Feature Channels: Blood

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A study led by scientists from the Cancer Science Institute of Singapore at the National University of Singapore has uncovered a key player contributing to the maintenance of hematopoietic stem cells, blood cell precursors which have the ability to become any type of blood cell in the body. The research findings could contribute towards better understanding of the underlying causes of blood diseases.

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ONC201, an anti-cancer drug that triggers cell death in various tumor types, may have clinical potential for some blood cancers including mantel cell lymphoma (MCL) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML), according to a recent clinical study.

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UAB researchers have found a marker on blood cells that may help the most pressing problem in chronic myelogenous leukemia today — an inability to get patients off treatment. This marker shows heterogeneity among the leukemia stem cells and correlates with leukemic potential.

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There are many things you can do to lower your heart disease risks. This article from cardiologist Dr. Mauro Moscucci of LifeBridge Health looks at the seven modifiable risk factors (according the the American Heart Association) and the one most of us struggle with.

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Most clinical studies have shown that renal denervation—a procedure that disrupts the nerves in the kidneys and prevents them from relaying signals—can treat drug-resistant hypertension, although a number have shown the procedure to be ineffective. A new study in American Journal of Physiology—Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology supports that renal denervation can treat hypertension and suggests that failures may be due to incomplete procedure. This research is highlighted as one of this month’s “best of the best” as part of the American Physiological Society’s APSselect program.

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Using a model blood vessel system built on a polymer microchip, researchers have shown that the relative softness of white blood cells determines whether they remain in a dormant state along vessel walls or enter blood circulation to fight infection.

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A research team from the Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics at Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI) has discovered a new class of small-molecule compounds that are good candidates for development of novel targeted therapies in the treatment of leukemia and lymphoma. This new class of compounds drives cancer cells to suicide, the researchers report in the peer-reviewed journal Cell Death and Disease.

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A single injection. That’s all someone with a factor VII deficiency would need for a life-long cure, thanks to a new gene therapy treatment developed in a collaboration of researchers at the University of North Carolina (UNC) and The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP).

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Based on new evidence, the age of introduction of gluten into the infant diet—or the practice of introducing gluten during breast-feeding—does not reduce the risk of celiac disease in infants at risk, according to a Position Paper of the European Society for Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (ESPGHAN). The statement appears in the Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition (JPGN), official journal of ESPGHAN and the North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, published by Wolters Kluwer.

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Researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center have found an association between obesity and the formation of blood clots in the veins of children and adolescents.

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UAB researchers have discovered a new mechanism of differentiation, as studied in megakaryocytes, the blood cells responsible for platelet production. The ultimate effect of this new pathway is an alternative splicing of messenger RNAs.

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Researchers detail how they have been able to fingerprint myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), a state for blood cells that turns into acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cancer in approximately 30% of patients

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Research conducted by members of the Colorado School of Mines Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering demonstrates microscale biomedical devices shaped like wheels can be injected into the body and effectively “roll” to treat areas in need – such as arterial blockages.

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Tel Aviv University researchers develop unique system to deliver therapy at site of Mantle Cell Lymphoma.

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A new $8.5M (CAD) grant award by the European commission via its Horizon 2020 program will be used for the treatment of hemophilia A, also called factor VIII (FVIII) deficiency, the most common form of hemophilia A. The genetic disorder is caused by missing or defective factor VIII, a blood clotting protein. The grant was awarded to the HemAcure consortium consisting of Canadian- based Sernova Corp and five European academic and private partners to advance development of a GMP clinical grade Factor VIII releasing therapeutic cell product in combination with Sernova's Cell Pouch™ for the treatment of severe hemophilia A.

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Vitamin D2 supplements taken for 6 months did not reduce dialysis patients’ need for anemia drugs that stimulate red blood cell production.

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The Angelo Bianchi Bonomi Foundation is pleased to announce that the SIPPET (Survey of Inhibitors in Plasma-Products Exposed Toddlers), the first randomized and controlled study on hemophilia and inhibitors designed to answer a key clinical question regarding the role that the product source plays in the development of inhibitors, has been completed.

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A team of researchers from the National University of Singapore has found a new significant correlation between the protein nucleophosmin and the development of an aggressive form of blood cancer called acute myeloid leukemia (AML). The team, led by Professor Lim Tit Meng from the Department of Biological Sciences at the NUS Faculty of Science, explained the puzzling phenomenon of AML cells appearing like normal cells even though they are cancerous. The team discovered that the mutated form of the protein which is found in about one-third of AML cases, is associated with a novel cellular mechanism that develops AML cells containing normal chromosomes.

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Montefiore Einstein Center for Cancer Care, Albert Einstein Cancer Center and The Children’s Hospital at Montefiore present research at the American Society of Hematology’s annual meeting. Presentations include the first report on a genetic risk factor for avascular necrosis associated with treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in children.

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A brain protein called SNTF, which rises in the blood after some concussions, signals the type of brain damage that is thought to be the source of these cognitive impairments.

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• After 6 months of treatment with hydroxyurea, sickle cell disease patients’ kidney function, as measured by the urinary albumin/creatine ratio, improved significantly.

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Researchers from the Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School Singapore (Duke-NUS) and Duke Medicine have identified a potential treatment strategy for an often-fatal inherited glycogen storage disease.

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Researchers from the University of Birmingham have, for the first time, identified how Salmonella infections that have spread to our blood and organs can lead to life-threatening thrombosis.

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Scientists at the Children’s Medical Center Research Institute at UT Southwestern (CRI) have determined how the body responds during times of emergency when it needs more blood cells. In a study published in Nature, researchers report that when tissue damage occurs, in times of excessive bleeding, or during pregnancy, a secondary, emergency blood-formation system is activated in the spleen.

