Severe dysplasminogenemia due to homozygous PLG Ala620Thr variant in a Korean woman without a history of venous thromboembolism: A case report and literature review.

RATIONALE: Plasminogen plays an important role in fibrinolysis and is encoded by the PLG gene. The missense variant PLG Ala620Thr is the major cause of dysplasminogenemia in East Asian countries, including Korea. Although dysplasminogenemia was first reported in a Japanese patient with recurrent venous thromboembolism (VTE), subsequent studies have not demonstrated any clear association between the PLG Ala620Thr variant and the risk of VTE. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of a homozygous PLG Ala620Thr variant case from Korea. PATIENT CONCERNS: Here, we report a Korean family with PLG Ala620Thr mutation. The proband was a 34-year-old man who presented with multiple thrombotic arterial embolism and cardiac myxoma. INTERVENTIONS: Laboratory workup, including coagulation profile and PLG gene sequencing, was carried out for the affected family. DIAGNOSIS AND OUTCOME: The proband carried a heterozygous PLG Ala620Thr variant with decreased plasminogen activity of 65%. His 53-year-old mother, who had no reported history of VTE, was homozygous for the PLG Ala620Thr variant with decreased plasminogen activity of just 25%. Decreased plasminogen activity indicates dysplasminogenemia. LESSONS: We believe that this clinically silent homozygous case supports the previous findings that isolated PLG Ala620Thr variant does not confer a significant risk of VTE.

Investigation of Iron Metabolism for Regulating Megakaryopoiesis and Platelet Count According to the Mechanisms of Anemia.

BACKGROUND: Iron deficiency anemia (IDA) is characterized by depletion of total body iron stores or a poor supply of plasma iron. By contrast, chronic inflammation makes iron unavailable for hematopoiesis through a cytokinemediated cascade and leads to a condition known as anemia of chronic disease (AOC). However, the laboratory data regarding the regulatory role of iron metabolism on platelet count has not been fully discussed yet. In this study, we investigated the relationship between iron status and platelet production according to different anemic mechanisms representing different iron metabolisms. METHODS: The study included a total of 759 specimens. Blood samples were obtained through venipuncture. The complete blood count was measured using an Advia 2120 (Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics Inc., USA). Biochemical indices including iron level were estimated using a Toshiba chemical analyzer (Toshiba, Japan). RESULTS: In the AOC group, we found a significant relationship between platelet count and serum iron level (p < 0.27), whereas there was no correlation in the IDA group. Moreover, when the AOC patient group was subdivided by serum iron level, a remarkable difference was observed as follows. The platelet count was significantly correlated with serum iron level only in the AOC group with decreased serum iron levels (serum iron < 50 µg/dL) (p < 0.0001), while there was no correlation in the AOC group with normal serum iron levels (serum iron 50 - 100 µg/dL). CONCLUSIONS: Iron deficiency in AOC involves upregulated hepcidin production induced by elevated inflammatory cytokines. This can cause increased iron sequestration in macrophages and decreased iron absorption for bone marrow. The condition of decreased megakaryocytic iron supply makes megakaryocytes with higher ploidy which can release more platelets than lower ploidy. Moreover, reactive thrombocytosis in inflammatory states occurs by cytokine cascades involving interleukin 6 and thrombopoietin in AOC. These two features may enhance thrombocytosis in patients of AOC with decreased iron level. In the future, further study should be performed to elucidate regulating mechanism of iron metabolism for megakaryopoiesis in AOC patients, and guide proper supplemental therapy of iron to decrease thrombotic risk due to reactive thrombocytosis in various kinds of anemia.

Concordance of Capillary Electrophoresis and Conventional Gel Electrophoresis in Two Different Groups of Patients with.

BACKGROUND: Serum and urinary protein electrophoresis play an important role in the identification of monoclonal gammopathy. Recently, capillary electrophoresis (CE) has been adapted in many clinical laboratories because of several advantages such as short turnaround time, automation, and high reproducibility. However, there have been unsolved concerns for the concordance between conventional gel and automated capillary electrophoresis methods for protein separation in clinical specimens. In this study, we investigated the diagnostic performance of both methods for detecting monoclonal (M) protein. METHODS: From February 2012 to August 2015, a total of 3,013 CE tests were performed in our hospital. Among these cases, we reconfirmed results of CE (Capillary 2, Sebia, Lysse, France) with those of conventional agarose gel electrophoresis (GE) (Hydragel 4IF, Sebia, Lisses, France) in 28 specimens from 24 patients with newly diagnosed monoclonal gammopathy (group 1). In addition, 22 cases from 15 patients with previously diagnosed monoclonal gammopathy presenting indeterminate or suspicious results on CE (group 2) were also reconfirmed with GE. RESULTS: We compared the results between the two electrophoresis methods in two different groups of patients with newly diagnosed discrete monoclonal peaks vs. pre-existing monoclonal gammopathy with obscure results in follow-up courses. In group 1, agreement rate was 100% (28/28) and there was no discrepant result between these two electrophoresis methods. In contrast, group 2 showed 86.4% (19/22) agreement rate and 0.67 Cohen's kappa value (95% confidence interval, 0.51 - 1.02). CONCLUSIONS: According to our results, both electrophoresis methods can be used with the same level of assurance at the time of initial diagnosis for monoclonal gammopathy. However, in patients with previously diagnosed monoclonal gammopathy in follow-up course after appropriate treatments, discordant results can be observed due to the reduced amount of M proteins. Therefore, we suggest that some ambiguous cases with very small amounts of M components require a combination of both CE and GE methods for accurate interpretation to confirm the presence of M proteins.

Misidentification of Acinetobacter baumannii as Alcaligenes faecalis by VITEK 2 System; Case Report.

Acinetobacter baumannii (A. baumannii) is widely known as an opportunistic bacterial pathogen that causes infection more frequently among immunocompromised individuals. Our case demonstrated the limitation of the current VITEK 2 system for the idendification of A. baumannii. Four clinical isolates of A. baumannii were identified as Alcaligenes faecalis by the VITEK 2 system. Misidentification might lead to unnecessary tests and inappropriate treatments. Additional methods appear to be helpful for the accurate identification of A. baumannii for clinical microbiology laboratories.