Platelet Additive Solutions as an Alternative Storage Medium of Apheresis Platelets to Reduce ABO Antibody Titer for ABO-Incompatibility Platelet Transfusion.

Introduction Platelet additive solutions (PASs) are nutrient media commonly used to replace and reduce the need for storage plasma. They are an alternative medium to maintain high-quality platelets lasting longer on the shelf for about seven days. Platelets with high titer of ABO antibody can pose a hemolytic transfusion reaction (HTR) risk if units are given across the ABO barrier.

Performance Comparison Between Conventional Fluorescent Spot Test and Quantitative Assay in Detecting G6PD Deficiency in Neonates.

Objectives: Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency is the most common enzymopathy worldwide. The fluorescent spot test (FST) is the conventional method for screening neonates for G6PD. However, it has limitations and quantitative assays such as the CareStart Biosensor 1 are being increasingly recommended.

Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) and Third-Generation Sequencing (TGS) for the Diagnosis of Thalassemia.

Thalassemia is one of the most heterogeneous diseases, with more than a thousand mutation types recorded worldwide. Molecular diagnosis of thalassemia by conventional PCR-based DNA analysis is time- and resource-consuming owing to the phenotype variability, disease complexity, and molecular diagnostic test limitations. Moreover, genetic counseling must be backed-up by an extensive diagnosis of the thalassemia-causing phenotype and the possible genetic modifiers.

Genetic Manipulation Strategies for β-Thalassemia: A Review.

Thalassemias are monogenic hematologic diseases that are classified as α- or β-thalassemia according to its quantitative abnormalities of adult α- or β-globin chains. β-thalassemia has widely spread throughout the world especially in Mediterranean countries, the Middle East, Central Asia, India, Southern China, and the Far East as well as countries along the north coast of Africa and in South America. The one and the only cure for β-thalassemia is allogenic hematopoietic stem cell transplantations (HSCT).

Epigenetic Insights and Potential Modifiers as Therapeutic Targets in -Thalassemia.

Thalassemia, an inherited quantitative globin disorder, consists of two types, α- and -thalassemia. -thalassemia is a heterogeneous disease that can be asymptomatic, mild, or even severe. Considerable research has focused on investigating its underlying etiology.

Elevated Circulating Microparticle Subpopulations in Incidental Cerebral White Matter Hyperintensities: A Multimodal Study.

Asymptomatic (or "silent") manifestations of cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD) are widely recognized through incidental findings of white matter hyperintensities (WMHs) as a result of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). This study aims to examine the potential associations of surrogate markers for the evaluation of white matter integrity in CSVD among asymptomatic individuals through a battery of profiling involving QRISK2 cardiocerebrovascular risk prediction, neuroimaging, neurocognitive evaluation, and microparticles (MPs) titers. Sixty asymptomatic subjects (mean age: 39.

Hemolytic Disease of Fetus and Newborn in a Primigravida with Multiple Alloantibodies Involving Anti-Jk and Anti-E: A Case Report.

The majority of hemolytic disease of the fetus and newborn (HDFN) reported in the literature is due to ABO and rhesus incompatibility. However, there are also other minor blood groups that have been identified as a cause of HDFN, although the occurrence is much rarer. The antibody screening program for D negative mother and the anti-D immunoglobulin treatment showed a significant reduction of the occurrence of HDFN secondary to anti-D.

Genetic polymorphisms of HbE/beta thalassemia related to clinical presentation: implications for clinical diversity.

HbE/Beta thalassemia (HbE/β-thalassemia) is one of the common genetic disorders in South East Asia. It is heterogeneous in its clinical presentation and molecular defects. There are genetic modifiers which have been reported to influence the disease severity of this disorder.

Extreme Thrombocytosis in a Child: Laboratory Approaches and Diagnostic Challenges.

Thrombocytosis in children as well as in adult is defined as platelet count ≥ 450 × 10/L, and it is usually a reactive feature to various medical disorders. However, extreme thrombocytosis (platelet count ≥ 1000 × 10/L) is an uncommon finding among pediatric and adult patients, which may indicate more than a reactive phenomenon. We describe a case of a five-year-old boy who was admitted due to recurrent epistaxis.

Physicochemical evaluation and in vitro hemocompatibility study on nanoporous hydroxyapatite.

Hydroxyapatite is an ideal biomaterial for bone tissue engineering due to its biocompatibility and hemocompatibility which have been widely studied by many researchers. The incorporation of nanoporosity into hydroxyapatite could transform the biomaterial into an effective adsorbent for uremic toxins removal especially in artificial kidney system. However, the effect of nanoporosity incorporation on the hemocompatibility of hydroxyapatite has yet to be answered.

Genetic analysis of the M2/ANXA5 haplotype as recurrent pregnancy loss predisposition in the Malay population.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate a new predisposition factor, M2/ANXA5 (RPRGL3), in recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL) patients of Malay origin, since it was previously known that the prevalence of this condition is relatively high among the Malay population of Malaysia, where conventional hereditary thrombophilia factors have been generally ruled out.

Methods: A total of 232 women who had experienced ≥2 unexplained RPL and 141 available male partners were recruited, with 360 healthy Malay and 166 parous female controls. Prevalence of M2 carriage and RPL odds ratios were calculated in (a) control and patient groups; (b) clinically defined subgroups in categories of pregnancy loss, primary, secondary, and tertiary; and (c) timing of pregnancy loss in early, ≤15th gestation week and "late" fetal losses, and >15th gestation week subgroups.

VKORC1 and CYP2C9 genotypic data-based dose prediction alone does not accurately predict warfarin dose requirements in some Malaysian patients.

