Platelet-adjusted IFN dosage in the treatment of advanced hairy cell leukemia.

It has been demonstrated that hairy cell leukemia (HCL) can be efficiently treated by various preparations of alpha interferons (IFN). Nevertheless, there are several open questions, such as the route, mode and dosage of IFN application. These variables of IFN treatment may be critical since a myelosuppressive effect of IFN, which is commonly seen in the initial phase of treatment, can result in further deterioration of the already impaired platelet production in advanced HCL. The present study shows that serious side effects can be avoided and the flu-like syndromes described by others almost completely reduced by s.c. application of IFN via a portable pump during a daily 8 h period. IFN is initially given five times a week and the daily dose is adjusted according to the actual platelet count. The efficiency controls show that the increase of platelets in the peripheral blood, which is most critical in advanced HCL, may be seen earlier by this than by other protocols, which usually recommend higher daily doses of IFN and only three instead of five weekly applications.

[In vitro studies on the fixation dependent artifact formation in electron microscope autoradiography]. / In-vitro-Studien zur fixierungsbedingten Artefaktbildung in der elektronenmikroskopischen Autoradiographie.

The binding of 14C-labeled L-fucose to bovine serum albumin by glutaraldehyde was investigated. Separation of protein-bound radioactivity from free precursor was performed either by TCA precipitation, thin layer chromatography or gel chromatography on Sephadex columns. For a positive control, [14C] fucose was replaced by [14C] leucine which has repeatedly been reported to be subjected to artifactual retention in glutaraldehyde-fixed tissue. It is shown that, under conditions where substantial amounts of free leucine are bound to albumin, radioactivity from L-[14C]fucose is not detectable in the protein fractions.