Acaricidal activities of essential oils against two-spotted spider mite,Tetranychus urticae Koch

Eleven essential oils (EOs) were screened for their fumigant and repellent activity against two-spotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae Koch (Acarina: Tetranychidae) under laboratory conditions. Results showed that, in fumigant toxicity assay, Mentha longifolia L. showed more toxic to T. urticae (LC₅₀?=?11.08?mg?L^?1 air) and was followed by Mentha piperita L. (LC₅₀?=?15.86?mg?L^?1 air), Cymbopogon flexuosus (Nees ex Steud.) W. Watson (LC₅₀?=?17.23?mg?L^?1 air) and Chrysopogon zizanioides (L.) (LC₅₀?=?18.82?mg L^?1 air). In repellent activity test, Acorus calamus (L.), M. piperita and C. flexuosus showed 100% repellent activity to T. urticae as compared to Cedrus deodara (Roxb.) and Aegle marmelos (L.) (76.67%).     

Results of the First Clinical Study in Humans That Combines Hyperbaric Oxygen Pretreatment with Autologous Peripheral Blood Stem Cell Transplantation

Patients undergoing high-dose chemotherapy and autologous hematopoietic cell transplantation (auto-HCT) are at risk for multiple morbidities, including mucosal inflammation and neutropenic fever, both related to neutropenia. Evidence from our preclinical work in an umbilical cord blood (UCB) transplantation murine model suggests that treatment with hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) before UCB infusion improves UCB CD34⁺ cell engraftment by reducing erythropoietin levels. A pilot clinical trial using HBO in patients undergoing UCB transplantation showed improvement in kinetics of blood count recovery. In this study, we evaluated HBO in combination with auto-HCT. Our primary aim was to determine the safety of HBO in this setting and secondarily to determine its efficacy in reducing time to neutrophil and platelet engraftment compared with matched historic controls. Patients with multiple myeloma, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and Hodgkin disease eligible for auto-HCT were included. On day 0, patients received HBO treatment consisting of exposure to 2.5 atmosphere absolutes for a total of 90 minutes, in a monoplace hyperbaric chamber, breathing 100% oxygen. Six hours after the start of HBO, peripherally mobilized stem/progenitor cells were infused and patients were followed daily for toxicity and blood count recovery. All patients received daily granulocyte colony-stimulating factor starting on day +5 and until absolute neutrophil count (ANC) of ≥1500 or ANC of 500 for 3 consecutive days. A matched historic cohort of 225 patients who received auto-HCT between January 2008 and December 2012 was chosen for comparison and matched on sex, age, conditioning regimen, and disease type. We screened 26 patients for this study; 20 were treated and included in the primary analysis, and 19 completed the HBO therapy and were included in the secondary analysis. Although the median time to neutrophil count recovery was 11 days in both the HBO and control cohorts, the Kaplan-Meier estimates of the full distributions indicate that the time to neutrophil recovery was generally about 1 day sooner for HBO versus historical controls (log-rank P = .005; range, 9 to 13 for HBO patients and 7 to 18 for controls). The median time to platelet count recovery was 16 days (range, 14 to 21) for HBO versus 18 days (range, 11 to 86) for controls (log-rank P < .0001). In the secondary analysis comparing the HBO cohort who completed HBO therapy (n = 19) with our historical cohort, we evaluated neutropenic fever, growth factor use, mucositis, day +100 disease responses, and blood product use. HBO was associated with less growth factor use (median 6 days in HBO cohort versus median 8 days in controls, P < .0001). Packed RBC and platelet transfusion requirements were not statistically different between the 2 cohorts. Mucositis incidence was significantly lower in the HBO cohort (26.3% in HBO cohort versus 64.2% in controls, P = .002). HBO therapy appears to be well tolerated in the setting of high-dose therapy and auto-HCT. Prospective studies are needed to confirm potential benefits of HBO with respect to earlier blood count recovery, reduced mucositis, and growth factor use, and a cost-benefit analysis is warranted.© 2019 American Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation.     

Risk Factors for Transplant-Associated Thrombotic Microangiopathy after Autologous Hematopoietic Cell Transplant in High-Risk Neuroblastoma

High-risk neuroblastoma has a poor prognosis, and research studies have shown that increasing the intensity of therapy improves outcomes. Autologous hematopoietic cell transplant (aHCT) as consolidation therapy confers a significant survival advantage but is accompanied by significant morbidity. Transplant-associated thrombotic microangiopathy (TA-TMA) is a life-threatening complication caused by endothelial injury that often leads to hemolytic anemia, microthrombotic platelet consumption, and renal injury. Here we investigated the incidence, potential risk factors, and sequelae of TA-TMA in patients with high-risk neuroblastoma. We conducted a retrospective chart review of all patients (n = 141) with neuroblastoma in our institutions who underwent aHCT from 2000 to 2017. Ten patients (7%) developed TA-TMA. The patients in the TA-TMA group were similar to the rest of the subjects in demographics, disease burden, prior therapies, renal function, and timing of transplant. The type of conditioning regimen was the only statistically significant pretransplant variable (P < .001). Six of 15 patients (40%) intended to receive tandem transplants (cyclophosphamide/thiotepa and then carboplatin/etoposide/melphalan (CEM)), 4 of 68 patients (6%) who received conditioning with single CEM, and none of the 56 patients who received busulfan/melphalan were diagnosed with TA-TMA. Patients with TA-TMA were more likely to require intensive care unit transfer, have a longer length of stay in the hospital, and experience a delay or change in their subsequent therapy. In our cohort overall, patients with a delay in therapy after transplant appeared to have a worse overall survival, although the difference was not statistically significant. Because of this high incidence and significant morbidity, we have implemented standardized screening for TA-TMA during and after transplant. We anticipate that screening will lead to earlier intervention and decreased severity of disease.