No abstract available.
Chimerism ; Hematopoietic Stem Cells

The Korean Journal of Blood Transfusion (KJBT) stands as a prominent publication in the field of transfusion medicine, playing a pivotal role in advancing both national blood management projects and clinical explorations.In three years (2021∼2023) KJBT has disseminated 60 articles. During this period, five new article types (opinion, illustrated, mini-review, protocol, and annual report) have been introduced, and a new version of the online submission system has been implemented. The articles in KJBT have also been used as a valuable reference source for the first textbook on transfusion medicine published by the Korean Society of Blood Transfusion in 2023. With the ongoing efforts of the editorial team to provide better services to authors and readers, coupled with the sustained interest and passion of all the members, we hope that KJBT will continue to contribute to the advancement of domestic transfusion medicine research and the national blood program.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) emerged in December 2019 in Wuhan, China; it has since caused a pandemic, with more than 10,000 confirmed cases (> 800,000 tests) in Korea as of May 2020. Real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) is currently the most commonly used method for the diagnosis of COVID-19 worldwide. The Korean Society for Laboratory Medicine and Korea Centers for Disease Prevention and Control regularly update the guidelines for COVID-19 diagnosis. Emergency use authorization for some laboratory diagnostic kits has been granted, enabling the timely diagnosis and treatment of COVID-19, and the isolation of infected patients. Due to the collective efforts of the government, medical professionals, local authorities, and the public, Korea’s response to the COVID-19 outbreak has been accepted widely as a model. Here, we summarize the currently available laboratory tests for COVID-19 diagnosis. Although RT-PCR tests are used widely to confirm COVID-19, antibody tests could provide information about immune responses to the virus.

The Landsteiner–Wiener (LW) antigen is a type of red blood cell antigen. Anti-LW appears in various situations, including alloantibodies, autoantibodies, and even transiently occurring antibodies. Anti-LW has similar characteristics to anti-D, so it can interfere with interpreting pre-transfusion tests and finding compatible blood. This paper introduces three cases in whom anti-LW was detected through antibody identification tests. All three cases were examined using the column agglutination technique with ID-DiaPanel (Bio-Rad, Hercules, CA, USA) on a LISS/Coombs card, ID-DiaPanel p (Bio-Rad) on a NaCl/Enzyme card, and ID-DiaPanel (Bio-Rad) on a LISS/Coombs card using red blood cells treated with dithiothreitol. The auto-control test, direct antiglobulin test, and umbilical cord blood test were also performed. In all three cases, the reaction with D-positive panel cells was stronger than that with the D-negative panel cells, and two of them showed a pan-agglutinated reaction in ID-DiaPanel p (Bio-Rad) with NaCl/Enzyme card. They were reported as anti-LW, and as in these cases, anti-LW can occur under a range of conditions and interfere with proper transfusion. Therefore, it is important to identify anti-LW accurately, and if anti-LW is present, the transfusion of D-negative ABO matched blood should be recommended because of the low expression of the LW-antigen. On the other hand, D-positive blood is not a contraindication when an urgent transfusion is needed.

We would like to introduce domestic subscribers of the Korean Journal of Blood Transfusion to the important aspects to be considered while selecting a reference allele and reporting a new allele candidate. ABO*A1.02 has only a single nucleotide substitution of c.467C＞T in ABO*A1.01, and when ABO*A1.01 is used as the reference allele, the ABO*AW.10 allele should be marked as having both c.467C＞T and c.784G＞A variants. Unfortunately, it has not been modified as such in the ISBT database. For this reason, in the journal Transfusion (2020), the official journal of the Association for the Advancement of Blood Biotherapies, there was a report of a new allele with c.467C＞T and c.784G＞A variants. Cases of ABO*AW.10 allele with a weak A phenotype are not uncommon in Koreans, and it is necessary to accurately mark the reference allele. The blood type A reference allele of the International Society of Blood Transfusion (ISBT) database currently used for ABO alleles reporting is based on ABO*A1.01. Therefore, it should be considered that the ABO*AW.10 allele has both the c.467C＞T and c.784G＞A variants together.