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Bleeding complications present the most common risk for patients taking blood thinners. Without an antidote, there is no way to quickly reverse the effects of a blood thinner in emergency situations.

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Stem-cell scientists led by Dr. John Dick have discovered a completely new view of how human blood is made, upending conventional dogma from the 1960s.

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Patients with unexplained low blood counts and abnormally mutated cells who do not fit the diagnostic criteria for recognized blood cancers should be described as having clonal cytopenias of undetermined significance (CCUS), suggest University of California, San Diego School of Medicine researchers in a recent paper published in the journal Blood. The researchers found the condition surprisingly common in older patients with low blood counts.

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Blood drawing for patients with hard-to-reach veins just became a lot easier and less painful at The Valley Hospital in Ridgewood, NJ, thanks to a small hand-held device that lights up veins like a roadmap. With the AccuVein illumination device, the need for multiple needle sticks to try to hit a good vein for a blood draw is a thing of the past.

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Hematology researchers have safely and effectively treated children and young adults for autoimmune blood disorders in a multicenter clinical trial. Patients had a durable, complete response in one of those conditions, called ALPS.

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• Hypoxia-inducible factor prolyl hydroxylase inhibitors (HIF-PHIs) create a low-oxygen state to stimulate the body to make more red blood cells. • The drugs generated promising results in several phase 2 clinical trials in kidney disease patients with anemia.

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Mayo Clinic researchers in Rochester, Minnesota, collaborated with the University of Mississippi Medical Center on a recent study, “Troponin T as a Predictor of End-Stage Renal Disease and All-Cause Death in African-American and Whites From Hypertensive Families.”

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A team led by Brown’s George Karniadakis, is using the Cray XK7 Titan supercomputer to simulate hundreds of millions of red blood cells in an attempt to develop better drug delivery methods and predictors to fight against tumor formation and sickle cell anemia.

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A unique study at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles of newborns treated with hypothermia for hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) – a condition that occurs when the brain is deprived of an adequate oxygen supply – confirms its neuroprotective effects on the brain.

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Researchers in Manchester have demonstrated for the first time the relative safety and effectiveness of treatment, eltrombopag, in children with persistent or chronic immune thrombocytopenia (ITP), as part of an international duo of studies.

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An electronic system that monitors how physicians give blood to patients after an operation has enabled a 22-hospital system with thousands of doctors to significantly reduce the amount of blood transfusions patients receive, cutting costs by $2.5 million over two years.

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Numerous studies have identified obesity and poor diet as risk factors for insulin resistance and diabetes. Now, a new study adds another risk factor to the list: inflammatory lung disease. The article is published ahead-of-print in the American Journal of Physiology - Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology.

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With the world’s elderly population expected to double by 2050, understanding how aging affects the body is an important focus for researchers globally. Cardiovascular disease, the No. 1 cause of death worldwide, often is associated with aging arteries that restrict blood flow. Now, University of Missouri researchers have identified an age-related cause of arterial dysfunction, a finding that could lead to future treatments for some forms of vascular disease.

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September is National Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) Awareness Month, and Mount Sinai Health System is reminding the community of the importance of newborn screening performed soon after birth with a blood test, education for families with this inherited condition and comprehensive care for children and adults including regular visits with a specialist can reduce complications of this illness.

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Symmetric peripheral gangrene and venous limb gangrene are identified and a rational approach to treating these conditions explored.

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Results of a phase one trial show that an investigational topical drug, resiquimod gel, causes regression of both treated and untreated tumor lesions and may completely remove cancerous cells from both sites in patients with early stage cutaneous T cell lymphoma (CTCL) – a rare type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma that affects the skin. Currently, there is no cure for CTCL aside from a bone marrow transplant. However, the new study shows that the topical gel can eliminate malignant T cells, leading to diminished lesions.

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The Endocrine Society today issued a Clinical Practice Guideline (CPG) on strategies for treating Cushing’s syndrome, a condition caused by overexposure to the hormone cortisol.

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Johns Hopkins researchers say their review of 128 medical case histories suggests that financial penalties imposed on Maryland hospitals based solely on the total number of patients who suffer blood clots in the lung or leg fail to account for clots that occur despite the consistent and proper use of the best preventive therapies.

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Researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have established the safety and dosing of a new drug for treating blood cancers.

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‘A lab at the tip of your finger’: New technology is the first of its kind to utilize only a single drop of capillary or whole blood

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A new study by researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine reveals a protein’s critical – and previously unknown -- role in the development and progression of acute myeloid leukemia (AML), a fast-growing and extremely difficult-to-treat blood cancer. The study was published July 23 in Cell Stem Cell.

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Researchers in the Division of Hematology, Oncology and Blood & Marrow Transplantation at CHLA have shown greatly improved outcomes in using stem cell transplantation to treat patients with a serious but very rare form of chronic blood cancer called juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia (JMML).

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Other topics include nursing research, treating hep C and HIV, and more

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Researchers at the University of California, School of Medicine found a new combination that effectively treats hepatitis C (HCV) patients co-infected with human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV).

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Although the causes of many age-related diseases remain unknown, oxidative stress is thought to be the main culprit. Oxidative stress has been linked to cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases including diabetes, hypertension and age-related cancers. However, researchers at the University of Missouri recently found that aging actually offered significant protection against oxidative stress. These findings suggest that aging may trigger an adaptive response to counteract the effects of oxidative stress on blood vessels.

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Indiana University School of Medicine emergency room physicians compared treatment between rivaroxaban and warfarin for deep vein thrombosis or pumonary embolism and found advantages for the patient and improved outcomes from rivaroxaban.