BACKGROUND Platelets play a key role in atherogenesis and thromboembolic complications in patients with type 2 diabetes. METHODS AND RESULTS We prospectively examined the relationship between systemic platelet activation and progression of carotid wall thickness within 1 year in 105 patients with type 2 diabetes. The intima-media thickness (IMT) of the common carotid artery was measured bilat...

Severe thrombocytopenia developed in a patient with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome during treatment with intravenous pentamidine for Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia. The patient's bone marrow contained adequate numbers of megakaryocytes, suggesting peripheral platelet destruction. Platelet counts ranged between less than 3 and 20 x 10(9)/L for 2 weeks despite cessation of pentamidine, platel...

Platelets undergo biochemical and morphologic changes when stimulated that greatly alter their function and contribute to their role in thrombosis and hemostasis. We recently identified and cloned the cDNA for a platelet surface glycoprotein expressed on activated, not resting cells. We found that this protein, lysome-associated membrane protein-1 (LAMP-1), is an integral membrane protein of th...

  Background: Routine repeat testing of critical laboratory values is very common these days to increase their accuracy and to avoid reporting false or infeasible results. We figure that repeat testing of critical laboratory values has any benefits or not.   Methods : We examined 2233 repeated critical laboratory values in 13 different hematology and chemistry tests including: hemoglobin, white...

It is technically impractical for many clinical laboratories to use the direct immunofluorescence assay for identifying and serogrouping clinical isolates of Legionella. We compared the results obtained with the direct immunofluorescence assay with the results of a simple and less-demanding slide agglutination test for identifying 15 serogroups representing seven Legionella species. The slide a...

Objectives and study A 4year-old boy was admitted to our hospital because of progressive proximal muscular weakness of 4 weeks duration, heliotrope rash, erythematous skin lesions in the trunk and limbs and febrile fever. The muscle enzymes were elevated: creatine kinase 7,056 IU/L (0– 170), aldolase 40.3 U/L (0–8), aspartate transaminase 601 U/L (10–37), alanine transaminase 289 U/L (10–37). T...

Immune thrombocytopenia is an autoimmune disorder characterized by antibody-mediated platelet destruction. A protein tyrosine phosphatase (PTPN22) present in lymphocytes is an important negative regulator of signal transduction for the T-cell receptor-MHC complex and has been associated with autoimmune disorders that produce autoantibodies. The present study investigated the frequency of the 18...

BACKGROUND Pemphigus is one of the potentially fatal autoimmune blistering diseases. An early and accurate diagnosis is important for prognosis and therapy. It may be difficult to diagnosis based on clinical grounds alone. Direct and indirect immunofluorescence, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, the Tzanck smear test, or histopathology are all available for the diagnosis of pemphigus. However,...