Efficacy and toxicity of midostaurin with idarubicin and cytarabine induction in <i>FLT3</I>-mutated acute myeloid leukemia

Not available.

Autoimmune haemolytic anaemia and immune thrombocytopenia following SARS-CoV-2 and non-SARS-CoV-2 vaccination: 32 Years of passive surveillance data

Autoimmune haemolytic anaemia (AIHA) and immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) are two uncommon haematologic autoimmune conditions that can rarely arise secondary to vaccination. Prior studies using the US Centers for Disease Control's (CDC) Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) have demonstrated this infrequency, but contemporary data as well as comparison with current information regarding SARS-CoV-2 vaccination has not been assessed. In this study, we reviewed VAERS database reports from 1990 to 2022 to characterize the incidence and clinical and laboratory findings of non-SARS-CoV-2-associated AIHA and ITP and SARS-CoV-2 vaccine-associated AIHA and ITP. We discovered a total of 863 AIHA and ITP reports following vaccination with 15 non-SARS-CoV-2 and four SARS-CoV-2 vaccines submitted to the CDC VAERS database. AIHA and ITP reporting was low for both groups, with a large proportion excluded due to a lack of clinical details. ITP was reported the most frequently in both groups and was significantly more common with measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccination (p < 0.001) in the non-SARS-CoV-2 group. AIHA and ITP cases were higher in the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine group, though ultimately still very infrequent. Autoimmune haematologic disease is vanishingly rare after immunization and rates are lower than in the general population according to passive reporting.

Investigational PD-1 inhibitors in HL and NHL and biomarkers for predictors of response and outcome

INTRODUCTION

Inhibitors against the PD-1/PD-L1 pathway are revolutionizing the treatment and management of malignancies.

AREAS COVERED

We summarize our current understanding of the function of PD-1, its role in immune evasion, the clinical data available that support the use of PD-1 antagonist in Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphomas, and potential predictors of response.

EXPERT OPINION

We anticipate that in the next 10 years, agents that modulate the immune system such as PD-1 antagonists will be increasingly used in favor over traditional cytotoxic chemotherapeutic agents. PD-1 antagonists will be combined with future immunotherapies or used as adjuncts to cellular therapy to boost tumor-specific immune responses.

Sry-negative XX sex reversal in purebred dogs

The gene responsible for testis induction in normal male mammals is the Y-linked Sry. However, there is increasing evidence that other genes may have testis-determining properties. In XX sex reversal (XXSR), testis tissue develops in the absence of the Y chromosome. Previous polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays indicated that autosomal recessive XXSR in the American cocker spaniel is Sry-negative. In this study, genomic DNA from the breeding colony of American cocker spaniels and from privately owned purebred dogs were tested by PCR using canine primers for the Sry HMG box and by Southern blots probed with the complete canine Sry coding sequence. Sry was not detected by either method in genomic DNA of affected American cocker spaniels or in the majority (20/21) of affected privately owned purebred dogs. These results confirm that the autosomal recessive form of XXSR in the American cocker spaniel is Sry-negative. In combination with previous studies, this indicates that Sry-negative XXSR occurs in at least 15 dog breeds. The canine disorder may be genetically heterogeneous, potentially with a different mutation in each breed, and may provide several models for human Sry-negative XXSR. A comparative approach to sex determination should be informative in defining the genetic and cellular mechanisms that are common to all mammals.

Estrus, fertility, early embryo development, and autologous embryo transfer in laboratory woodchucks (Marmota monax)

