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The human body is an amazing system of cells, hormones, and immune factors constantly engaged in complex and nuanced interactions. As medicine has advanced, doctors have discovered that people often have different responses to the same medication due to differences in genes and physiology. The field of personalized medicine examines…
The major cells of the immune system are lymphocytes. Lymphocytes that are critical for immune reactions are of two types namely B-cells and T-cells. Both cells develop from stem cells located in the liver of the foetus and in bone marrow cells of adults. The lymphocytes which are differentiated…
Scientists at the University of York have harnessed the therapeutic effects of carbon monoxide-releasing molecules to develop a new antibiotic which could be used to treat the sexually transmitted infection gonorrhoea. The infection, which is caused by the bacteria Neisseria gonorrhoeae, has developed a highly drug-resistant strain in recent years…
Asthma represents a significant clinical and economic burden to the US healthcare system. Along with other clinical manifestations of the disease, elevated sputum and blood eosinophil levels are observed in patients experiencing asthma exacerbations. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between blood eosinophil levels and asthma…
Two years have passed since the CDC finally published guidelines addressing HIV laboratory testing and officially endorsed the “new” HIV laboratory testing algorithm. Although many had become aware of the algorithm in the four years prior, and had adopted it to various degrees, this was the final word on this…
In what could be a major step forward in our understanding of how cancer moves around the body, researchers have observed the spread of cancer cells from the initial tumour to the bloodstream. The findings suggest that secondary growths called metastases 'punch' their way through the walls of small blood…
Some bacteria have the ability to ‘swim’ in a controlled fashion through the use of appendages called flagella. Researchers think that disabling these flagella is a key step towards infection control. Motile bacteria move through the function of flagella. These appendages rotate, which propels an organism forwards. This is a…
Neutrophil disorders are an uncommon yet important cause of morbidity and mortality in infants and children. This article is an overview of these conditions, with emphasis on clinical recognition, rational investigation, and treatment. Neutrophil disorders Disorders of neutrophil number (neutropenia) Disorders of neutrophil function Neutrophil disorders are an uncommon, yet…
Cholera sickens 3 million to 5 million people around the world every year, leading to 100,000 to 120,000 deaths, many of them in the Indian subcontinent, where cholera has been endemic for centuries. People with blood type O often get more severely ill from cholera than people of other…
When the recipient’s ABO and Rh blood groups are determined, the donor blood unit that is ABO and Rh compatible is selected, and compatibility test is carried out. The purpose of compatibility test is to prevent the transfusion of incompatible red cell units and thus avoidance of hemolytic transfusion reaction…
APTT is a measure of coagulation factors in intrinsic pathway (F XII, F XI, high molecular weight kininogen, prekallikrein, F IX, and F VIII) and common pathway (F X, F V, prothrombin, and fibrinogen). Principle Plasma is incubated with an activator (which initiates intrinsic pathway of coagulation by contact…
PT assesses coagulation factors in extrinsic pathway (F VII) and common pathway (F X, F V, prothrombin, and fibrinogen). PrincipleTissue thromboplastin and calcium are added to plasma and clotting time is determined. The test determines the overall efficiency of extrinsic and common pathways. Equipment(1) Water bath at 37°C(2)…
BLEEDING TIME The bleeding time test is dependent on appropriate functioning of platelets blood vessels and platelets and evaluates earliest hemostasis (platelets components and vascular). In this test, incision (a surgical cut made in skin) or a superficial skin puncture is made and the time is measured for bleeding to…
Thrombin time assesses the final step of coagulation i.e. conversion of fibrinogen to fibrin by thrombin. PrincipleThrombin is added to patient’s plasma and time required for clot formation is noted. Equipment(1) Water bath at 37°C(2) Test tubes (75 × 12 mm)(3) Stopwatch ReagentThrombin solution. SpecimenVenous blood…
This is a newly introduced screening test for platelet function that assesses both platelet adhesion and aggregation. This method uses an instrument called as PFA-100 in which anticoagulated whole blood is passed at a high shear rate through small membranes that have been coated with either collagen and epinephrine or…
Hemostais and Bleeding Disorders Hemostasis or haemostasis (from the Ancient Greek: αἱμόστασις haimóstasis "styptic (drug)") is a process which causes bleeding to stop, meaning to keep blood within a damaged blood vessel (the opposite of hemostasis is hemorrhage). It is the first stage of wound healing. This involves blood changing…