A study on the MIC of antibiotics for Propionibacterium acnes in patients with acne

Background. Propionibacterium acnes plays an important role in the development of inflammatory acne, and inflammatory lesions are improved by oral and topical antibiotics. But as P. acnes frequently develop resistance to antibiotics in patients receiving long-term systemic antibiotic therapy, the therapeutic effects diminish, and eventually therapy fails. Objective. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the general susceptibility of P. acnes to antibiotics and the difference in the MIC depending on the use of oral and/or topical antibiotics, therapeutic effects and disease duration in patients with acne vulgaris. Methods. We used twenty-six strains of P. acnes which were obtained from patients with acne and performed susceptibility testing for antibiotics using the E test procedure. Results. 1. The growth of P. acnes was completely inhibited by erythromycin and chloramphenicol at concentrations of 0.023 μg/ml and 0.064 μg/ml, respectively, by cefoxitin at 0.094 μg/ml, and by tetracycline and clindamycin at 0.190 μg/ml. 2. P. acnes was most susceptible to erythromycin, and followed by chloramphenicol, cefoxitin, tetracycline, clindamycin in order of decreasing susceptibility. 3. There were no significant differences in the MIC in relation to previous antibiotic treatment. 4. For tetracycline, the MIC was significantly lower (p < 0.01) in patients who improved after treatment. 5. For tetracycline and chloramphenicol, the MIC was significantly lower (p < 0.05) in patients with less than 2 years disease duration. Conclusion: The susceptibility of antibiotics for P. acnes was highest in erythromycin. There were no significant differences in the MIC in relation to previous antibiotic treatment, and for some antibiotics the susceptibility was low in patients who did not show clinical improvement or who had long disease duration

Pseudoeosinophilia associated with malaria infection determined in the Sysmex XE-2100 hematology analyzer

Hemozoin is known to be an end product of hemoglobin digestion by the malaria parasite. Hemozoin is a birefringent crystal, and thus hemozoin-containing white blood cells (WBCs) may show the atypical light scattering pattern. The purpose of this study was to investigate pseudoeosinophilia associated with malaria infection using a Sysmex XE-2100 hematology analyzer (Sysmex Corporation, Kobe, Japan). The study group included 16 patients with malaria infection. Of these, 38% showed erroneously high eosinophil counts and atypical eosinophil distributions in the WBCs scattergram, which was due to the presence of hemozoin-containing neutrophils. In two patients, their erroneously high eosinophil counts declined as the parasitemia decreased with treatment. In conclusion, hematologists should consider the possibility of pseudoeosinophilia as a result of hemozoin-containing WBCs and confirm the WBC differential count by microscopy in cases of malaria infection. © Springer-Verlag 2004

Characteristics of acute myeloid leukemia without HLA-DR expression.

BACKGROUND: HLA-DR negativity is known to be useful for distinguishing acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) from other subtypes of AML, but non-APL cases without HLA-DR antigen expression have been reported. The purpose of this study was to evaluate and compare the characteristics of APL, HLA-DR negative non-APL, and HLA-DR positive non-APL cases. METHODS: A total of 114 cases of AML admitted at Ewha Womans University, Mokdong Hospital between March 1997 and June 2006 were included in this study. A diagnosis of AML was made based on the results of morphology, cytochemistry, immunophenotype, cytogenetics, and/or fluorescence in situ hybridization. RESULTS: Among the 114 AML patients, HLA-DR antigen was not expressed in 39 (34%), including 24 non-APL (62%) and 15 APL patients (38%). The HLA-DR negative non-APL group showed higher leukocyte counts and positive rate of CD19 expression than did APL group (P<0.05). The remaining laboratory findings were not statistically different between the HLA-DR negative non-APL and APL groups. CD34 expression was more frequent in the HLA-DR positive non-APL group than in the HLA-DR negative non-APL group and APL group. Of the 24 patients with HLA-DR negative non-APL, 7 patients had disseminated intravascular coagulation and 2 patients showed morphologic features similar to those of APL. CONCLUSIONS: CD19 expression and leukocyte count may be helpful for differentiating HLA-DR negative non-APL from APL. However, the final diagnosis and classification should be confirmed by cytogenetic or molecular studies

Letter to the Editor

[No abstract available

VEGFA and VEGFR2 genetic polymorphisms and survival in patients with diffuse large b cell lymphoma

