Microbiome analysis, the immune response and transplantation in the era of next generation sequencing.

The human gastrointestinal tract, skin and mucosal surfaces are inhabited by a complex system of bacteria, viruses, fungi, archaea, protists, and eukaryotic parasites with predominance of bacteria and bacterial viruses (bacteriophages). Collectively these microbes form the microbiota of the microecosystem of humans. Recent advancement in technologies for nucleic acid isolation from various environmental samples, feces and body secretions and advancements in shotgun throughput massive parallel DNA and RNA sequencing along with 16S ribosomal gene sequencing have unraveled the identity of otherwise unknown microbial entities constituting the human microecosystem.

Description and analysis of patients and outcomes following third-time heart transplantation: An analysis of the United Network for Organ Sharing database from 1985 to 2017.

Background: Following second heart transplantation (HTx), some patients experience graft failure and require third-time heart transplantation. Little data exist to guide decision-making with regard to repeat retransplantation in older patients.

Methods: We performed a retrospective cohort analysis of patients receiving a third HTx, as identified in the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) database from 1985 to 2017.

Development of a bead-based immunoassay to routinely measure vimentin autoantibodies in the clinical setting.

Introduction: Vimentin is an intermediate filament protein generally expressed in the cytosol of many adult cell types, including leukocytes, fibroblasts and endothelial cells. Several tissue and/or injury-specific isoforms of vimentin are known to exist that may trigger autoimmune responses due to aberrant structural or conformational variations. Such scenarios include allograft rejection and certain autoimmune diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis.