COVID-19 risk assessment and safety management operational guidelines for IVF center reopening.

PURPOSE: To promote nationwide dissemination and implementation of COVID-19 Risk Assessment and Safety Management Operational Guidelines, drawn up by SAMeR Task Force in ART centers in Argentina. Our objective is to prevent and mitigate the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 at an institutional level, while reducing the risk of infection among both physicians and patients in the context of a critical scenario in the local and Latin American healthcare system. METHODS: SAMeR Executive Committee set up a crisis committee which was made up of specialists in reproductive medicine, embryology, and healthcare management. A critical and updated review of the advances in science, documents, and recommendations released by other societies (ASRM, ESHRE, IFFS, Red LARA, societies of anesthesiologists, infectious diseases, and Occupational Safety and Health Administration-OSHA) was carried out. Likewise, there were joint meetings with the Ministry of Health of Argentina in order to draw up the guidelines. Simultaneously, ongoing medical training was carried out, thus providing added value to them, including two status surveys of the activities of the monovalent and polyvalent centers according to the country's epidemiological mapping. Four additional recommendations were made, and online training was given to healthcare workers. The aforementioned regulations were first analyzed by the healthcare providers and their practical suggestions were then added to the guidelines. RESULTS: The one-off collaborative work and the actions coordinated with the National ART Program of the Ministry of Health of Argentina resulted in the development and implementation of the present COVID-19 Risk Assessment and Safety Management Operational Guidelines at a national level. SAMeR gave recommendations for the implementation of the Management Guidelines for the center reopening, providing new safety criteria against the threat of viral contagion. A new organizational culture was promoted through the awareness of all the healthcare workers and teaching responsibility. We continue working on the compliance with a new "Code of Conduct and Commitment in Healthcare" and with workplace safety measures. We helped with transforming the theoretical knowledge into practical measures for the healthcare workers in different services, with the aim to prevent, mitigate, and/or handle contingencies at the centers/services and gamete banks, in line with the actions agreed upon with the Ministry of Health. CONCLUSIONS: As an extraordinary and uncertain event, the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic helped consolidate a volunteer-based and collaborative panel of SAMeR experts who developed the COVID-19 Risk Assessment and Safety Management Operational Guidelines as a new and readily available tool for physicians, patients, and gamete banks care. Their implementation has provided specific guidelines to minimize risk for professionals in ART clinics, as well as guaranteeing patient safety.

Immune response as a possible mechanism of long-lasting disease control in spontaneous remission of MLL/AF9-positive acute myeloid leukemia.

Spontaneous complete remission (CR) is a rare, poorly understood phenomenon in acute myeloid leukemia (AML). We describe the 10-year follow-up of a patient with MLL-AF9-positive AML (Müller et al. Eur J Haematol 73:62-66, 2004), including ex vivo antileukemic immune responses which may contribute to the long-lasting spontaneous CR (tantamount to cure). We could demonstrate strong in vitro cytotoxic activity mediated by the patient's serum (cryopreserved at diagnosis 2001) against myeloid cell lines. We also addressed cellular cytotoxic activity against myeloid leukemia cells. When the patient's natural killer (NK) cells (obtained in 2007) were tested against the K562 cell line, upregulation of CD107 occurred, implying that long-term CR in this patient could be due to NK cell-mediated disease control.

Regulation of the adaptor molecule LAT2, an in vivo target gene of AML1/ETO (RUNX1/RUNX1T1), during myeloid differentiation.

