Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) improves pulmonary hypertension in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD): a pilot study

ObjectivesIt was previously shown that dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) reverses chronic hypoxia-induced pulmonary hypertension (PH) in rats, but whether DHEA can improve the clinical and hemodynamic status of patients with PH associated to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (PH-COPD) has not been studied whereas it is a very severe poorly treated disease.Patients and methodsEight patients with PH-COPD were treated with DHEA (200 mg daily orally) for 3 months. The primary end-point was the change in the 6-minute walk test (6-MWT) distance. Secondary end-points included pulmonary hemodynamics, lung function tests and tolerance of treatment.ResultsThe 6-MWT increased in all cases, from 333 m (median [IQR]) (257; 378) to 390 m (362; 440) (P < 0.05). Mean pulmonary artery pressure decreased from 26 mmHg (25; 27) to 21.5 mmHg (20; 25) (P < 0.05) and pulmonary vascular resistance from 4.2 UI (3.5; 4.4) to 2.6 UI (2.5; 3.8) (P < 0.05). The carbon monoxide diffusing capacity of the lung (DLCO % predicted) increased significantly from 27.4% (20.1; 29.3) to 36.4% (14.6; 39.6) (P < 0.05). DHEA treatment did not change respiratory parameters of gas exchange and the 200 mg per day of DHEA used was perfectly tolerated with no side effect reported.ConclusionDHEA treatment significantly improves 6-MWT distance, pulmonary hemodynamics and DLCO of patients with PH-COPD, without worsening gas exchange, as do other pharmacological treatments of PH (trial registration NCT00581087).     

N(o)-cadherin role for HSCs

In this issue of Blood, Bromberg et al and Greenbaum et al delete the gene encoding the cell adhesion molecule N-cadherin in osteoblastic cells forming the hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) niche to demonstrate that N-cadherin has no role in regulating hematopoiesis.     

Molecular forensics in the precious Mediterranean red coral, Corallium rubrum: testing DNA extraction and microsatellite genotyping using dried colonies

Corallium rubrum is an overharvested precious coral submitted to strong environmental pressures. The development of new management tools such as assignment tests is crucial to assess the origin of traded colonies and to reinforce existing regulations in order to ultimately reduce poaching. As a starting point, we test the feasibility of DNA extractions and PCR amplifications of ten microsatellites using dried tissues such as those that can be obtained from traded or seized colonies. We genotype the same ten colonies conserved in alcohol and after five drying periods (from 7 days to 8 months) as well as ten dried colonies coming from a seizure conducted in 2009. Estimating the rate of negative PCRs through time, PCR repeatability and frequencies of null alleles, we demonstrate that dried colonies can be successfully genotyped. This study opens new avenues for the conservation of C. rubrum and other precious corals.