Anti-glomerular basement membrane (anti-GBM) disease is an uncommon autoimmune disease that classically presents as an aggressive necrotizing and crescentic glomerulonephritis (CG), with or without pulmonary hemorrhage, and typically does not relapse. The pathologic hallmark is linear staining of GBM for Immunoglobulin G (IgG) which binds to the alpha-3 chain of type IV collagen. Recent reports have noted the occurrence of anti-GBM disease with atypical clinical presentations. We describe a case of a 22-year-old female presenting an anti-GBM disease with typical histological features with a singular clinical presentation with lower limb edema, elevated serum creatinine and nephrotic range proteinuria. Renal biopsy showed signs of chronicity and direct immunofluorescence microscopy demonstrated diffuse, intense linear positivity for IgG. All serologic tests were negative, including anti-GBM antibodies. Hence, a diagnosis of atypical anti-GBM disease was made. The patient was treated initially with mycophenolate mofetil and corticosteroids. After 3 months she began to aggravate renal function so mycophenolate of mofetil was discontinued and a low dose cyclophosphamide was initiated.
Peritonitis is the main complication of peritoneal dialysis caused the withdrawal of treatment like peritoneal dialysis which was used as primary treatment modality few years back in Pakistan. With this motto to know the exact cause of peritonitis this retrospective study was done and 35 out of 42 pervious peritoneal dialysis patients who had peritonitis were analyzed using old data. A total of 57 bags of all these peritonitis patients were analyzed in department of microbiology during the year 2007-2011. Out of these bags positive culture was obtained from 42 bags (74%). Most of patients with positive culture were undergoing acute peritoneal dialysis 66.67% and rest were on chronic ambulatory peritoneal dialysis. Main concern was the yield of organisms causing culture positive peritonitis. It was found that bacterial peritonitis was positive in 80%, fungal peritonitis was 11% and mycobacterium tuberculosis peritonitis was 09%. Various culture techniques along with Gram Stain, Zeihl Nielsen Stain and Auramine stain were used for knowing the yield.
Limitations: Old and only small available data of peritonitis patients and stop of further peritoneal dialysis.
We report a case involving infection with Strongyloides stercoralis found in the sputum of a 66-year-old male patient who had a medical history of nephrotic syndrome and was treated with methylprednisolone and monthly intravenous cyclophosphamide therapy 3 months previously. This patient presented with stubborn pulmonary symptoms and signs, which was the mechanical destruction caused by larval migration. We found strongyloides in his sputum that provided diagnostic proof.
The blood and drainage cultures are suggested for early diagnosis of bloodstream infection (BSI), which are time consuming and laborious. Nasal colonization of bacteria is one of the modalities, occasionally can predict BSI. We hypothesized that nasal culture, as an accessible fluid may be helpful to predict future BSI in hemodialysis patients. The present prospective study evaluated 63 patients undergoing maintenance hemodialysis at the Pars hospital dialysis center, Tehran, Iran, from November 2015 until February 2016. Nasal fluid of patients were collected from the 1–cm internal anterior part of both nostrils of patients by a sterile swab and cultured in Trypticase soy agar. All patients were followed for three months for BSI. The results of first nasal fluid sample revealed that 33.3% in first sampling and 27.0% in sampling had positive nasal fluid culture. The type of bacteria in all positive cases was Staphylococcus aureus. The rate of BSI infection in the patients with positive and negative first nasal fluid culture was 9.5% and 2.4% respectively with no significant difference. We found also no significant association between BSI positivity and nasal culture results so that positive BSI was revealed in 5.9% of patients with positive nasal fluid culture and 4.3% in those with negative nasal fluid culture with no meaningful difference. None of the baseline variables including age and gender, underlying risk factor, access, or duration of dialysis was associated with BSI positivity. In hemodialysis patients, BSI may not be predicted by nasal fluid culture positivity.
Background: In sickle cell anemia (SCA), compromise of the renal vasculature due to sickled red cells has been recognized.
