Blood Weekly articles from March 2002

Blood Weekly archives from March 2002

Complete immune recovery likely after cord blood grafts.
March 7, 2002... 2002 MAR 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Researchers in the United States and France say that patients who receive stem cells taken from umbilical cord blood can achieve complete immune recovery. ...

Splenectomy is best way to treat idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura.
March 7, 2002... 2002 MAR 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Removal of the spleen is the only way to completely resolve idiopathic thrombocytopenia purpura, researchers in the Netherlands find. "Idiopathic...

P-selectin glycoprotein ligand mutations affect cerebrovascular disease risk.
March 7, 2002... 2002 MAR 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Mutations in the gene coding for P-selectin glycoprotein ligand may affect the risk of stroke and similar conditions, researchers in Spain warn. ...

Nutritional status low among Koreans attending hemodialysis centers.
March 7, 2002... 2002 MAR 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, senior medical writer - A review of nutritional status among those attending hemodialysis centers in Korea indicates clinicians may need to provide a greater depth of care to their...

Blood test may catch disease in early stages.
March 7, 2002... 2002 MAR 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A sensitive and noninvasive computer-assisted technique that assesses proteomic patterns in blood could be a step toward effective screening for ovarian cancer, conclude authors of a fast-track study...

Antiretroviral therapy lowers coagulation-related activity.
March 7, 2002... 2002 MAR 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Antiretroviral therapy reduces levels of vascular activation markers in HIV patients, researchers in Switzerland report. Dr. Katja Wolf and colleagues at...

Monocytes can act as viral reservoir in HAART patients.
March 7, 2002... 2002 MAR 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - HIV can infect monocytes in patients treated with highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), researchers in the United States report. "In vitro studies...

Canada lags in use of blood conservation techniques.
March 7, 2002... 2002 MAR 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The use of blood conservation techniques in elective surgery reduces the risk of infection and transfusion reactions that result from using allogeneic blood products, but Brian Feagan and colleagues...

Breakthrough blood platelet storage technology boosts usability, limits infection risk.
March 7, 2002... 2002 MAR 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- HyperBaric Systems has confirmed that its proprietary preservation technology extends the life and purity of blood platelets, the human cells that congeal to stop bleeding. Blood platelets, the...

Engineered cells expand, produce therapeutic levels of coagulation factor.
March 7, 2002... 2002 MAR 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, senior medical writer - Using gene transfer technology, investigators in Minneapolis, Minnesota, have reengineered human blood outgrowth endothelial cells (BOECs) that can expand and...

Avigen proceeds with liver infusion of Coagulin-B therapy.
March 7, 2002... 2002 MAR 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Avigen, Inc., (AVGN) is proceeding with the liver delivery clinical trial of Coagulin-B, its gene therapy product for hemophilia B. The second clinical trial participant has been treated. In this...

Tumor suppressor genes can block leukemic cell proliferation.
March 7, 2002... 2002 MAR 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Forcing leukemic cells to express tumor suppressor genes impairs their ability to proliferate, researchers in China report. "The tumor suppressor genes p53...

Autologous stem cell grafts alter Th1/Th2 balance.
March 7, 2002... 2002 MAR 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Autologous stem cell transplantation alters the makeup of helper T-cell populations in non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) patients, according to researchers in Japan....

Groups want to address need for better definition and monitoring.
March 7, 2002... 2002 MAR 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- With the advent of new therapeutic agents coming on the market to treat sepsis, physicians need to better understand and monitor the progress of sepsis, the number one cause of death in the noncoronary...

Bone marrow T cells do not induce graft-versus-host reaction.
March 7, 2002... 2002 MAR 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - T lymphocytes from bone marrow may be beneficial when administered as part of hematopoietic stem cell grafts, researchers in the United States report. Dr....

Removing T-cell receptor[superscript]+ cells from graft improves outcome.
March 7, 2002... 2002 MAR 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Hematopoietic stem cell grafts depleted of T-cell receptor[superscript]+ cells are less likely to cause complications, researchers in the United States report....

Antioxidants protect malignant cells in vivo.
March 21, 2002... 2002 MAR 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Researchers in the United Kingdom may have provided an explanation for the curious survival patterns of some leukemia cells. "Chronic lymphocytic leukemia...

