The Blood Group I and i Antigens of Amniotic Fluid

Human amniotic fluid has been shown to contain blood group i as well as I antigens. Crude extracts of amniotic fluids at 16-23 weeks of gestation were in general more active than those obtained at term. A pool of amniotic fluids which had A, B, H as well as I and i activity was fractionated with an insolubilized anti-I (Group 3 type) immunoadsorbent column. There was evidence for the occurrence of I and i determinants on macromolecules carrying A, B and H determinants, for the fraction specifically retained by the column was enriched by 50-60-fold in I and i activity and by at least 10-fold in A, B and H activity. In the fraction not retained by the column there remained the bulk of the A, B, H activity in addition to I activity of Group I type which is known to be distinct from the Group 3 determinant. With the aid of specific immunochemical fractionation procedures, human amniotic fluid should prove useful in structural studies of the several I and i determinants and of their relationship to other blood group determinants.     

Guest Editorial: Knowledge transfer and the path of translational medicine

Translational medicine is at the forefront of academic health care. Although readers might recognize the term, few will be familiar with the principles of this emerging discipline. For many years, clinicians and scientists were concerned that discovery and innovation in cutting‐edge science and biomedicine were not being used to cure or treat patients. This “problem” fostered a new academic paradigm, the aims being to develop a pathway to bridge the preclinical to clinical care interface and, ultimately, to bring treatments and therapies to the real world of patients and of health‐care providers. There are three integrated “phases” of the “bench‐to‐bedside” translational medicine journey. A brief introduction to the discipline of translational medicine is presented.     

Cirrhosis and liver transplantation in patients co-infected with HIV and hepatitis B or C: an observational cohort study

This study assessed the likelihood of referral for liver transplantation assessment in a prospective cohort of patients co-infected with HIV and hepatitis B or C with complications of cirrhosis. There were 141 co-infected patients from 11 UK centres with at least one complication of cirrhosis recorded (either decompensation or hepatocellular carcinoma) out of 772 identified with cirrhosis and/or HCC. Only 23 of these 141 (16.3%) were referred for liver transplantation assessment, even though referral is recommended for co-infected patients after the first decompensation episode.