Transitional cell carcinoma has rarely been reported to be associated with disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC). We report a 55-year-old Chinese man who was diagnosed with transitional cell carcinoma with vertebral metastasis. He presented with severe anaemia and thrombocytopenia, and subsequent evaluation revealed features of DIC. Interestingly, he did not have fever, any localising symptoms or signs of infection. He was treated aggressively with transfusion of packed cells, platelets, intravenous vitamin K and fresh frozen plasma. Despite aggressive treatment, the coagulation abnormalities were resistant to correction. The patient continued to deteriorate and eventually died of cardiac arrest. This case illustrates that transitional cell carcinoma can also be associated with DIC, possibly due to the expression of certain unidentified procoagulant factors similar to the tissue factor responsible for DIC.
Anemia ; etiology ; Carcinoma, Transitional Cell ; blood ; complications ; Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation ; etiology ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Ureteral Neoplasms ; blood ; complications

OBJECTIVETo study the expression of Foxp3 and NFAT1 protein in peripheral blood (PB) in children with aplastic anemia (AA) and their roles in the pathogenesis of AA.

METHODSThe expression levels of Foxp3 and NFAT1 protein of mononuclear cells in PB were measured by Western blot in 68 children with AA before and after treatment and in 60 normal children (control group). The correlation between Foxp3 and NFAT1 protein expression and the correlation of the Foxp3 and NFAT1 protein expression with blood Hb, WBC and platelet levels were analyzed.

RESULTSThe expression levels of Foxp3 and NFAT1 protein in PB in the acute phase in the AA group were significantly lower than in the control group (P<0.05). After treatment (recovery phase) the expression levels of Foxp3 and NFAT1 protein increased obviously compared with those in the acute phase (P<0.05). The Foxp3 protein level was positively correlated with the NFAT1 protein level (r=0.812, P<0.05). Both the Foxp3 and NFAT1 protein levels were positively correlated with blood Hb, WBC and platelet levels in children with AA in the recovery phase (r=0.537, 0.579, 0.655 respectively; P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONSThe Foxp3 and NFAT1 protein levels in PB are reduced in children with AA, suggesting that they are involved in the pathogenesis of AA. The measurement of Foxp3 and NFAT1 protein levels may be useful in the severity evaluation of AA.

Adolescent ; Anemia, Aplastic ; blood ; etiology ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; Forkhead Transcription Factors ; blood ; Humans ; Male ; NFATC Transcription Factors ; blood

Anemia, Hemolytic ; etiology ; Humans ; Hypercholesterolemia ; blood ; complications ; Intestinal Diseases ; blood ; complications ; Lipid Metabolism, Inborn Errors ; blood ; complications ; Phytosterols ; adverse effects ; blood ; Thrombocytopenia ; etiology

A male infant, whose weight was 1 120 g at 28
Anemia ; Blood Transfusion ; Enterocolitis, Necrotizing/etiology* ; Gestational Age ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Male ; Premature Birth

In thirty patients with acute leukemia and severe aplastic anemia receiving random single donor platelet transfusions, the development of refractoriness by consecutive platelet transfusions with cytapheresis and its relationship to the appearance of anti-platelet antibodies were investigated. The median number of platelet transfusions inducing refractoriness was 13 times, and 20% of the patients remained unrefractory despite of the repeated multiple platelet transfusions up to 20 to 25 times. The results of anti-platelet antibody tasts by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA) and immunofluorescent techniques(IFT) showed no statistically significant relationship with the refractoriness (p greater than 0.1). Although there was significant correlation between the results of ELISA and IFT, both tests were insufficient to find out refractoriness even with the use of pooled platelets from multiple donors as target cells. This study shows that 13 single donor platelet transfusions result in refractoriness, that both ELISA and IFT are insufficient to detect refractoriness despite of their significant correlation, and that other methods than these are needed in order to detect alloimmunization.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Anemia, Aplastic/therapy ; Anemia, Refractory/*etiology ; Antibodies/metabolism ; *Blood Platelets/immunology ; *Blood Transfusion ; Female ; Humans ; Leukemia/therapy ; Male ; Middle Aged