Stem cell factor reduces thrombopoietin-induced cord blood cell death.
March 21, 2002... 2002 MAR 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Stem cell factor (SCF) could make a useful addition to thrombopoietin-based cord blood stem cell expansion, according to researchers in South Korea. ...

Autologous bone marrow cells appropriate for directed gene therapies.
March 21, 2002... 2002 MAR 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, senior medical writer - Bone marrow cells isolated from patients with acute myelogenous (myeloid) leukemia may prove to play significant roles in directed gene therapies. More...

Blood lactate measurement could lead to earlier identification of transplant candidates.
March 21, 2002... 2002 MAR 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Arterial blood lactate measurement could rapidly and accurately identify patients who might die from paracetamol-induced acute liver failure, conclude authors of a study in the February 13, 2002 issue...

Idiotype-pulsed dendritic cell vaccination effective.
March 21, 2002... 2002 MAR 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Dendritic cells (DCs) engineered to carry B-cell, lymphoma-specific antigens can help patients fight off malignancy, researchers in the United States say. ...

Some dialysis patients have life-threatening reaction to hormone.
March 21, 2002... 2002 MAR 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- French researchers say that a hormone widely used to treat anemia inexplicably triggered a life-threatening reaction in some kidney dialysis patients and left them needing weekly blood transfusions....

Fat tissue contributes to leg aneurysms in obese patients.
March 21, 2002... 2002 MAR 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Terry Hartnett, senior medical writer - Chronic swelling of the extremities in obesity may not be as benign as thought, according to a report from Switzerland. "Multiple microlymphatic aneurysms...

Texan infected with HIV from donor.
March 21, 2002... 2002 MAR 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A Texas ranch hand undergoing surgery was infected with the AIDS virus in what is believed to be the first U.S. case of the virus being transmitted through donated blood since rigorous new HIV...

Vascular Solutions announces FDA clearance, U.S. launch of two blood products.
March 21, 2002... 2002 MAR 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Vascular Solutions, Inc., (VASC) reported that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the PMA Supplement for the Diagnostic Duett sealing device. The U.S. launch of the Diagnostic...

Medical experts unite to raise awareness of risk, threat of blood clots.
March 21, 2002... 2002 MAR 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Calling deep-vein thrombosis (DVT) an underestimated public health problem, the Council for Leadership On Thrombosis (CLOT) Awareness and Management announced its formation to raise awareness, advance...

Childhood stroke deaths drop but still higher among blacks.
March 21, 2002... 2002 MAR 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Stroke deaths for children have declined sharply, but black children have higher stroke death rates than other youngsters, according to research presented at the American Stroke Association's 27th...

Hepatitis C prevalent in patients receiving transfusion for sickle cell.
March 21, 2002... 2002 MAR 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, senior medical writer - Patients with sickle cell disease may be at greater risk for acquiring viral hepatitis from the blood transfusions they sometimes need, but testing has shown...

Rituximab effective for in vivo stem cell graft purging.
March 21, 2002... 2002 MAR 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - The anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody rituximab can help purify stem cell grafts used to treat mantle cell lymphoma patients, according to researchers in Italy....

BD signs licensing agreement for Lasette laser-assisted blood sampling.
March 21, 2002... 2002 MAR 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Cell Robotics International, Inc., (CRII) announced that it has extended its intellectual property coverage of the Lasette product line by licensing a key patent from BD. Specific terms and conditions...

Vaccine reduces bloodstream infections by nearly 60%.
March 21, 2002... 2002 MAR 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A single injection of a first-of-its-kind experimental vaccine, Nabi StaphVAX (Staphylococcus aureus polysaccharide conjugate vaccine), reduced bloodstream infections caused by the often drug-resistant...

Low white blood cell counts seen in semiconductor plant workers.
March 28, 2002... 1902 MAR 28 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - People involved in semiconductor manufacture have a heightened risk of low white blood cell counts, researchers in Taiwan warn. Dr. Jiin-Chyuan John Luo...

