Chagas' disease (American trypanosomiasis) is a very uncommon disease in non-endemic areas. A few cases in immunosuppressed patients have been reported in America. This report describes, to our knowledge, the first fatal case of acute Chagas' disease in Europe following bone marrow transplantation.

The QuantiFERON-CMV (QF) assay measures cell-mediated immunity against cytomegalovirus (CMV-CMI), which is particularly useful in individuals susceptible to CMV infection such as transplant patients. A positive QF result identifies patients that are better protected against CMV infection. However, the significance of a negative QF result in CMV-seropositive individuals needs to be clarified. CMV-CMI was analyzed in healthy subjects using the QF assay, and, in parallel, the Flow-cytometric Assay of Specific Cell-mediated Immune response in Activated whole blood (FASCIA). FASCIA assay measures T-cell proliferation using CMV lysate as stimulus whereas QF assay use a mix of peptides. A total of 93 healthy volunteers were enrolled, and 13/71 CMV-seropositive individuals (18.3%) showed humoral/ cellular discordance using QF assay (CMV+ QF−). Interestingly, with FASCIA assay CD4+ and CD8+ T-cell proliferations were lower in CMV+ QF− than in CMV+ QF+ individuals. Furthermore, CMV+ QF− volunteers had a lower level of anti-CMV IgG than CMV+ QF+ subjects. Discordant CMV+ QF− volunteers can be defined as low responder individuals since they show lower CMV-specific humoral and cellular immune responses in comparison to CMV+ QF+ individuals. Immune discordance shows the high heterogeneity of immunity to CMV in healthy subjects.In the last years, a variety of assays have been developed to measure cell-mediated immunity against cytomegalovirus (CMV-CMI), where the basic principle is the CMV-specific stimulation of T cells for 6-24 hours in cell culture 1,2 . These techniques have been shown to be particularly useful in individuals such as transplant patients who are susceptible to CMV infection, since they identify who is better protected against CMV infection after transplantation, as has been reported in international guidelines on the management of CMV in solid organ or stem cell transplantation 3,4 . Specifically, the detection of CMV-CMI at pretransplant or posttransplant using QuantiFERON-CMV (QF), ELISpot or intracellular cytokine staining has been associated with a lower risk of CMV infection, not only in observational studies 5-9 .Although most individuals show an agreement between CMV-serostatus and CMV-CMI, some of them have a discordance. Therefore, there are CMV-seropositive individuals without CMV-CMI, as well as CMV-seronegative individuals with protective CMV-CMI. Discordant individuals have been reported in both transplant patients and healthy virus carriers 8-12 .The QuantiFERON-CMV is an in vitro assay that measures CMV-CMI by quantifying IFNG released by CD8+ T cells after stimulation with a pool of HLA-restricted CMV peptides 13 . In some observational studies carried out in our group in solid organ transplant patients we found that 20-25% of CMV-seropositive transplant open Scientific RepoRtS | (2020) 10:7194 | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-64133-x www.nature.com/scientificreports www.nature.com/scientificreports/ candidates lacked CMV-CMI response using the QF assay, and they showed a higher risk of p...

The fetal genotype from HPA-1bb-homozygous women was detected by a noninvasive prenatal test as soon as 12 weeks of gestation.

Fifty-seven patients undergoing bone marrow transplantation were randomly assigned to receive either cyclosporin A (CsA, n = 26) or methotrexate, followed by rescue with folinic acid (MTX + FA, n = 31) as prophylaxis for graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). All patients but one receiving CsA had evidence of sustained engraftment, and there was no difference between the two groups on the day in which marrow engraftment was documented. Oropharyngeal mucositis was of similar incidence and severity in the two groups. In contrast, patients receiving CsA showed higher renal and hepatic toxicity rates than those treated with MTX + FA. Severe-to-moderate acute GVHD (grades II-IV) was documented in 12 patients receiving CsA and in 12 treated with MTX + FA. The cumulative incidence of this complication was similar in both groups (46.1% and 38.7%). Similarly, there was no difference in the incidence of chronic GVHD. The leukemic relapse rates were also comparable, as well as the estimated probability of survival, which was 55% in patients treated with MTX + FA and 41% in those who were given CsA. We conclude that MTX + FA is as effective as CsA in the prevention of GVHD, with the additional advantage of reduced renal and hepatic toxicities.

In order to guarantee the required level of quality for our Bone &Tissue Banking, we evaluated a new CE marked container (CELLFLEX MacoPharma), for packing, transport, processing and storage of bones for therapeutic use. The use of CE marked containers is mandatory for organ and tissue containers (Medical Device Directive 93/42). We carried out a three-phase study: (1)Evaluation, (2) Implementation, (3)Audit The product was evaluated for the following criteria:Dash mechanical resistance, Dash air tightness, Dash fragility, Dash capacity. No damage was observed after the storage period, even after immersion in liquid nitrogen. No breakages were observed after provoked impact tests (pots dropped onto the floor). The pot capacity evaluation showed that the inner pot volume (approximately 500 ml) permits adequate storage of tendons and the majority of bone allografts. In conclusion, this evaluation has shown that the CELLFLEX kit is suitable for long duration preservation of bone allografts even at very low temperature conditions (vapour phase nitrogen). Its format and structure permit preservation of most bone allografts.