Objectives: To assess the renal function and blood pressure pattern in children with sickle cell anaemia (SCA) presenting in a tertiary institution.
Method: A cross-sectional study of patients with sickle cell anaemia (SCA) over six months involving the use of questionnaires, general physical examination, blood pressure, investigations for haemoglobin genotype, urinalysis, serum creatinine, screening for hepatitis B and HIV.
Results: 51 children with SCA were seen. The prevalence of impaired renal function as defined by reduced eGFR <90mL/min/1.73m2 in this study was 27.5%, previous hospital admission and blood transfusion were associated with reduction in eGFR but blood pressure did not have significant correlation with the eGFR. The overall mean age at diagnosis of SCA was 4.09 ± 3.33 (years).
Conclusion: Impaired renal function is a major comorbid condition in children with SCA. In countries/locations where there is no newborn screening for sickle cell disease, diagnosis is delayed, thus detecting impaired renal function may be delayed, therefore the need for early detection and management is imperative.Introduction
Benzene (B), toluene (T), ethylbenzene (E) and xylene (X), collectively named as BTEX are mono-aromatic ring compounds with a 6-carbon benzene ring. Due to the presence of the aromatic ring, these compounds, especially benzene, are generally considered to be non-reactive species [1].
Climate change and the increasing global population pose a severe threat to the availability of freshwater in the world. Over consumption of water and deteriorating water quality are problems that should be addressed in order to ensure water availability for the coming decades. In this context, the increasing presence of micropollutants in water has shown to cause detrimental impact on water quality, given the negative disturbances that they can cause on human health and on the environment. Thus, it is important to study and quantify the presence of micropollutants in water bodies and also in regenerated wastewater based irrigation systems.
The incorporation of tellurium into metal carbonyl using tellurium transfer/ extrusion reaction is presented in this work. The results bring one of the new ways to incorporate tellurium by transferring it from one molecule to another molecule, in comparison to the work so far where either insertion or extrusion reactions were shown. The reactions of PhC2TeC2Ph with the metal carbonyl cluster produced thermodynamically stable metal carbonyl tellurium clusters.
A balance response is the point at which a corrosive and a base respond to shape water and a salt and includes the mix of H+ particles and OH-particles to produce water. The balance of a solid corrosive and solid base has a pH equivalent to 7.
In recent years polyolefin nanocomposites are of great interest because of their high potential as materials with novel properties [1,2]. The properties of the nanocomposites are not only influenced by the kind of fillers but also by the microstructure of the polyolefin, the distribution of the fillers, and the preparation process. Nanocomposites prepared by extrusion moulding of mixed polyolefin and nanoparticles show often less stability by agglomeration of the nanoparticles. A better distribution is obtained if the polymerization catalyst is absorbed on the surface of the nanoparticles. After adding an olefin a growing film of the polyolefin is covering every nanoparticle (in situ polymerization).
This literature review is concerning with liquid chromatography specifically high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), Ultra high performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC), chromatography theory, chromatographic parameters, monolithic columns, principles of green chemistry and its application ingreen chromatography.
Primary cutaneous lymphomas (PCLs) are the second most common group of extranodal non-Hodgkin lymphomas (NHL) with an estimated annual incidence of 1/100.000. Interferons (IFNs) are used in mono or combination therapy for cutaneous lymphomas especially for cutaneous T-cell lymphomas (CTCL) for years. IFN-α is the most widely-used type for cutaneous lymphomas. IFN-α has been shown to be a highly active agent in CTCL with response rates ranging from 40% to 80%. In this review, the current information about PCLs and IFNs treatment is summarized.
