The role of isoagglutinins in intravenous immunoglobulin-related hemolysis.

Background: Increased reporting of intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG)-related hemolytic reactions (HRs) triggered an investigation by the German and Swiss health authorities to identify potential risk factors.

Study Design And Methods: From the EudraVigilance database HRs reported between 2008 and 2013 were retrieved for seven IVIG preparations. HRs were classified as mild to moderate (hemoglobin [Hb] decline < 2 g/dL)] or severe (Hb decline > 2 g/dL) and separately analyzed for IVIG doses of less than 2 g/kg body weight and 2 g/kg body weight or more.

Anti-A and anti-B haemagglutinin levels in intravenous immunoglobulins: are they on the rise? A comparison of four different analysis methods and six products.

Recent reports of severe haemolytic reactions upon high dose treatment with new generation intravenous immunoglobulins (IVIGs) prompted us to examine the anti-A and anti-B haemagglutinin content of these therapeutics. We compared four different test methods, namely the indirect and direct haemagglutination test as described in the European Pharmacopoiea (Ph. Eur.

2-micron vectors containing the Saccharomyces cerevisiae metallothionein gene as a selectable marker: excellent stability in complex media, and high-level expression of a recombinant protein from a CUP1-promoter-controlled expression cassette in cis.

We have constructed 2-micron-based yeast expression vectors containing a copy of the metallothionein (CUP1) gene of Saccharomyces cerevisiae as a semi-dominant, selectable marker. When used for the expression of the thrombin inhibitor hirudin, originally derived from the leech Hirudo medicinalis, these vectors displayed the following characteristics. (1) In the presence of copper salts, they were mitotically more stable than similarly designed control vectors lacking the CUP1 gene.

Overproduction of glycogen in Escherichia coli blocked in the acetate pathway improves cell growth.

Excessive production of acetate is a problem frequently encountered in aerobic high-cell-density fermentations of Escherichia coli. Here, we have examined genetic alterations resulting in glycogen overproduction as a possible means to direct the flux of carbon away from the acetate pool. Glycogen overaccumulation was achieved either by using a regulatory glgQ mutation or by transforming cells with a plasmid containing the glycogen biosynthesis genes glgC (encoding ADPG pyrophosphorylase) and glgA (encoding glycogen synthase) under their native promoter.