Background/aim: VKORC1 and CYP2C9 genetic polymorphisms may not accurately predict warfarin dose requirements. We evaluated an existing warfarin dosing algorithm developed for Malaysian patients that was based only on VKORC1 and CYP2C9 genes.

Materials And Methods: Five Malay patients receiving warfarin maintenance therapy were investigated for their CYP2C9*2, CYP2C9*3, and VKORC1-1639G>A genotypes and their vitamin K-dependent (VKD) clotting factor activities.

The first Malay database toward the ethnic-specific target molecular variation.

Background: The Malaysian Node of the Human Variome Project (MyHVP) is one of the eighteen official Human Variome Project (HVP) country-specific nodes. Since its inception in 9(th) October 2010, MyHVP has attracted the significant number of Malaysian clinicians and researchers to participate and contribute their data to this project. MyHVP also act as the center of coordination for genotypic and phenotypic variation studies of the Malaysian population.

The effects of exposure to petrol vapours on growth, haematological parameters and oxidative markers in sprague-dawley male rats.

Background: Petrol is known to be hazardous to human health and is associated with various health effects, such as haematotoxicity and oxidative stress. Although Malaysia has adopted the European fuel quality standards in recent years in order to reduce petroleum pollutants and to improve air quality, gasoline with research octane number 95 (RON95), believed to contain benzene and other toxic substances, is still widely used all over the country. This study assessed the effect of RON95 gasoline on haemtological parameters of rats after 11 weeks of exposure.

Fibrinolytic activity and dose-dependent effect of incubating human blood clots in caffeic acid phenethyl ester: in vitro assays.

Background. Caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE) has been reported to possess time-dependent fibrinolytic activity by in vitro assay. This study is aimed at investigating fibrinolytic dose-dependent activity of CAPE using in vitro assays.

Multiplex amplification refractory mutation system (MARMS) for the detection of β-globin gene mutations among the transfusion-dependent β-thalassemia Malay patients in Kelantan, Northeast of Peninsular Malaysia.

The aim of this study was to adapt MARMS with some modifications to detect beta mutation in our cohort of thalassemia patients. We focused only on transfusion-dependent thalassemia Malay patients, the predominant ethnic group (95%) in the Kelantanese population. Eight mutations were identified in 46 out of 48 (95.

A new nested allele-specific multiplex polymerase chain reaction method for haplotyping of VKORC1 gene to predict warfarin sensitivity.

The vitamin K epoxide reductase complex 1 gene (VKORC1) is commonly assessed to predict warfarin sensitivity. In this study, a new nested allele-specific multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method that can simultaneously identify single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) at VKORC1 381, 861, 5808, and 9041 for haplotype analysis was developed and validated. Extracted DNA was amplified in the first PCR DNA, which was optimized by investigating the effects of varying the primer concentrations, annealing temperature, magnesium chloride concentration, enzyme concentration, and the amount of DNA template.

Polyphenols as key players for the antileukaemic effects of propolis.

Propolis (a bee product) which has a long history of medicinal use by humans has attracted a great deal of research interest in the recent time; this is due to its widely reported biological activities such as antiviral, antifungal, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and anticarcinogenic properties. Crude form of propolis and its phenolic contents have both been reported to exhibit antileukaemic effects in various leukaemia cell lines. The ability of the polyphenols found in propolis to arrest cell cycle and induce apoptosis and differentiation in addition to inhibition of cell growth and proliferation makes them promising antileukaemic agents, and hence, they are believed to be a key to the antileukaemic effects of propolis in different types of leukaemia.

In vitro whole blood clot lysis for fibrinolytic activity study using d-dimer and confocal microscopy.

This study aimed to evaluate in vitro whole blood (WB) clot lysis method for the assessment of fibrinolytic activity. Standardized unresected (uncut) retracted WB clot was incubated in pool platelet poor plasma (PPP) for varying incubation times and in streptokinase (SK) at different concentrations. The fibrinolytic activity was assessed by D-dimer (DD), confocal microscopy, and clot weight.

Anti-tumor activity of Eurycoma longifolia root extracts against K-562 cell line: in vitro and in vivo study.

Eurycoma longifolia Jack has been widely used in traditional medicine for its antimalarial, aphrodisiac, anti-diabetic, antimicrobial and anti-pyretic activities. Its anticancer activity has also been recently reported on different solid tumors, however no anti-leukemic activity of this plant has been reported. Thus the present study assesses the in vitro and in vivo anti-proliferative and apoptotic potentials of E.

Conventional rapid latex agglutination in estimation of von Willebrand factor: method revisited and potential clinical applications.

Measurement of von Willebrand factor antigen (VWF : Ag) levels is usually performed in a specialised laboratory which limits its application in routine clinical practice. So far, no commercial rapid test kit is available for VWF : Ag estimation. This paper discusses the technical aspect of latex agglutination method which was established to suit the purpose of estimating von Willebrand factor (VWF) levels in the plasma sample.

Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura: three peripartum cases and diagnostic challenges.

Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) is a medical emergency characterized by occlusive microangiopathy due to intravascular platelet aggregation. This event results in damage to the red blood cells (RBCs) known as microangiopathic hemolytic anemia (MAHA). Schistocytes are circulating fragments of damaged RBCs that have different morphological features including keratocytes, helmet cells, and spherocytes.

Increased PAC-1 expression among patients with multiple myeloma on concurrent thalidomide and warfarin.

Treatment with thalidomide is associated with vascular thrombosis. The effect of thalidomide on platelet activation is unclear, although the use of aspirin is justified for thromboprophylaxis. A study on platelet activation markers was done among multiple myeloma patients receiving thalidomide therapy with warfarin as thromboprophylaxis.