BACKGROUND Polymorphonuclear leukocytes contain a large number of enzymes and bactericidal proteins stored in granules. Neutrophil activation induces degranulation and immediate release of these bioactive substances, including human neutrophil elastase (HNE) also known as elastase-2 (ELA2), which may contaminate whole blood units and blood components. MATERIALS AND METHODS The HNE concentrati...

Three hundred and sixty samples of blood from 230 hospital patients were examined and compared with the results of simultaneous blood culture to determine the value of buffy-coat microscopy in detecting bacteraemia. One observer found 86 positive smears, 12 of which were from patients with positive blood cultures and 74 from patients with negative blood cultures. The buffy-coat smear was negati...

We measured the manganese content of whole blood, plasma, platelets, mononucleated cells, polymorphonucleated cells, and erythrocytes. Platelets and blood cells were separated from whole blood by use of discontinuous gradients of colloidal polyvinylpyrrolidone-coated silica (Percoll), and their manganese content was measured by Zeeman graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrophotometry, after ...

A newly developed cell separator for the preparation and fractionation of buffy coat cells from human peripheral blood is described. In this cell separator buffy coats (BC-1) as routinely obtained from blood banks were used for the preparation of a second buffy coat (BC-2) with a volume of only 5-6 ml. A special fractionation device allowed sterile isolation of almost pure platelets and mononuc...

BACKGROUND Prolonged storage of platelets could improve availability and logistical management and decrease wastage. Immunobiochemical methods can be used to guarantee the quality of platelets after prolonged storage. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to compare storage-related changes in buffy coat-derived platelet concentrations versus platelet-rich plasmal. METHODS Units of whole blood...

The efficacy of benznidazol on the treatment of chagasic patients from the state of Rio Grande do Sul was evaluated during a three-year follow-up. A cohort of 80 asymptomatic chronic chagasic patients or blood bank donors (49 male and 31 female) was studied. Their ages varied from 17-42 years, with a mean and a median of 30 and 35 years, respectively. The 80 patients presented positive serology...

In order to determine the effects of antibiotic treatment on the results of nested PCRs for scrub typhus, we investigated the frequency of positive outcomes at various times after antibiotic administration in patients with scrub typhus. The rate of detection by nested PCR with blood buffy coat before antibiotic administration was 90.5%. However, this decreased to 60.5% within 3 days after admin...

Pestiviruses have been isolated from live sheep pox Tunisian vaccines. Vaccination with these vaccines caused outbreaks of Border Disease in Tunisia. In order to study more precisely the pathogenicity of these isolates, three groups of eight four month old lambs from a pestivirus-free flock were infected by the intratracheal route with a French strain (AV) and two Tunisian isolates (SN3G and Lo...