Survival and recovery of human platelets stored for five days in a non- plasma medium

Human blood platelets were stored for five days as concentrates in 60 mL of: (a) plasma; (b) non-plasma medium with anticoagulant; and (c) non-plasma medium without anticoagulant. All preparations were equally functional when tested for platelet aggregation and release reaction in response to single agonist or synergistic pairs of agonists in vitro. Platelets stored in non-plasma medium with anti-coagulant had lower kallikrein, fibrino(gen)peptide A, lactate, and beta-thromboglobulin than did plasma controls after five days. In vivo recovery and survival of platelets stored in non-plasma medium with anticoagulant were 51.2% +/- 4.3% and 8.7 +/- 0.3 days, respectively, which were not statistically different from plasma controls of 39.2% +/- 4.9% and 7.2 +/- 0.8 days, respectively. It is concluded that platelets can be stored for five days in a non-plasma medium and still have good in vivo recoveries and survivals.     

No evidence for uniparental disomy as a common cause of Sotos syndrome.

A number of rare diseases (including Sotos syndrome) of unknown aetiology, which occur mainly sporadically and with features of growth disorder and developmental delay, may be caused by imprinted genes and therefore be associated with UPD. Using 112 dinucleotide repeat DNA polymorphisms, we have examined parental inheritance of all autosome pairs, except chromosome 15, in 29 patients with Sotos syndrome. All informative cases showed biparental inheritance and no cases of UPD were found. We conclude that Sotos syndrome is either not caused by an imprinted gene or that UPD is rare or of a segmental form in its aetiology.     

Exercise and Manual Auricular Acupuncture： A Pilot Assessor-blind Randomized Controlled Trial

Background： Evidence supports the use of exercise for chronic low back pain （CLBP）; however, adherence is often poor due to ongoing pain. Auricular acupuncture is a form of pain relief involving the stimulation of points on the outer ear corresponding with specific body parts. It may be a useful adjunct to exercise in managing CLBP; however, there is only limited evidence to support its use with this patient group. Methods/Design： This study was designed to test the feasibility of an assessor-blind randomized controlled trial which assess the effects on clinical outcomes and exercise adherence of adding manual auricular acupuncture to a personalized and supervised exercise programme （PEP） for CLBP. No sample size calculation has been carried out as this study aims to identify CLBP referral rates within the catchment area of the study site.     

Common polymorphisms of protein tyrosine phosphate non-receptor type 2 gene are not associated with risk of Crohn’s disease in Indian

BACKGROUNDMultiple genetic risk factors for Crohn’s disease (CD) have been identified. However, these observations are not consistent across different populations. The protein tyrosine phosphate non-receptor type 2 (PTPN2) gene plays a role in various aspects of host defense including epithelial barrier function, autophagy, and innate and adaptive immune response. Two common polymorphisms in the PTPN2 gene (rs2542151 and rs7234029) have been associated with risk of CD in Western countries. AIMTo evaluate the association of PTPN2 gene polymorphisms with risk of CD in Indian population.METHODSWe conducted a prospective case-control study. Patients with CD were recruited, and their clinical and investigation details were noted. Controls were patients without organic gastrointestinal disease or other comorbid illnesses. Two common polymorphisms in the PTPN2 gene (rs2542151 and rs7234029) were assessed. DNA was extracted from peripheral blood samples of cases and controls and target DNA was amplified using specific sets of primers. The amplified fragments were digested with restriction enzymes and the presence of polymorphism was detected by restriction fragment length polymorphism. The frequency of alleles was determined. The frequencies of genotypes and alleles were compared between cases and controls to look for significant differences.RESULTSA total of 108 patients with CD (mean age 37.5 ± 12.7 years, females 42.6%) and 100 controls (mean age 39.9 ± 13.5 years, females 37%) were recruited. For the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs7234029, the overall frequency of G variant genotype (AG or GG) was noted to be significantly lower in the cases compared to controls (35.2% vs 50%, P = 0.05). For the SNP rs2542151, the overall frequency of G variant genotype (GT or GG) was noted to be similar in cases compared to controls (43.6% vs 47%, P = 0.73). There were no significant differences in minor allele (G) frequency for both polymorphisms between the cases and controls. Both the SNPs had no significant association with age of onset of illness, gender, disease location, disease behaviour, perianal disease, or extraintestinal manifestations of CD.CONCLUSIONUnlike observation form the West, polymorphisms in the PTPN2 gene (rs7234029 and rs2542151) are not associated with an increased risk of developing CD in Indian patients.