Background: The Jr a antigen is a high-prevalence red blood cell (RBC) antigen. Reports on cases of fatal hemolytic disease of the fetus and newborn and acute hemolytic transfusion reactions suggest that antibodies against Jr a (anti-Jra ) have potential clinical significance.Identifying anti-Jra is challenging owing to a lack of commercially available antisera. We developed an alternative approach to rapidly predict the presence of anti-Jra using the TaqMan single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)-genotyping method. Methods: Residual peripheral blood samples from 10 patients suspected of having the anti-Jr a were collected. Two samples with confirmed Jr(a–) RBCs and anti-Jra were used to validate the TaqMan genotyping assay by comparing the genotyping results with direct sequencing. The accuracy of the assay in predicting the presence of anti-Jra was verified through crossmatching with in-house Jr(a–) O+ RBCs. Results: The TaqMan-genotyping method was validated with two Jr(a–) RBC- and anti-Jra -confirmed samples that showed concordant Jr a genotyping and direct sequencing results.Jra genotyping for the remaining samples and crossmatching the serum samples with inhouse Jr(a–) O+ RBCs showed consistent results. Conclusions We validated a rapid, simple, accurate, and cost-effective method for predicting the presence of anti-Jra using a TaqMan-based SNP-genotyping assay. Implementing this method in routine practice in clinical laboratories will assist in solving difficult problems regarding alloantibodies to high-prevalence RBC antigens and ultimately aid in providing safe and timely transfusions and proper patient care.

Background: The Jr a antigen is a high-prevalence red blood cell (RBC) antigen. Reports on cases of fatal hemolytic disease of the fetus and newborn and acute hemolytic transfusion reactions suggest that antibodies against Jr a (anti-Jra ) have potential clinical significance.Identifying anti-Jra is challenging owing to a lack of commercially available antisera. We developed an alternative approach to rapidly predict the presence of anti-Jra using the TaqMan single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)-genotyping method. Methods: Residual peripheral blood samples from 10 patients suspected of having the anti-Jr a were collected. Two samples with confirmed Jr(a–) RBCs and anti-Jra were used to validate the TaqMan genotyping assay by comparing the genotyping results with direct sequencing. The accuracy of the assay in predicting the presence of anti-Jra was verified through crossmatching with in-house Jr(a–) O+ RBCs. Results: The TaqMan-genotyping method was validated with two Jr(a–) RBC- and anti-Jra -confirmed samples that showed concordant Jr a genotyping and direct sequencing results.Jra genotyping for the remaining samples and crossmatching the serum samples with inhouse Jr(a–) O+ RBCs showed consistent results. Conclusions We validated a rapid, simple, accurate, and cost-effective method for predicting the presence of anti-Jra using a TaqMan-based SNP-genotyping assay. Implementing this method in routine practice in clinical laboratories will assist in solving difficult problems regarding alloantibodies to high-prevalence RBC antigens and ultimately aid in providing safe and timely transfusions and proper patient care.

Background: The Jr a antigen is a high-prevalence red blood cell (RBC) antigen. Reports on cases of fatal hemolytic disease of the fetus and newborn and acute hemolytic transfusion reactions suggest that antibodies against Jr a (anti-Jra ) have potential clinical significance.Identifying anti-Jra is challenging owing to a lack of commercially available antisera. We developed an alternative approach to rapidly predict the presence of anti-Jra using the TaqMan single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)-genotyping method. Methods: Residual peripheral blood samples from 10 patients suspected of having the anti-Jr a were collected. Two samples with confirmed Jr(a–) RBCs and anti-Jra were used to validate the TaqMan genotyping assay by comparing the genotyping results with direct sequencing. The accuracy of the assay in predicting the presence of anti-Jra was verified through crossmatching with in-house Jr(a–) O+ RBCs. Results: The TaqMan-genotyping method was validated with two Jr(a–) RBC- and anti-Jra -confirmed samples that showed concordant Jr a genotyping and direct sequencing results.Jra genotyping for the remaining samples and crossmatching the serum samples with inhouse Jr(a–) O+ RBCs showed consistent results. Conclusions We validated a rapid, simple, accurate, and cost-effective method for predicting the presence of anti-Jra using a TaqMan-based SNP-genotyping assay. Implementing this method in routine practice in clinical laboratories will assist in solving difficult problems regarding alloantibodies to high-prevalence RBC antigens and ultimately aid in providing safe and timely transfusions and proper patient care.

