similarities in their biology. To date, however, it is still unclear to what extent hematopoietic progenitor cells (HPCs) from AA and MDS share biological properties and what the functional differences are between them. In trying to address this issue, in the present study we have analyzed, in a comparative manner, the proliferation and expansion capacities of bone marrow (BM) progenitor cells from AA and MDS in response to recombinant cytokines.

Tumor necrosis factor-alpha levels in long-term marrow cultures from patients with aplastic anemia: modulation by granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor.

We have previously shown that the levels of hematopoietic progenitors in long-term marrow cultures (LTMC) from patients with aplastic anemia (AA) are drastically reduced, as compared to normal LTMC. We have also reported that when LTMC from AA patients are supplemented with recombinant human granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (rhGM-CSF) there is an increase in colony-forming cell (CFC) levels. However, such a stimulation is only transient and it is followed by an inhibition in CFC growth.

Severe hematopoietic alterations in vitro, in bone marrow transplant recipients who develop graft-versus-host disease.

Graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) is currently one of the major obstacles for successful allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (BMT). GVHD results from a complex set of interactions between donor T cells and a variety of target tissues from the host. To gain a better understanding of the biology of the human hematopoietic system in GVHD patients, in the present study we have determined the progenitor cell content in bone marrow (BM) samples from BMT recipients, with and without GVHD, and followed their growth kinetics in Dexter-type long-term marrow cultures (LTMC).

Sequential Variations in the Content of Bone Marrow Colony-forming Cells in Individual Patients with Aplastic Anemia Before and After Immunosuppressive Therapy; Hematopoiesis.

Previous studies have shown that the levels of hematopoietic progenitor cells (colony-forming cells; CFC) are drastically reduced in the vast majority of patients with aplastic anemia (AA). This has been observed both in patients before and after immunosuppressive therapy. In those studies, however, both groups of patients were usually formed by different individuals, thus it was not possible to follow the kinetics of such cells in each particular patient.

Deficient proliferation of myeloid, erythroid, and multipotent progenitor cells in long-term marrow cultures from patients with aplastic anemia treated with immunosuppressive therapy.

By using Dexter-type long-term marrow cultures (D-LTMC), it has been shown previously that hematopoietic progenitor cells (HPC) from patients with aplastic anemia (AA) have a deficient proliferation in vitro. The studies reported to date, however, have focused exclusively on granulomonocytic progenitors and no information exists on erythroid or multipotent progenitor cells. On the other hand, in such studies, the input progenitor cell numbers were significantly below normal levels, thus suggesting that the rapid disappearance of myeloid progenitor cells from AA D-LTMC could also be due, at least in part, to their reduced number at culture onset.

Kinetics of hematopoiesis in Dexter-type long-term cultures established from human umbilical cord blood cells.

In the present study, we have established Dexter-type long-term cultures (D-LTC) from human umbilical cord blood (UCB) and followed the kinetics of different hematopoietic progenitor cells (HPCs)--including multipotent (colony forming unit [CFU]-Mixture), erythroid (CFU-erythroid, BFU-E), and myeloid (CFU-granulocyte, CFU-macrophage, CFU-granulocyte/marcophage) progenitors as well as of morphologically recognizable erythroid, myeloid and lymphoid cells--during a nine-week culture period. D-LTC were also established from adult bone marrow (BM) as controls. On day 0, both UCB and BM showed similar total numbers of HPCs (about 310/10(5) cells), however, UCB showed a higher proportion of primitive HPCs (i.

[Blood erythropoietin levels in healthy subjects studied in the valley of Mexico].

Erythropoietin (EPO) is the hematopoietic growth factor that regulates red cell production. There is a direct relationship between its secretion and tissue hypoxia. Above sea level, oxygen concentration diminishes.

[5 episodes of transient aplastic anemia in 3 patients].

We report five episodes of severe aplastic anemia (AA) followed by spontaneous remission in three patients. They were classified as transient aplastic anemia (TAA). Two were females and one male of 32, 56 and 41 years of age, respectively; the man had two recurrences.

Treatment results of 23 cases of severe aplastic anemia with lymphocytapheresis.

We report the results of 23 patients with aplastic anemia (AA) treated with a program of 14 lymphocytapheresis (LC). Treatments were performed with apheresis machines, models Haemonetics 30-S and Baxter CS3000, using the standard program. This procedure was done because AA in many cases appears as a result of the action of a T cell population that inhibits hematopoiesis.

[Treatment of paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria with antilymphocyte globulin].

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of antilymphocyte globulin therapy (ALG) in patients with paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH).

Design: Prospective, non-controlled trial.

Setting: Hematology Service, Hospital de Especialidades, Centro Médico Nacional Siglo XXI, IMSS, Mexico City.

[Advances in the treatment of aplastic anemia].

The purpose of this paper is to describe the current advances in the pathogenesis, classification and treatment of acquired aplastic anemia (AA). The therapeutical experience obtained at the Servicio de Hematología, Centro Medico Nacional, Siglo XXI is described. Bone marrow transplantation is the first choice therapy for severe AA.