STAT5 enables long-term lymphomyeloid recovery.
March 28, 2002... 1902 MAR 28 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - The transcription factor STAT5 regulates the ability of transplanted stem cells to effect hematopoietic recovery in their new host, researchers say. ...

Localized grafts can induce skin graft tolerance.
March 28, 2002... 1902 MAR 28 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Localized infusions of donated bone marrow stem cells can efficiently induce tolerance to skin grafts from the same donor, according to a researcher in the...

Improvements needed for collecting postmortem samples from potential donors.
March 28, 2002... 1902 MAR 28 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, senior medical writer - Sampling and testing mechanisms designed to catch transmittable viral infections in potential organ and cornea donors need improvement, a group in France...

Raising factor VIIa affinity improves effects of mutant soluble tissue factor.
March 28, 2002... 1902 MAR 28 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - The anticoagulatory effects of mutant soluble tissue factor can be enhanced by introducing further mutations into the protein, researchers say. "We have...

Adoptive immunotherapy effective in animals.
March 28, 2002... 1902 MAR 28 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Reinfusion of HIV-naive immune cells after infection may enable long-term disease control, researchers report. Dr. Francois Villinger and colleagues at...

Preliminary research suggests potential nitric oxide link to cocoa consumption.
March 28, 2002... 1902 MAR 28 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The latest research suggests that consumption of a cocoa rich in flavonols, a subgroup of naturally occurring flavonoids, may be associated with the modulation of nitric oxide. Nitric oxide is a...

University of Minnesota making advances in stem cell research.
March 28, 2002... 1902 MAR 28 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Stem cells isolated from adult bone marrow can be coaxed into becoming the type of cells that line blood vessels, which may hold promise for future treatments of cancer, coronary artery disease and...

Rubicon Medical completes successful feasibility testing of Rubicon Embolic Filter.
March 28, 2002... 1902 MAR 28 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Rubicon Medical Corp., (RMDC), a Salt Lake City, Utah-based developer and manufacturer of medical devices and products, announced that it has successfully completed the feasibility testing of the...

Early detection and treatment key in iron overload, concomitant conditions complicate outcome.
March 28, 2002... 1902 MAR 28 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Carol K. Kohn, senior medical writer - Early detection and adequate treatment can enhance survival in hereditary hemochromatosis, iron overload, say researchers in Denmark. "Adequate phlebotomy...

Modified partial thromboplastin time test can measure low factor VIII levels.
March 28, 2002... 1902 MAR 28 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - A modified version of the activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT) clotting assay can be used to measure extremely low levels of factor VIII (FVIII:C)...

Studies may herald successful gene therapies.
March 28, 2002... 1902 MAR 28 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Researchers are advancing on the goal of successfully using gene therapy to treat the crippling bleeding disorder hemophilia, Katherine A. High, MD, told the American Association for the Advancement of...

M. avium infection lowers macrophage cytokine output.
March 28, 2002... 1902 MAR 28 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Michael Greer, senior medical writer - Mycobacteria avium infection reduces the output of a key antibacterial cytokine by immune cells, researchers in the United States report. "Interleukin-12...

Cyclists' 'blood doping' associated with cerebral blood clots.
March 28, 2002... 1902 MAR 28 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A recent case study has associated cerebral sinus thrombosis, a condition that may lead to tissue death in the brain, with the practice of "blood doping." Blood doping is the use of human growth...

Despite advances in laser therapy, old standby procedure remains best treatment for varicose, spider leg veins.
March 28, 2002... 1902 MAR 28 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Lynn Yoffee, senior medical writer - Unsightly and painful leg veins affect up to 50% of the population by the time they reach middle age. Hormonal influences at menopause mean that women are more...

Study finds procedure effective in removing facial veins.
March 28, 2002... 1902 MAR 28 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Lynn Yoffee, senior medical writer - Until recently, sclerotherapy has been used primarily to remove unwanted blood vessels ranging in size from .2 mm (spider veins) to 6 mm (varicose veins) from...

WHO starts testing program for HIV/AIDS in Afghanistan.
March 28, 2002... 1902 MAR 28 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The United Nations health agency says it is planning to survey the level of HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases in Afghanistan and encourage testing of donated blood before transfusions. ...