This study was purposed to investigate the role of cytokines in pathogenesis of lymphoma-associated anemia. The levels of IFN-γ, IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α and EPO in serum from 45 lymphoma patients and 12 normal controls were detected by using ELISA, the EPOR level on bone marrow cells were detected by flow cytometry, the CFU-E of bone marrow cultured in vitro was counted under inverted microscope. The results showed that 25 (55.6%) out of 45 newly diagnosed lymphoma patients had anemia before diagnosis, 13 (28.9%) had anemia during therapy, 7 (15.5%)never had anemia. The IFN-γ and TNF-α levels in serum of patients with moderate and severe anemia were significantly higher than those in patients with mild anemia and without anemia as well as normal controls. The EPO, IL-6 and IFN-γ levels correlated negatively with Hb concentration in patients, the EPOR level in patients without anemia significantly higher than that in patients with anemia and normal controls. The bone marrow CFU-E amount in patients showed positive correlation with Hb and EPOR levels. It is concluded that the increased IFN-γ, TNF-α and IL-6 may contribute to the anemia in lymphoma, and yet the EPO and EPOR levels are elevated to balance negative regulatory effects on hematopoiesis and maintain normal hematopoiesis.
Adult ; Aged ; Anemia ; blood ; etiology ; pathology ; Case-Control Studies ; Cytokines ; blood ; Erythropoietin ; blood ; Female ; Humans ; Interferon-gamma ; blood ; Interleukin-1 ; blood ; Interleukin-6 ; blood ; Lymphoma ; blood ; complications ; pathology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Receptors, Erythropoietin ; blood ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha ; blood

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the risks and benefits of two transfusion strategies (liberal-transfusion and restrictive-transfusion), as judged by the clinical progress and outcome, in very low birth weight infants.

METHODSThe clinical data of 93 hospitalized very low birth weight infants who required blood transfusions were retrospectively studied. The infants were assigned to either the liberal transfusion group (n=58), with higher hematocrit levels, or the restrictive-transfusion group (n=35), with lower hematocrit levels.

RESULTSThe infants in the restrictive-transfusion group received more numbers of RBC transfusions compared with the liberal-transfusion group (2.6+/-1.8 vs 1.8+/-1.0; p<0.05). Liberal-transfusion was associated with faster weight gain and the duration to return to the birth weight averaged 10 days in the liberal-transfusion group compared with 13 days in the restrictive-transfusion group (p<0.01). The infants in the liberal-transfusion group had shorter duration of mechanical ventilation than in the restrictive-transfusion group (5.5+/-4.2 days vs 8.0+/- 5.9 days; p<0.05). There were no significant differences in the incidence of apnea and nosocomial infections between two groups.

CONCLUSIONSThe study suggests the possible benefits from liberal-transfusion for clinical recovery in very low birth weight infants. The restrictive transfusion does not decrease the number of transfusions. It in fact increases the number of clinical indicated transfusions. Neonatologists should weigh the advantages and disadvantages on transfusions to make the optimal decision.

Anemia ; etiology ; therapy ; Blood Transfusion ; methods ; Erythrocyte Transfusion ; Female ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Infant, Very Low Birth Weight ; Male ; Retrospective Studies