BACKGROUND: Microscopic examination of the bone marrow (BM) smear has been a major method for the diagnostic and post-therapeutic evaluation of hematologic disease but is laborious and imprecise due to small number of cells counted. Recently, automated reticulocyte counting is available by the automated hematology analyzer. We analyzed the bone marrow aspirates using Coulter GEN S (GEN S) automated hematology analyzer and compared the results with those by the microscopic examination. METHODS: Total nucleated cells (TNC), leukocyte subpopulations, red cell count, hemoglobin and reticulocyte indices of the peripheral blood (PB) and the BM aspirates, were measured by GEN S in 392 samples including 142 normal control samples. Differential counts by microscopic examination of Wright stained BM films were used as a reference. RESULTS: TNC of the BM obtained by automated hematology analyzer correlated with the BM cel-lularity estimated by microscopic examination (r=0.587, P=0.000). The differential counts of neutrophils and monocytes correlated between these two methods (r=0.582, P=0.000, r=0.309, P=0.000). In acute leukemia, TNC of the PB and the BM, and the BM lymphocyte fraction were increased and the BM neutrophil fraction was decreased. In chronic myelogenous leukemia, TNC of the PB and the BM were high but distribution of leukocyte subpopulations was normal. In normal control group, the number of erythroid precusors correlated with the percentages of reticulocyte in the PB (r=0.425, P=0.000), and in patients with increased erythropoiesis, it showed strong correlation with immature reticulocyte fraction (IRF) of the PB (r=0.708, P=0.033). In aplastic anemia, IRF of the PB was reversely correlated to hemoglobin level, but in myelodysplastic syndrome, reticulocyte indices of the PB and the BM had no correlation with hemoglobin level. In patients with increased erythropoiesis, the percentages of reticulocyte in the PB were increased and those of the BM were decreased in proportion to reduction of hemoglobin level in the PB. CONCLUSIONS: Analysis of the BM aspirates using automated hematology analyzer will be useful in screening of pathological hematologic diseases and in estimating the bone marrow cellularity objectively before those by the microscopic examination. In anemia, this study could provide an additional information to evaluate the ineffective hematopoiesis using reticulocyte indices of the PB and the BM.
Anemia ; Anemia, Aplastic ; Bone Marrow* ; Cell Count ; Erythropoiesis ; Hematologic Diseases ; Hematology* ; Hematopoiesis* ; Humans ; Leukemia ; Leukemia, Myelogenous, Chronic, BCR-ABL Positive ; Leukocytes ; Lymphocytes ; Mass Screening ; Monocytes ; Myelodysplastic Syndromes ; Neutrophils ; Reticulocyte Count ; Reticulocytes

BACKGROUND: In vitro serum allergen-specific IgE tests have been routinely used in the clinical diagnosis of allergic diseases. We evaluated the clinical usefulness of a newly introduced multiple antigen screen test, Advansure Allergy Screen (LG Life Science, Korea) (LG-Screen) for the detection of allergen specific IgE. METHODS: A total of 180 sera (80 for inhalant and 100 for food panels) were tested by LG-Screen and RIDA Allergy Screen (R-biopharm, Germany) (RIDA-Screen) assays. According to the 58-60 specific allergens or allergen groups, the positive rates and agreement rates were analyzed using the cut off levels of class 2. For the quantitation of total IgE and specific IgE, nephelometry and ImmunoCAP test were performed in the sera showing discrepant results between the two allergy screen assays. RESULTS: The agreement rate and kappa value (k) of total IgE between the two allergy screen assays was 73.9% and 0.333. LG-Screen showed higher agreement rate with nephelometry than RIDA-Screen. The positive rates to common outdoor inhalant and food allergens were significantly higher in RIDA-Screen. Overall agreement rate of specific IgE between the two allergy screen assays for 58 allergens was 86.7% (6,086/7,020) (k, 0.293). In samples showing discrepant results between the two allergy screen assays, concordance rate of allergy screen assay with ImmunoCAP assay was 70.9% (449/633) for LG-Screen (k, 0.585) and 29.1% (184/633) for RIDA-Screen (k, -0.303). CONCLUSIONS: LG-Screen showed a favorable agreement with RIDA-Screen and ImmunoCAP assays, and it could be used for the detection of allergen specific IgE in the clinical laboratory.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Allergens/diagnostic use/*immunology ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; Humans ; Hypersensitivity, Immediate/diagnosis ; Immunoglobulin E/*blood ; Immunologic Tests/methods ; Infant ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Reagent Kits, Diagnostic