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide, and almost accounts for 20% of these deaths, however, the cure rate is less than 10% [1]. Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) accounts for approximately 85% of all cases of lung cancer [1], but fewer than 15% of individuals diagnosed with NSCLC can survive for more than 5 years, which poses a great threat to the patient’s life and health [2]. Recently, the incidence of lung cancer keeps dynamically growing, but more than 75% of patients at diagnosis has appeared local development or metastasis, missing the best period of surgery. Moreover, despite surgical treatment is the optimal choice for early-stage NSCLC patients, 30%-40% of patients with NSCLC develop tumor recurrence in a short time. Therefore, improving the prognosis of patients with lung cancer and predicting the long-term survival of patients is of particular importance [3]. At present, tumor and node metastasis (TNM) staging system, clinicopathological characteristics, visceral pleural invasion and marginal status are used to predict the disease progression and overall survival of NSCLC patients. There is no index which is stable, effective, reliable and less harmful to assess prognosis, predict recurrence risk and overall survival.
Background: Knowledge of pulmonary complications (PCs) in children after hematopoetic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) is limited; most data are from adult studies.
Case: We describe a 8 year old girl with high risk acute myeloid leukemia who developed graft versus host disease (GVHD) on Day 20, Cytomegalovirus (CMV) pneumonia on Day 50 and Cryptogenic organizing pneumonia (COP) on Day 170 after allo-HSCT.
Discussion: Cryptogenic organizing pneumonia is a rare noninfectious PCs that can be idiopathic or have several risk factors as a secondary causes, such as viral respiratory infections, drugs, GVHD and allo-HSCT. Viral respiratory infections and alloimmune lung syndromes have been reported in a few patients who have undergone transplantation.
Conclusion: Transplant physicians should be kept in mind for the development of alloimmune lung syndrome in the form of COP following CMV pneumonia in patients after allo- HSCT
An enquiry into the lack of attention awarded to serotonin antagonism in the treatment of arterial thrombosis revealed that the mode of action of serotonin and its platelet receptor antagonists was an action upon thrombus growth, and not, as with other anti-platelet drugs upon the initiation of thrombosis. This lack of effect could explain why this approach has been considered not to be effective. However under conditions of arterial stenosis in which there is platelet activation by increased shear stress, and during the growth phase of arterial thrombi, serotonin 5HT2A antagonism has been demonstrated to have great potentcy in dispersing thrombotic obstruction to blood flow. This mode of action, the lack of participation of serotonin in haemostasis, and the absence of serotonin in wounds accounts for the proven lack of effect of effect of pure specific 5HT2A antagonists (i.e., not those with other actions) on operative bleeding and skin bleeding times. This lack of effect on haemostasis solves the dosing problem encountered with other anti-thrombotic drugs, with which drug concentration cannot be controlled with single fixed doses, leading to the association between increased anti-thrombotic efficacy and increased bleeding complications. Thus 5HT2A antagonism appears to be the preferred approach, from the point of view of safety and lack of bleeding risk; this consideration applies particularly to thrombosis therapy in the context of traumatic accidents, surgical operations and invasive procedures such as angioplasty.
Background and Aims: the Aim of the study was to find the level of protection among the healthcare workers (nurses, doctors, housekeeping staff and general duty assistants) by doing Anti-HBsAb titer and vaccinate those who were not properly immunized against HBV infection.
Materials and Methods: The study was approved by the Institutional review board of the Hospital. The study group included doctors, nurses, technical staff and lab attendants. Anti-HBs antibody titer was done on Vitros 3600 (OCD, USA). Tests were performed according to manufacturer’s instruction. Vaccine provided was Engerix B (GSK Glaxo, Belgium). Vaccination was provided to all employees had titer below 10 miu/ml.
Results: 489 of 794(61.5%) HCW had no history of previous vaccination and only 293 (36.9%) subjects had complete vaccination. Only 60.8 % (482/794) of the total subjects had titer above 10 miu/ml and were protected against Hepatitis B. Around 80.6% (246/305) of those who were fully vaccinated and 40.8% (237/489) of those who were not vaccinated previously had protective anti-HBs titers(>10 miu/ml). Majority (86.8%, 271/312) who had titer below 10 miu/ml were unvaccinated. Two of eight employees who had history of needle stick injury in past were found non-immune to Hepatitis-B infection.