Evaluation of the mechanism of anemia in cancer patients might help to select patients for the more efficient use of erythropoietin (EPO, a growth factor for erythroid precursor cells). For this, we investigated whether the production of EPO responds to anemia and the bone marrow responds to EPO appropriately, and whether chronic inflammation is inhibitory to erythropoiesis in anemic cancer children. Serum levels of EPO, soluble transferrin receptor (sTfR), tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha, and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) in anemic cancer children were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and then the correlation coefficients between those parameters and hemoglobin (Hb) were determined. Both in leukemia and in solid tumor patients, there were significant inverse correlations between Hb and EPO (leukemia: tau=-0.547, p<0.0001; solid tumor: tau=-0.591, p<0.0001), and between sTfR and EPO (leukemia: tau=-0.223, p<0.05; solid tumor: tau=-0.401, p<0.05). In contrast, sTfR showed a correlation with Hb in leukemia (tau=0.216, p<0.05) but not in solid tumor patients. sTfR was suppressed in 53% of anemic episodes of leukemia and 78% of those of solid tumor patients. Our results suggest that in cancer children, the EPO production is not defective and chronic inflammation is not inhibitory to erythropoiesis. Rather, the defective erythropoiesis itself is thought to be responsible for the anemia.
Anemia/etiology/*physiopathology ; Blood Sedimentation ; Bone Marrow/physiology ; Child ; Erythropoiesis/*physiology ; Erythropoietin/blood ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Neoplasms/complications/*physiopathology ; Receptors, Transferrin/blood ; Solubility ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha/metabolism

OBJECTIVETo explore the potential decrease of serum erythropoietin (EPO) level in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) complicated with anemia.

METHODSThe serum EPO levels were detected in the patients with MS complicated with anemia (MS group, n=31), patients with iron deficiency anemia (IDA group, n=33), and healthy subjects (normal control group, n=80) by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Blood routine test, reticulocyte count, hemoglobin, and indexes of liver and kidney function were also detected.

RESULTSThe serum EPO level in MS group was significantly lower than those in IDA group [(101.3±17.6)U/L vs.(166.1±8.7)U/L, P<0.01]. Moreover, the serum EPO level decreased as the severity of anemia in the MS group increased: it was (95.7±9.6), (101.7±8.1), and (123.7±9.3) U/L in patients with mild, moderate, and severe anemia, respectively (P<0.05). Other indicators including blood routine findings, reticulocyte count, hemoglobin, and liver and kidney function parameters showed no significant difference between the MS group and the IDA group (P>0.05).

CONCLUSIONSThe serum EPO level decreases in patients with multiple sclerosis complicated with anemia, and the decreasing levels are related with the severity of anemia. Thus EPO therapy may be beneficial for these patients.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Anemia ; blood ; etiology ; Case-Control Studies ; Erythropoietin ; blood ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Multiple Sclerosis ; blood ; complications ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo detect serum erythropoietin (EPO) levels in patients with acute leukemia (AL) and iron deficient anemia (IDA) with moderate or severe anemia and explore the mechanism of anemia in these patients.

METHODSEnzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to detect the serum levels of EPO in 59 patients with AL, among whom 15 had complete remission without anemia and 44 had moderate or severe anemia (including 12 receiving the initial treatment, 13 with complete remission and concurrent anemia, and 19 with bone marrow suppression). Serum EPO was also detected in 15 IDA patients and 12 healthy individuals.

RESULTSThe IDA patients and healthy individuals had similar serum EPO levels (P>0.05), and by comparison, the EPO levels were significantly increased in AL patients upon the initial treatment, those with bone marrow suppression and those with complete remission and anemia, but comparable between the latter 3 groups (P>0.05). Among the patients with complete remission, the EPO levels were significantly higher in anemic patients than in those without anemia (P<0.05), and the latter patients had similar EPO levels with the healthy individuals (P>0.05). In both AL and IDA patients with moderate or severe anemia, the serum EPO level was inversely correlated to the level of hemoglobin (r=-0.697 and -0.970, respectively, P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONAL patients with anemia have significantly higher serum EPO levels than healthy individuals. In AL and IDA patients with moderate or severe anemia, EPO levels are inversely correlated to the level of hemoglobin, suggesting the integrity of the EPO synthesis mechanism in AL patients. Serum EPO level is also associated with bone marrow function in addition to hypoxia and hemoglobin levels, and hematopoiesis deficit in the early stage may be the main cause of anemia.

Acute Disease ; Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Anemia ; blood ; etiology ; Erythropoietin ; blood ; Female ; Humans ; Leukemia ; blood ; complications ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Young Adult