BACKGROUND: In acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), the importance of argyrophilic nucleolar organizer regions (AgNOR) is not established. METHODS: NOR silver staining was carried out in 74 ALL patients. We analyzed the AgNOR parameters ; counting parameters including number of AgNOR per cell, percentage of cells with one cluster, and area parameters including mean AgNOR area, total AgNOR area, and its percentage of nuclear area by morphometry. Cyclin A index was evaluated by immunohistochemical stain. We compared the AgNOR parameters with cyclin A index and evaluated the differences of AgNOR parameters in accordance with FAB classification, immunophenotype, a new classification of ALL (ALL with maturation), and response to induction chemotherapy. RESULTS: A positive correlation was found between cyclin A index and AgNOR area parameters and a significant negative correlation was found between mean AgNOR area and number of AgNOR per cell (r=-0.433, P=0.000). AgNOR area parameters revealed the highest value in L3. The number of AgNOR per cell in T cell ALL was higher than non-T cell ALL (P=0.011), and the percentage of cells with one cluster was lower (P=0.002). The number of AgNOR per cell in ALLm was lower (P=0.004) and the percentage of cells with one cluster was higher than in typical ALL (P=0.002). In cases achieved complete remission (CR) after induction chemotherapy, the number of AgNOR per cell was higher (P=0.005) and the percentage of cells with one cluster was much lower than in cases failed to achieve CR (P=0.013). CONCLUSIONS: Our study indicates that the AgNOR area parameters are helpful to predict the proliferating activity of leukemic blasts in ALL. It is suggested that the number of AgNOR per cell and the percentage of cells with one cluster provide a valuable information to estimate the response to chemotherapy in ALL.
Classification ; Cyclin A ; Drug Therapy ; Humans ; Induction Chemotherapy ; Nucleolus Organizer Region* ; Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma* ; Silver Staining

BACKGROUND: Inorganic arsenic trioxide (As2O3) has emerged as a new drug of choice for refractory acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL). But, the curable disease spectrum and the arsenic resistance in association with the expression of multidrug resistance (MDR) proteins are not yet to be established. METHODS: Five de novo APL and 20 refractory acute leukemia cases were selected. Leukemic cells were cultured for 24 hr in media with various As2O3 concentrations. Apoptotic cells or damaged cells were measured by a morphologic examination after Wright stain and flow cytometry using annexin V/propidium iodide (PI) stain. The lowest concentration of As2O3 at which greater than 90% of leukemic cells were damaged morphologically was defined as the morphologic arsenic sensitivity of leukemic cells. MDR protein markers including multidrug resistance associated protein (MRP), lung resistance protein (LRP), P-glycoprotein (PGP) and glutathinoe-S-transferase (GST) were analyzed by flow cytometry. RESULTS: The leukemic cells from de novo APLs (in 3 of 5) were sensitive to arsenic trioxide, compared to refractory acute leukemia (only 1 of 20). Of the five MDR proteins examined, only PGP was expressed more in the arsenic resistant cases (in 8 of 21) than in the sensitive cases (none of 4) (P=.032). CONCLUSIONS: Refractory acute leukemia had a variable arsenic sensitivity, but were more resistant than de novo APL. The arsenic resistance seems to be related to PGP expression.
Arsenic ; Drug Resistance, Multiple ; Flow Cytometry ; Leukemia* ; Leukemia, Promyelocytic, Acute* ; Lung ; Multidrug Resistance-Associated Proteins ; P-Glycoprotein

The t(3;3)(q21;q26.2) is known to be mainly observed in hematologic myeloid malignancies, as a form of 3q21q26 syndrome. Cytogenetic abnormalities of 3q21q26 syndrome result in RPN1-EVI1 fusion transcripts involving ecotropic viral integration site-1 (EVI1) at 3q26.2 and ribophorin I (RPN1) at 3q21, and the fusion transcripts play an important role in leukemogenesis and disease progression. They are usually associated with dysplasia, especially of megakaryocytes. Patients with these cytogenetic abnormalities show extremely poor prognosis even with aggressive anti-leukemic therapy. We report a case of blastic crisis of CML with both t(3;3)(q21;q26.2) and t(9;22)(q34;q11.2) and associated severe multilineage dysplasia. The patient showed a poor response to imatinib, dasatinib and aggressive induction therapy. When both t(3;3)(q21;q26.2) and t(9;22)(q34;q11.2) are observed in cases of leukemia with increased blasts, they are best considered as aggressive phases of CML with t(3;3)(q21;q26.2), rather than AML with t(9;22)(q34;q11.2) by 2008 WHO classification.
Adolescent ; Antineoplastic Agents/therapeutic use ; Blast Crisis/*diagnosis ; Bone Marrow Cells/pathology ; *Chromosomes, Human, Pair 3 ; Drug Resistance, Neoplasm ; Humans ; Karyotyping ; Leukemia, Myelogenous, Chronic, BCR-ABL Positive/*diagnosis/drug therapy/genetics ; Male ; Piperazines/therapeutic use ; Pyrimidines/therapeutic use ; Thiazoles/therapeutic use ; *Translocation, Genetic