Conclusion: Despite being involved in the procedures with high chances of infections through needle stick or other exposures, only one third of health care workers were vaccinated against hepatitis B. We recommend that all the HCWs should be vaccinated for Hepatitis B and their anti-HBs levels determined at regular intervals.
The effects of Leech Salivary Extract (LSE) on some haematological, immunological and organ weight parameters in rats, during a twenty eight days oral administration of 25, 50 and 100 mg/kg body weight doses, was investigated. LD50 and sub chronic toxicity was determined using standard methods. The oral LD50 was above 5000mg/kgbw. Oral administration of LSE (25mg/kgbw, 50mg/kgbw, 100mg/kgbw) for 28days had no significant (p>0.05) effect on the differential white blood cells (lymphocytes, monocytes, basophils, neutrophils, eosinophils), red blood cell indices (RBC count, PCV, HB, platelets, MCHC and MCH), feed intake, body weight gain and relative organ weight of lung, heart, liver, kidney, spleen and stomach of rats. However, the LSE evoked a significant (p>0.05) increase in the level of MCV in treated rats compared to the control. These results, indicating low toxicity and no negative significant effects of LSE on haemato-immunological indices in rats, suggest that the extract is safe for development and use as therapeutic for managing clinical conditions.
Background: Invasive fungal infections cause significant morbidity and mortality in patients with hematologic malignancies and in recipients of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.
Case: We report a patient with relapsed acute myeloid leukemia who developed disseminated Fusarium infection during the neutropenic period following the salvage cycle of chemotherapy given at King Fahad specialist Hospital in Dammam, Saudi Arabia. The invasive fungal infection was successfully managed with a combination of voriconazole and liposomal amphotericin-B.
Discussion: Fusarium species can cause invasive infections that may become disseminated and life-threatening in patients with acute myeloid leukemia.
Conclusion: Combined antifungal therapy and recovery of neutrophil count are essential to control invasive Fusarium infections
Background: Pure red cell aplasia is characterized by anemia, reticulocytopenia and diminished bone marrow erythroid precursors. It has multifactorial etiology and consequently several therapeutic interventions.
Case: In August 2017, a young patient was diagnosed to have pure red cell aplasia. She was given immunosuppressive therapy for approximately two months but this treatment was stopped due to intolerance. Later on she developed herpes zoster infection that was treated with valacyclovir. Subsequently, it was noted that the patient became blood transfusion independent due to normalization of her hemoglobin and regeneration of the erythroid precursors in the bone marrow.
Discussion: Varicella zoster virus behaves differently from other members of the herpes group of viruses such as cytomegalovirus and Epstein-Barr virus. Two retrospective studies, performed in patients with malignant hematological disorders and bone marrow failure, have shown that infection with the virus may cause stimulation of the three cell lines in the bone marrow and superior overall survival.
Conclusion: The outcome of the patient presented confirms the findings of the two studies showing long-term beneficial effects of varicella zoster virus infections in immunocompromised individuals.
Varicella zoster virus (VZV), a double-stranded DNA virus, is a highly contagious human neurotropic virus that belongs to the alpha group of herpes viruses [1-4]. Primary VZV infection (chickenpox) occurs in childhood then the virus becomes latent in the nerve ganglia [1,5-7]. Reactivation of the virus may occur decades later and cause herpes zoster (HZ) which is manifested by a typical painful skin eruption that has characteristic dermatomal distribution [1,5]. Reactivation of VZV is usually predisposed to: old age; comorbid medical conditions such as diabetes mellitus, chronic obstructive airway disease, and end-stage renal disease; and immunosuppression due to malignancy, autoimmune disorders, immunosuppressive therapies, trauma, cytotoxic chemotherapy, hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT), and solid organ transplantation (SOT) [1,5-7].
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