BACKGROUND Polyetheretherketone (PEEK) and its composites are polymers resistant to fatigue strain, radiologically transparent, and have mechanical properties suitable for a range of orthopaedic applications. In bulk form, PEEK composites are generally accepted as biocompatible. In particulate form, however, the biologic response relevant to joint replacement devices remains unclear. The biolog...

Thrombocytopenia in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus is a common clinical manifestation affecting up to one third of patients in published cohorts. Antiplatelet antibodies, antithrombopoietin antibodies and faulty hemopoiesis have been implicated among other immunologic and non-immunologic causes. This mini review is an uptodate summary of these immunologic phenomena.

Immune-based strategies for treating and preventing cancer are increasingly being tested and include cancer vaccination, adoptive T cell therapy, and cytokine therapy. An important component of testing and development of immune-based strategies is monitoring the immunologic response. The ability to monitor T cell immunity has been suboptimal. The measurement of tumor-specific immunity will aid ...

The rapidly emerging field of immunotherapy and the development of novel immunologic agents that have been approved in melanoma and successfully studied in lung cancer, kidney cancer, and prostate cancer have mandated that there be uniformity in clinical trial analysis beyond conventional survival endpoints and imaging. This includes some measure of determining whether the immunologic target is...

Recurrent pregnancy loss associated with immunologic abnormalities has been termed immunologic abortion. Immunologic abortion occurs primarily in women over the age of 30 years and may affect either natural or in-vitro fertilization (IVF)-induced pregnancy. In this article, we review the humoral and cellular immunologic abnormalities that have been associated with this form of recurrent abortio...

We generated a comprehensive atlas of the immunologic cellular networks within human malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) using mass cytometry. Data-driven analyses of these high-resolution single-cell data identified 2 distinct immunologic subtypes of MPM with vastly different cellular composition, activation states, and immunologic function; mass spectrometry demonstrated differential abundan...

The functional role of suppressor cells in the control of the immune response has now been recognized. This phenomenon may soon be considered an essential aspect of immunity. The role of antigen-specific and nonspecific suppressor lymphocytes in the regulation of antibody production has been demonstrated (1). In vivo experiments have suggested the existence of suppressor cells in some forms of ...

The Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome (WAS) is a primary immunodeficiency disorder caused by a mutation in WAS protein (WASp) that results in defective actin polymerization. Although the function of many hematopoietic cells requires WASp, the specific expression and function of this molecule in natural killer (NK) cells is unknown. Here, we report that WAS patients have increased percentages of peripher...