Persons with Chronic Spinal Cord Injury Have Decreased Natural Killer Cell and Increased Toll-Like Receptor/Inflammatory Gene Expression.

Infections are the leading cause of death for individuals with traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI). Along with increased infection rates, inflammation is often also observed in persons with chronic SCI. Together, immunological changes post-SCI are also poised to impede neurological recovery and mediate common medical consequences of SCI, including atherogenesis and neuropathic pain.

Feasibility of Bioprinting with a Modified Desktop 3D Printer.

Numerous studies have shown the capabilities of three-dimensional (3D) printing for use in the medical industry. At the time of this publication, basic home desktop 3D printer kits can cost as little as $300, whereas medical-specific 3D bioprinters can cost more than $300,000. The purpose of this study is to show how a commercially available desktop 3D printer could be modified to bioprint an engineered poly-l-lactic acid scaffold containing viable chondrocytes in a bioink.

Clozapine-induced agranulocytosis is associated with rare HLA-DQB1 and HLA-B alleles.

Clozapine is a particularly effective antipsychotic medication but its use is curtailed by the risk of clozapine-induced agranulocytosis/granulocytopenia (CIAG), a severe adverse drug reaction occurring in up to 1% of treated individuals. Identifying genetic risk factors for CIAG could enable safer and more widespread use of clozapine. Here we perform the largest and most comprehensive genetic study of CIAG to date by interrogating 163 cases using genome-wide genotyping and whole-exome sequencing.