We evaluated the impact of functional polymorphisms in the vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGFA) and vascular endothelial growth factor 2 (VEGFR2) genes on the survival of patients with diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL). Five potentially functional polymorphisms in the VEGFA (rs699947, rs2010963 and rs3025039) and VEGFR2 (rs1870377 and rs2305948) genes were assessed in 494 DLBCL patients treated with rituximab plus CHOP chemotherapy. The associations of genotype and haplotype with overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) were analyzed. Of the five polymorphisms, VEGFR2 rs1870377T>A was significantly associated with both OS and PFS; in the dominant model, patients with the AA + TA genotypes had significantly better OS (P = 0.002) and PFS (P = 0.004) than those with the TT genotype. The association between significantly better OS and the AA + TA genotypes was observed separately in patients with low (0-2; P = 0.035) and high (3-5; P = 0.043) International Prognostic Index scores. Multivariate analysis showed that, relative to the AA + TA genotypes, the TT genotype was an independent prognostic factor for poor OS (HR, 1.71; 95% CI, 1.21-2.43; P = 0.002) and PFS (HR, 1.57; 1.13-2.17; P = 0.004). Other independent significant predictors of survival in patients with DLBCL were International Prognostic Index score, age > 60 years, lactate dehydrogenase concentration >normal, extranodal disease >1 and presence of B symptoms. The VEGFR2 rs1870377 polymorphism might affect survival in patients with DLBCL, suggesting that angiogenesis might be related to poor survival in these patients. © 2011 Japanese Cancer Association

Mutation analysis of BRCA1 and BRCA2 from 793 Korean patients with sporadic breast cancer

To investigate the role of BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations in Korean patients with sporadic breast cancer, 793 breast cancer patients were analyzed by denaturing high performance liquid chromatography and direct sequencing. The 793 breast cancer patients enrolled in this study had no family history of affected first- or second-degree relatives with breast and/or ovarian cancer. Seventy-nine different sequence variations were identified, of which 34 were novel. Fifteen deleterious mutations were detected in 20 out of 793 patients (2.5%): 11 frameshift mutations and 4 nonsense mutations (seven in BRCA1 and eight in BRCA2), and no recurrent or founder mutations were observed in BRCA mutation screening. However, three mutations (K467X, 3972delTGAG, and R2494X in BRCA2) were identified in other studies of the Korean population. Of 793 patients, the clinicopathological information was obtained in 135 patients, who included 20 deleterious mutation-positive and 115 deleterious mutation-negative groups. The median age at diagnosis, histologic type, histologic grade and T stage did not show statistically significant difference between these two groups. BRCA-mutation-associated tumors showed lower estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor, and HER-2/neu but higher p53 expression. Although poor prognostic features were noted in BRCA-associated tumors, we did not find statistically significant differences. The present study will be helpful in the evaluation of the need for the genetic screening of germline BRCA mutations and reliable genetic counseling for sporadic breast cancer patients. © 2006 The Authors Journal compilation

Characteristics of myelodysplastic syndrome, unclassifiable by WHO classification 2008

[No abstract available

Incidence and clinical significance of sex chromosome losses in bone marrow of patients with hematologic diseases

BACKGROUND: Loss of sex chromosomes in bone marrow is observed both in elderly persons as an aging phenomenon and in patients with hematologic malignancies. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the incidence and clinical significance of sex chromosome losses in patients with hematologic diseases, comparing the characteristics between patients with sole and secondary sex chromosome losses in conjunction with other chromosomal abnormalities. METHODS: Study group included 868 patients with hematologic diseases between June 1998 and May 2006. The cells of bone marrow aspirates were processed using unstimulated culture methods such as direct, 24-hr and/or 48-hr culture. Sex chromosome losses were included in the karyotype, when X or Y chromosome loss is observed in more than 2 metaphase cells. RESULTS: The sex chromosome losses in bone marrow were found in 5.1% of the patients and 1.8% showed sex chromosome losses as a sole chromosomal abnormality. According to the disease categories, the incidences of sex chromosome losses were as follows: acute myelogenous leukemia (AML), 9.5%; acute lymphoblastic leukemia, 0%; myelodysplastic syndrome, 6.0%; chronic myelogenous leukemia 3.6%; myeloproliferative disorders, 1.3%; multiple myeloma (MM), 13.0%; chronic lymphocytic leukemia, 0%; malignant lymphoma, 3.8%; and benign hematologic diseases 2.2%. The patients with sex chromosome losses as a sole chromosomal abnormality were all male and median age was higher than that of patients with sex chromosome losses as a secondary abnormality (64 vs. 58 yr, P=0.02). The proportion of metaphase cells with sex chromosome losses was significantly lower in patients with sex chromosome losses as a sole chromosomal abnormality (40% vs. 100%, P<0.0001). The changes of sex chromosome loss were correlated with the disease status of AML and MM. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that secondary sex chromosome losses in conjunction with other chromosomal abnormalities seem to be one of the clonal abnormalities, whereas sex chromosome losses as a sole change seem to be an aging phenomenon, but further studies are needed

Minimally differentiated acute myelogenous leukemia presented with multiple cervical lymphadenopathy

Lymphadenopathy is a relatively uncommon finding of minimally differentiated acute myelogenous leukemia(AML-M0). We experienced a case of AML-M0 in a 57-year-dd man initially presented with multiple cervical lymphadenopathy. Bone marrow aspiration revealed myeloblasts, which were negative for myeloperoxidase, Sudan black B, Periodic acid-Schiff, non-specific esterase and double esterase reaction. In cell surface marker studies, CD13, CD14, CD33, CD34, CD45 and HLA-DR were present. CT scan of neck demonstrated multiple lymphadenopathy at both internal jugular chains, spinal accessary chains and submandibular area. He died about two weeks after diagnosis without specific treatment