Can ELABELA be a novel target in the treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukaemia?

BACKGROUND: It has been shown that bcl2, bcl-XL and mcl-1 protein levels are high in chronic lymphocytic leukemia cells, and resultantly, apoptosis does not occur chronic lymphocytic leukemia cells. Apelin and apela (ELABELA/ELA/Toddler) are two peptide ligands for a class A G-protein coupled receptor called apelin receptor. Studies have shown that ELA inhibits apoptosis by inhibiting apoptotic proteins and activating anti-apoptotic proteins. Proteins and genes involved in apoptosis are valuable for targeted cancer therapy. We hypothesized that serum levels may be increased in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia based on the antiapoptotic effect of ELA. We compared serum ELABELA levels of healthy volunteers and patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia. We aimed to draw attention to a new molecule worthy of research in targeted cancer treatment. METHODS: Forty two untreated CLL patients and 41 healthy volunteers were included in the study. Serum ELA levels were measured by using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kits (Dhanghai Sunred Biological Technology co. Ltd), automated ELISA reader (Thermo Scientific, FINLAND) and computer program (Scanlt for Multiscan F.C.2.5.1) in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions. Statistical analysis was done by Statistical Package for Social Sciences for Windows 20 (IBM SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL) ve MedCalc programs. ELA and variables related to CLL were correlated with Spearman correlation anlysis test. ROC analysis and Youden index method were used to determine a cut off point for ELA. All p-values were 2-sided with statistical significance at 0.05 alpha levels. RESULTS: In our study, we found that serum ELA levels were significantly higher in patients with CLL. CONCLUSIONS: This study highlights that ELA targeting may be a potential therapeutic option for treating CLL.

Assessing posterior ocular structures in ß-thalassemia minor.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of ß-thalassemia minor on choroidal, macular, and peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer thickness. METHODS: To form the sample, we recruited 40 patients with ß-thalassemia minor and 44 healthy participants. We used spectral-domain optical coherence tomography to take all measurements of ocular thickness, as well as measured intraocular pressure, axial length, and central corneal thickness. We later analyzed correlations of hemoglobin levels with ocular parameters. RESULTS: A statistically significant difference emerged between patients with ß-thalassemia minor and the healthy controls in terms of mean values of subfoveal, nasal, and temporal choroidal thickness (p = 0.001, p = 0.016, and p = 0.010, respectively). Except for central macular thickness, differences in paracentral macular thicknesses between the groups were also significant (superior: p < 0.001, inferior: p = 0.007, temporal: p = 0.001, and nasal: p = 0.005). Also, no statistically significant differences were noted for retinal nerve fiber layer thickness between two groups. CONCLUSION: Mean values of subfoveal, nasal, temporal choroidal, and macular thickness for the four quadrants were significantly lower in patients with ß-thalassemia minor than in healthy controls.

Coexistence of chronic lymphocytic leukemia and polycythemia vera: a case report and review of the literature.

Polycythemia vera is a Philadelphia chromosome-negative myeloproliferative neoplasm. Chronic lymphocytic leukemia is a monoclonal expansion of a CD5+ CD19+ B lymphocytes. Chronic myeloproliferative neoplasms may coexist with indolent B-cell malignant lymphomas of various types. The association of chronic lymphocytic leukemia with polycythemia vera is a rare event with only a few cases of coexistence ever reported. We report a 56-year-old man in whom these two disorders were diagnosed concomitantly. Possible etiopathogenic relationships between both disorders are discussed in this case report. SIMILAR CASES PUBLISHED: 6.

Effectiveness of the haemonetics MCS cell separator in the collection of apheresis platelets.

Platelet (PLT) transfusions play an important role in patients with thrombocytopenia or severely impaired platelet function. Platelet concentrates are prepared from whole-blood donations or by plateletpheresis. In recent years, different instruments have been developed to perform plateletpheresis. We evaluated an apheresis instrument, the Haemonetics MCS(®) + with regard to PLT yield, collection efficiency (CE), and collection rate (CR) in a retrospective, randomized study in 526 donors. In this system, we used leukoreduction filters post collection to obtain leukoreduced products. The Haemonetics MCS(®) + cell separator efficiently collected apheresis platelets with median PLT yields of 3.7 × 10(11), mean CE of 66.69 ± 13.73% and mean CR of 0.063 ± 0.013 × 10(11)/min. The median blood volume processed was 3290 (2420-4370) ml, and the median volume of acid citrate dextrose-A (ACD-A) used in collections on the device was 385 (196-517) ml. Also, this device allowed the collection of white blood cell (WBC) reduced plateletpheresis with mean 0.07 ± 0.15 × 10(6) WBC content. No serious donor or recipient reactions occurred.