Hb synthesis of human leukemia derived cell lines

K562 is a pluripotent human leukemia cell line that spontaneously produces variable numbers of hemoglobinized progeny. The production of Hb by K562 cells is usually enhanced by Heroin and some other compounds. Hemin stimulates the production of the embryonic Hb Gower I (or ε2ζ2), Hb Gower II (or α2ε2), Hb Gower III (or ε2γ2) and Hb Portland I (or ζ2γ2) and the fetal Hb F (or α2γ2) and Hb Bart's (or γ4). They γ globins are a mixture of Gγ, AγI and AγT globins.peer-reviewe

Oncology during the COVID-19 pandemic: challenges, dilemmas and the psychosocial impact on cancer patients.

COVID-19 has caused unprecedented societal turmoil, triggering a rapid, still ongoing, transformation of healthcare provision on a global level. In this new landscape, it is highly important to acknowledge the challenges this pandemic poses on the care of the particularly vulnerable cancer patients and the subsequent psychosocial impact on them. We have outlined our clinical experience in managing patients with gastrointestinal, hematological, gynaecological, dermatological, neurological, thyroid, lung and paediatric cancers in the COVID-19 era and have reviewed the emerging literature around barriers to care of oncology patients and how this crisis affects them. Moreover, evolving treatment strategies and novel ways of addressing the needs of oncology patients in the new context of the pandemic are discussed

The journal of immunology.

Title from cover.Mode of access: Internet.Official organ of: Society for Serology and Hematology, and: American Association of Immunologists, 1916-1921.Continued in 1943 by: Journal of immunology, virus-research & experimental chemotherapy.UPDATE

Impact of being overweight on factor VIII dosing in 72 children with severe hemophilia A treated with Advate®, Kogenate® FS or Refacto AF®/Xyntha®

Introduction: The treatment of hemophilia A (HA) requires infusions of factor VIII (FVIII) concentrates. The number of FVIII units infused in order to obtain a specific circulating FVIII level is calculated with the formula: [body weight (BW) (kg) × desired FVIII increase (%)] / 2, with the assumption that each unit of FVIII infused per kg of BW increases the circulating FVIII level by 2 %. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the impact of several morphometrical parameters (BW, body mass index (BMI), BMI-for-age, fat mass index (FMI), height), age and type of coagulation factor concentrate on the FVIII recovery in a large group of children with severe haemophilia A who had previously taken part in pharmacokinetic studies using Advate®, Kogenate FS® or ReFacto AF/Xyntha®. Methods: A total of 72 children aged between 6 and 17 with severe HA carefully selected from 7 pharmacokinetic clinical trials using three recombinant FVIII concentrates were included in the analysis. The FVIII recovery was calculated using the maximum FVIII concentration measured at 15 and 30 minutes after infusion. Regression tree (RT) was used to identify predictors of FVIII recovery. RT-based models are non-linear and non-parametric alternatives to linear models for regression problems. Results: The median age was 14.5 years with a median FVIII recovery of 2.09 for all patients. The median FVIII recovery was not significantly different between the 3 coagulation factor groups (p=0.542) but was significantly different between BMI-for-age percentiles groups (p<0.001) with a median FVIII recovery of 1.53, 1.93, 2.15 and 2.59 for underweight, normal, overweight and obese children, respectively. The median age was similar in these 4 groups (p=0.930). In multivariate analysis, 2 groups were created by RT: patients with a BMI-for-age percentile < P95 (Group 1; Median [P25; P75] FVIII recovery: 1.94 [1.57; 2.21]) and patients with a BMI-for-age percentile ≥ P95 (Group 2; Median [P25; P75] FVIII recovery: 2.59 [2.39; 2.75]). The FVIII recovery was significantly different between these two groups (P<0.001). Conclusions: The BMI-for-age emerged as the strongest predictor of FVIII recovery in children aged between 6 and 17, with a cut-off value at the 95th percentile. Our findings support that dose calculation of FVIII to reach a specific FVIII target level should be adapted in overweight children since only a small fraction of FVIII distributes outside the vascular system. These results are consistent with previous studies conducted in adults with HA, and confirm that the long-held and current practice of applying an arbitrary and universal recovery of 2 to the calculations of FVIII dosage should be abolished