The leukaemia-specific fusion oncoprotein RUNX1/RUNX1T1 (AML1/ETO), resulting from the chromosomal translocation (8;21) in acute myeloid leukaemia (AML), imposes a striking genotype-phenotype relationship upon this distinct subtype of AML, which is mediated by multiple, co-ordinate downstream effects induced by this chimeric transcription factor. We previously identified the LAT2 gene, encoding the adaptor molecule LAT2 (NTAL, LAB), which is phosphorylated by KIT and has a role in mast cell and B-cell activation, as a target of the repressor activity of RUNX1/RUNX1T1. These results were confirmed and extended by demonstrating downregulation of the LAT2 protein in response to conditional RUNX1/RUNX1T1 expression, and its absence in primary AML with the t(8;21). In contrast, in a cohort of 43 AML patients, higher levels of LAT2 were associated with myelomonocytic features. Differentiation of HL-60 and NB4 cells towards granulocytes by all trans-retinoic acid (ATRA) resulted in downregulation of LAT2; conversely, it was upregulated during phorbol ester-induced monocytic differentiation of HL-60 cells. Forced expression of LAT2 in Kasumi-1 cells resulted in a striking block of ATRA- and phorbol ester-induced differentiation, implicating disturbances of the graded expression of this adaptor molecule in the maturation block of myeloid leukaemia cells.

Trasplante uterino: resultados actuales. Preparación de un equipo multidisciplinario en Argentina / Uterine transplant: current results. Preparation of a multidisciplinary team in argentina

El factor uterino absoluto como causa de infertilidad, ya sea la ausencia de útero o la presencia de útero no funcional, es actualmente una patología con posibilidad de tratamiento. El primer intento de trasplante uterino en humanos fue en el año 2000, este falló y el útero necrótico tuvo que ser removido luego de 99 días. Este caso pionero inspiró a varios grupos de investigación alrededor del mundo para comenzar estudios en animales para investigar el trasplante uterino en relación a cirugía, inmunosupresión, rechazo y resultados obstétricos. El primer estudio clínico de trasplante uterino comenzó en Suecia en el año 2013 donde se realizaron nueve procedimientos a partir de donantes vivas. El primer nacido vivo en el mundo a partir de un trasplante uterino se reportó en septiembre del año 2014, luego se comunicaron dos nacimientos más en noviembre de ese mismo año. Desde ese momento se han reportado nacimientos de trasplantes uterinos en Suecia, Estados Unidos y Brasil. El caso de nacido vivo en Brasil es el primer y único nacimiento en el mundo cuya donante fue cadavérica. Todos los casos publicados de trasplante uterino y nacidos vivos serán revisados en detalle en este artículo. En el año 2016 se realizó el primer simposio de trasplante uterino en América Latina bajo el auspicio de la Asociación Latinoamericana de Medicina Reproductiva (ALMER). En ese encuentro, el equipo de la Universidad de Gotemburgo, Suecia, compartió su experiencia en trasplante uterino en humanos. Este fue nuestro puntapié para comenzar un trabajo colaborativo entre nuestro equipo en Rosario y el equipo de Suecia, con la intención de preparar un estudio científico de trasplante uterino en Argentina. Los pasos importantes para este procedimiento serán revisados en este artículo (AU)

Absolute uterine factor infertility, due to absence or non-function of the uterus, is now treatable. The first attempt of human uterus transplantation was in year 2000, but it failed and a necrotic uterus had to be removed after 99 days. This pioneering case inspired several research groups around the globe to initiate animal-based studies to investigate uterus transplantation in relation to surgery, immunosuppression, rejection and pregnancy outcome. The first clinical trial of uterus transplantation was initiated in Sweden in 2013 and involved nine live donor procedures. The world ́s first live birth was reported from that trial in September 2014 and this was followed by two more births within the trial in November 2014. Births after uterus transplantation has since then been reported from Sweden, USA and Brazil. The live birth in Brazil is the first and only birth from a deceased donor so far. All published cases of uterus transplantation and the live births will be review in detail.In 2016 there was the first symposium on uterus transplantation in Latin-America under the auspice of ALMER. At the meeting, the Swedish team shared their experiences of human uterus transplantation. This was the starting point for a collaboration work between our team in Rosario and the Swedish team, with the aim to prepare for a scientific trial of uterus transplantation in Argentina. The important steps in this procedure will be reviewed (AU)