Background: The Jr a antigen is a high-prevalence red blood cell (RBC) antigen. Reports on cases of fatal hemolytic disease of the fetus and newborn and acute hemolytic transfusion reactions suggest that antibodies against Jr a (anti-Jra ) have potential clinical significance.Identifying anti-Jra is challenging owing to a lack of commercially available antisera. We developed an alternative approach to rapidly predict the presence of anti-Jra using the TaqMan single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)-genotyping method. Methods: Residual peripheral blood samples from 10 patients suspected of having the anti-Jr a were collected. Two samples with confirmed Jr(a–) RBCs and anti-Jra were used to validate the TaqMan genotyping assay by comparing the genotyping results with direct sequencing. The accuracy of the assay in predicting the presence of anti-Jra was verified through crossmatching with in-house Jr(a–) O+ RBCs. Results: The TaqMan-genotyping method was validated with two Jr(a–) RBC- and anti-Jra -confirmed samples that showed concordant Jr a genotyping and direct sequencing results.Jra genotyping for the remaining samples and crossmatching the serum samples with inhouse Jr(a–) O+ RBCs showed consistent results. Conclusions We validated a rapid, simple, accurate, and cost-effective method for predicting the presence of anti-Jra using a TaqMan-based SNP-genotyping assay. Implementing this method in routine practice in clinical laboratories will assist in solving difficult problems regarding alloantibodies to high-prevalence RBC antigens and ultimately aid in providing safe and timely transfusions and proper patient care.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Fabry disease is an X-linked recessive and progressive disease caused by alpha-galactosidase A (alpha-GaL A) deficiency. We sought to assess the prevalence of unrecognized Fabry disease in dialysis-dependent patients and the efficacy of serum globotriaosylceramide (GL3) screening. METHODS: A total of 480 patients of 1,230 patients among 17 clinics were enrolled. Serum GL3 levels were measured by tandem mass spectrometry. Additionally, we studied the association between increased GL3 levels and cardiovascular disease, cerebrovascular disease, or left ventricular hypertrophy. RESULTS: Twenty-nine patients had elevated serum GL3 levels. The alpha-GaL A activity was determined for the 26 patients with high GL3 levels. The mean alpha-GaL A activity was 64.6 nmol/hr/mg (reference range, 45 to 85), and no patient was identified with decreased alpha-GaL A activity. Among the group with high GL3 levels, 15 women had a alpha-GaL A genetics analysis. No point mutations were discovered among the women with high GL3 levels. No correlation was observed between serum GL3 levels and alpha-GaL A activity; the Pearson correlation coefficient was 0.01352 (p = 0.9478). No significant correlation was observed between increased GL3 levels and the frequency of cardiovascular disease or cerebrovascular disease. CONCLUSIONS: Fabry disease is very rare disease in patients with end-stage renal disease. Serum GL3 measurements as a screening method for Fabry disease showed a high false-positive rate. Thus, serum GL3 levels determined by tandem mass spectrometry may not be useful as a screening method for Fabry disease in patients with end stage renal disease.
Adult ; Aged ; Fabry Disease/blood/*diagnosis ; Female ; Humans ; Kidney Failure, Chronic/blood/*therapy ; Male ; Middle Aged ; *Renal Dialysis ; Trihexosylceramides/*blood ; alpha-Galactosidase/genetics/metabolism