Reproductive parameters were studied in female laboratory woodchucks over a 6-year period. The pregnancy rate in adult females after ad libitum exposure to a male (n = 643) was 72%; that after limited (4 to 8 h) exposure with video observations (n = 31) was only 37%. However, limited exposure resulted in a 75% ovulation rate, suggesting a problem with fertilization and not ovulation. The ovulation rate was 0% in the absence of mating (n = 10), suggesting that spontaneous ovulation is not the usual situation in this species. With ad libitum mating, fertility was greater (P < 0.05) for 2- to 4-year-old females (73%) than for 1-year-old (56%) or > or = 5-year-old (58%) females. Mean (+/-SEM) litter size at birth was greater (P < 0.05) for 2- to 5-year-old animals (4.0 +/- 0.1) than for 1-year-old animals (2.9 +/- 0.2). However, in 1-year-old females the neonatal mortality was low, and the litter size at weaning (2.4 +/- 0.3 pups) did not differ from that of older females (2.7 +/- 0.1 pups). The measurement of vulval diameter every 3 to 4 days in 31 adult females suggested that enlargement to > or = 7 mm was indicative of proestrus or estrus and was a good indicator of willingness to accept mounting by males. Vulval swelling > or = 7 mm (n = 31) lasted 5 to 47 days. Fertile mating occurred from 3 to 30 days after vulval diameter reached > or = 7 mm, near the time of peak enlargement (10.1 +/- 0.2 mm), and was followed in several days by a decrease in vulval size. Fifty-three females were allowed only limited (6 to 10 h) video-observed exposure to males, with (n = 26) or without (n = 27) another 12 to 24 h of unobserved exposure, and were examined surgically for ovulation and pregnancy at known times after mating. There were no consistent differences among nonovulating, ovulating nonfertile, and fertile females in the longest duration of mating (7.2 +/- 0.4 min) or in the number of matings lasting > or = 1 min (5.7 +/- 0.8). Compared with nonfertile females, fertile females experienced more matings > or = 3 min in duration (3.3 +/- 0.4 versus 1.8 +/- 0.2) and > or = 5 min in duration (2.9 +/- 0.4 versus 1.1 +/- 0.1). At postmating days 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 the embryos were observed to be 1-, 4-, 4- to 32-cell morulae, 16- to 60-cell morulae, free-floating blastocysts, anti-measometrial peri-implantation blastocysts, and attached blastocysts respectively. Autologous transfer of day-5 uterine embryos of normal appearance into the noncontiguous contralateral uterine horn was performed in five females that had been subjected to a hemi-ovariectomy. Transfers resulted in pregnancy and litters in four of the five females. The results suggest that this large, circannual sciurid rodent can be successfully and predictably bred as a laboratory animal model, has vulval changes indicative of proestrus, is principally an induced ovulator, has an early embryo development rate similar to that of rats and mice, and may be amenable to reproductive technologies developed for more common laboratory rodents.

Sry-negative XX sex reversal in the German shorthaired pointer dog

Present hypotheses indicate that a testis differentiation cascade in mammals is induced by Sry, a gene encoding a DNA binding protein of the high mobility group (HMG) class. In XX sex reversal, individuals lacking a Y chromosome develop testicular tissue. Sry translocation from the Y to the X chromosome has been found in some, but not all, of these individuals. XX sex reversal in the German shorthaired pointer dog may be a model of Sry-negative XX sex reversal in humans. The purposes of this study were to report the familial occurrence of sex reversal and determine whether the conserved Sry HMG box, the region of the Sry protein essential for testis induction, is present in genomic DNA of affected dogs. Canine Sry HMG box sequences were used as primers in polymerase chain reactions. A 104 bp Sry HMG box product was generated from normal males, but not from females or XX sex reversed dogs. Parallel control reactions using hypoxanthine phosphoribosyl transferase primers generated a 177 bp product from all dogs. The pedigree of affected dogs and the absence of Sry HMG box sequences in their genomic DNA suggest that this disorder is due to a mutant autosomal gene in the testis differentiation cascade.

Does the umbilical artery systolic/diastolic ratio reflect flow or acidosis? An umbilical artery Doppler study of fetal sheep

We studied four fetal sheep at 114 to 139 days' gestation to evaluate the effect of acute placental embolization on placental perfusion, fetal oxygenation and acid-base status, and the umbilical artery systolic/diastolic ratio. Studies were performed after maternal anesthesia was induced in an acute model, with serial umbilical artery embolizations performed at 20 to 30 minute intervals. Fetal umbilical flow, systolic/diastolic ratio, and arterial blood gas levels were followed up. One animal maintained a normal systolic/diastolic ratio despite a 50% drop in flow after the first injection and pH of 6.91, and died after the second injection. The remaining three animals showed significantly decreased flow after the third injection (p less than 0.02), with no change in the systolic/diastolic ratio. The systolic/diastolic ratio increased significantly after the fourth injection (p less than 0.05) when flow had dropped even further. Corresponding decreases in PO2 and pH did not achieve statistical significance. The magnitude of all changes increased with subsequent embolizations. We conclude that in this model significant reductions in flow result in small increases in the systolic/diastolic ratio and that greater magnitude changes in the systolic/diastolic ratio appear only with severely diminished flow and PO2, when acidosis develops.