AIM To study the influence of enterococci on human sperm membrane in vitro. METHODS Ejaculated human sperm were artificially infected with beta-hemolytic or non-beta-hemolytic enterococci at the bacteria: sperm ratio of 50:1 at 37 degrees . Sperm membrane integrity was examined after incubation for 1, 3 and 5 h by hypoosmotic swelling (HOS) test and electron microscopy. RESULTS Sperm infect...

We report a case of severe hemolytic anemia following Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection in a 29-year-old male patient who was treated with azithromycin. Direct Coombs' test was strongly positive and the cold agglutinin titer was high, with anti-I specificity. Antimycoplasma antibody titer by complement fixation was high 1:10,240. The patient was discharged after 12 days of hospitalization in good...

A 15-year-old boy presented to the emergency department with acute development of fever and chills. Physical exam revealed a blood pressure of 86/61, jaundice with scleral icterus, and dark urine. Laboratory tests (increased free hemoglobin, increased lactate dehydrogenase, and decreased haptoglobin) revealed a direct antiglobulin test (DAT)negative hemolytic anemia. Sequential serum potassium ...

Giant cell hepatitis associated with direct Coombs' test-positive hemolytic anemia is a rare condition of childhood and the pathogenesis remains unclear. An autoimmune activation and loss of self-tolerance in these patients may be the underlying pathology related to the response of some of the patients to immunosuppressive treatment. Herein, we report the clinical presentation and course of thr...

The measurement of plasma hemoglobin is utilized in the evaluation of various hemolytic disorders. The purpose of this report is to illustrate the advantages of a direct spectrophotometric scanning technique for determination of of plasma hemoglobin. This method does not require the use of carcinogenic reagents. The scanning method demonstrates linearity, precision, and sensitivity suitable for...

To the Editor I read with great interest the article " A case of isoniazid-induced thrombocytopenia: recovery with im-munoglobulin therapy " in volume 51, number 7, April 2012 issue of your journal (1). As the authors mentioned, this case represents a rare adverse event associated with isoni-azid therapy, namely, isoniazid-induced thrombocytopenia. It is well known that almost all anti-tubercul...

Using thin-layer agarose gel isoelectric focusing overlaid with thin-layer erythrocyte agar plates, we found that crude streptolysin O (SLO) consisted of a variety of hemolytic components with different isoelectric points (pIs) and that the distribution of pIs in crude SLO was different even in samples which were produced from a single strain of Streptococcus pyogenes under similar conditions. ...

Newborn infants with maternal-fetal ABO incompatibility are at a greater risk for developing subsequent significant hyperbilirubinemia, and therefore, prediction of probable risk factors, such as the degree of hemolysis, gains importance. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the effect of fetal-neonatal blood group on the severity of hemolysis and jaundice due to maternal-fetal ABO incompatibili...