Primary sternal osteomyelitis without predisposing factors is a rare condition, and it is hardly differentiated from metastatic bone tumor especially in patient with the history of primary malignancy because osteomyelities shares frequently common findings with metastatic bone lesion on 18F-FDG PET and bone scan. Although there have been several publications of primary osteomyelitis mimicking bone metastasis in the spine or extremities, we report a case of primary sternal osteomyelitis in the patient with lung cancer, which has, to our knowledge, not been reported before.
Extremities ; Fluorodeoxyglucose F18 ; Humans ; Lung ; Lung Neoplasms ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Osteomyelitis ; Positron-Emission Tomography ; Spine ; Sternum

BACKGROUND: Appetite control and weight reduction is important for the treatment of chronic disease such as obesity, hypertension, and diabetes mellitus. Visual analogue scales (VAS) is widely used to assess appetite. We investigated the reproducibility and the validity of the Korean version of VAS for appetite which will be helpful for clinical use. METHODS: The subjects received the same test meal and 8 VAS questionnaires between 6 weeks. They started to fill out the questionnaire before lunch, continued after lunch every hour, and ended after dinner. The questionnaire was asked about hunger, satiety, fullness, prospective consumption, sweet, salty, savoury, and fatty. During the test meal, the subjects could eat ad libitum until 'comfortable satisfaction'; and after the test meal we calculated energy intake. We assessed the correlation between test-retest VAS for each appetite and evaluated the validity of VAS for hunger with energy intake as "gold-standard". RESULTS: The VAS curves of each appetite were similar between the test and the retest. The VAS of each appetite on the test day was strongly correlated with that on the retest day. The CRs of 4.5 hour mean VAS (20~34 mm) was smaller than the CRs of fasting VAS (35~54 mm). The correlation coefficient of Hunger VAS before dinner and the energy intake was 0.436 on the test day and 0.400 on the retest day. The VAS of the sweet was correlated to the total glucose intake (P<0.05), and the VAS of salty to the salt intake. CONCLUSION: The validity of the VAS score for appetite, especially hunger, sweet and salty taste was good. Indeed, the reliability of VAS for appetite was good to use this scale in a clinical setting.
Appetite ; Chronic Disease ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Energy Intake ; Fasting ; Glucose ; Hunger ; Hypertension ; Lunch ; Meals ; Obesity ; Sensation ; Weight Loss ; Weights and Measures ; Surveys and Questionnaires

OBJECTIVE: To compare the clinical outcomes of GnRH antagonist (cetrorelix(R)) with those of conventional GnRH agonist for down-regulation in assisted reproductive cycle. Materials and Method: Ninety-nine women undergoing IVF or ICSI were treated with either GnRH antagonist (cetrorelix(R)) or GnRH agonist (Lucrin(R)) for pituitary down regulation. The patient characteristics, basal hormone profile and IVF outcome were compared. RESULTS: There were no significant differences in age and duration of infertility between two groups. E2 (pg/mL)/LH (mIU/mL)/FSH (mIU/ mL) on the 3 day of menstrual period as a baseline were also not significantly different between two groups. The number of hMG amples administered (30.5+/-11.2 versus 47.6+/-16.4 ample/cycle) and the duration of stimulation (11.0+/-1.7 versus 14.1+/-2.2 days) were significantly lower in the cetrorelix(R) group. There were no significant differences in the fertilization and pregnancy rates, the number of embryo transferred, the number of mature oocyte and the number of embryo obtained between two groups. CONCLUSION: The cycles using an antagonist protocol shows a shorter duration of stimulation with comparable outcomes with few injections than those with an agonist protocol. GnRH antagonist can be effectively used as GnRH agonist for pituitary down regulation in IVF-ET cycles.
Down-Regulation ; Embryonic Structures ; Female ; Fertilization ; Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone* ; Humans ; Infertility ; Oocytes ; Pregnancy Rate ; Sperm Injections, Intracytoplasmic

Analgesics ; Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Atrophy ; Fractures, Spontaneous ; Hyperbaric Oxygenation ; Mandible ; Mucositis ; Osteoradionecrosis ; Root Caries ; Salivary Glands ; Wounds and Injuries ; Xerostomia

1-Butanol ; Berberine ; Caesalpinia ; Cross Infection ; Dental Clinics ; Humans ; Methanol ; Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus ; Mouth ; Staphylococcus aureus