ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Transmission of infectious diseases is a recognized complication of blood transfusion and blood products. Nucleic acid testing (NAT) may contribute to improved efficiency of blood screening and thereby increase the safety margin for transfused blood. METHODS: Unscreened blood samples from 1388 randomized donors were selected for this study at the Transfusion Medicine Unit of Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia (HUSM). Informed consent was obtained from all donors and blood samples were tested for HIV, HBV and HCV serologically and by NAT assay. RESULTS: Of the 1,388 tested samples, 1,360 were non-reactive for both assays. Four samples (0.29%) were both serologically and NAT reactive. The remaining twenty-four samples were divided into two groups. Of these, five samples (0.366%) were NAT reactive and nineteen samples (1.37%) were serologically reactive. However, serology confirmation tests run on the latter nineteen samples were non-reactive. CONCLUSIONS: Hence, NAT adds benefit of detecting "false positive" reactions via standard serology, the cost of administering NAT also need further consideration and study.
Subject(s)
Blood Donors , Blood Transfusion/methods , Nucleic Acid Amplification Techniques/methods , Virus Diseases/blood , Adult , Cohort Studies , Cross-Sectional Studies , Female , Humans , Malaysia/epidemiology , Male , Nucleic Acid Amplification Techniques/instrumentation , Prospective Studies , Random Allocation , Virus Diseases/epidemiologyABSTRACT
Mutations in the receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK/RAS) signalling pathway frequently provide a proliferative signal in myeloid malignancies. However, the role of RASSF1A, SHP-1 and SOCS-1, negative regulators of RTK/RAS signalling, has not been extensively investigated in the myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) or acute myeloid leukaemia (AML). This study employed methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction (MS-PCR) to determine if aberrant promotor methylation of RASSF1A, SHP-1 and SOCS-1 is involved in the pathogenesis of myeloid malignancies. Patients with MDS (n = 107), AML (n = 154) and juvenile myelomonocytic leukaemia (JMML, n = 5) were investigated, together with 15 normal controls. Primers were located in the promotor region of each gene as well as within exon 2 of SOCS-1. Methylation of RASSF1A was found in five of 55 (9%) MDS cases, but not in any of 57 AML cases studied. RASSF1A methylation was present in one case (20%) of JMML. SHP-1 methylation was present in 13 of 121 (11%) AML cases but was not found in MDS or JMML. SOCS-1 promoter methylation was present in eight of 74 (11%) MDS patients but was not seen in JMML or AML. Importantly, RAS mutations and RASSF1A and SOCS-1 methylation were mutually exclusive indicating that approximately 30% of MDS cases had a defect of the RTK/RAS pathway and its negative regulation. Finally, SOCS-1 exon 2 methylation may not be pathogenetically relevant, since it was detected in samples from normal individuals and did not correlate with promotor methylation.
Subject(s)
DNA Methylation , Myelodysplastic Syndromes/genetics , Neoplasm Proteins/genetics , Acute Disease , DNA, Neoplasm/genetics , Humans , Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins/genetics , Leukemia, Myeloid/genetics , Polymerase Chain Reaction/methods , Protein Tyrosine Phosphatase, Non-Receptor Type 6 , Protein Tyrosine Phosphatases/genetics , Repressor Proteins/genetics , Sensitivity and Specificity , Sequence Analysis, DNA/methods , Suppressor of Cytokine Signaling 1 Protein , Suppressor of Cytokine Signaling Proteins , Tumor Suppressor Proteins/geneticsABSTRACT
In the sprawling gait of Varanus exanthematicus, the bicondylar distal humerus requires both the radius and ulna to rotate in the same direction. The joints between the radius and radiale and between the ulna and ulnare and pisiform accomodate these specific rotations. A ligament system between radius, ulna, radiale, and ulnare causes the radius and ulna to approximate one another during external rotation of the forearm. This approximation is conveyed distally resulting in a narrowing of the hand during external rotation of radius and ulna or during pronation of the free hand. The significance of these and related linkages is discussed.
ABSTRACT
Marked tendinous bands lie along the lateral sides of the fingers in Varanus and Iguana and have asymmetrical roots in the metacarpal region. The radial band of each finger represents the distal extension of an oblique band arising at an ulno-dorsally located line in the proximal part of the metacarpal, whereas the ulnar bands each form a tendinous extension of an interosseus muscle bundle. The function of this metacarpo-digital system must be seen in relation to the deformations of the hand, imposed during locomotion by longitudinal rotation of the forearm. The latter motion results from the foreward and backward sway of the humerus with the elbow bent at 90°.
