46 results about "Transplant patient" patented technology

The present invention provides a method for reducing the risk of bacterial infection or sepsis in a susceptible patient by treating the susceptible patient with a pharmaceutical composition containing bacteriophage of one or more strains which produce lytic infections in pathogenic bacteria. Preferably, treatment of the patient reduces the level of colonization with pathogenic bacteria susceptible to the bacteriophage by at least one log. In a typical embodiment, the susceptible patient is an immunocompromised patient selected from the group consisting of leukemia patients, lymphoma patients, carcinoma patients, sarcoma patients, allogeneic transplant patients, congenital or acquired immunodeficiency patients, cystic fibrosis patients, and AIDS patients. In a preferred mode, the patients treated by this method are colonized with the pathogenic bacteria subject to infection by said bacteriophage.

The present invention provides a comprehensive tissue management system for transplantable materials like tissues and organs. The tracking portion of the system prompts and verifies that staff members of a medical establishment like a hospital have handled, stored, transported, reconstituted, and used the tissue or organ materials in a safe and regulatory-compliant manner from the point of receipt to the point of issuance or surgical use throughout the hospital's organization. The tracing portion of the system creates an integral record that documents which hospital staff members have provided which processing steps to the tissue or organ, any associated materials used in conjunction with such tissue or organ, and an identification of the tissue or organ that was transplanted or implanted inside a patient. Such a system will enable adverse reaction investigations for transplant patients, and recalls of transplantable materials.

The present invention relates to the use of carbon monoxide (CO) as a biomarker and therapeutic agent of heart, lung, liver, spleen, brain, skin and kidney diseases and other conditions and disease states including, for example, asthma, emphysema, bronchitis, adult respiratory distress syndrome, sepsis, cystic fibrosis, pneumonia, interstitial lung diseases, idiopathic pulmonary diseases, other lung diseases including primary pulmonary hypertension, secondary pulmonary hypertension, cancers, including lung, larynx and throat cancer, arthritis, wound healing, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, peripheral vascular disease and pulmonary vascular thrombotic diseases such as pulmonary embolism. CO may be used to provide anti-inflammatory relief in patients suffering from oxidative stress and other conditions especially including sepsis and septic shock. In addition, carbon monoxide may be used as a biomarker or therapeutic agent for reducing respiratory distress in lung transplant patients and to reduce or inhibit oxidative stress and inflammation in transplant patients.

Disclosed herein are materials and methods for modulating an immunologically adverse response to an exogenous or endogenous immunogen, including a cell, tissue, or organ associated immunogen. An implantable material comprising cells, such as but not limited to endothelial cells, anchored or embedded in a biocompatible matrix can modulate an adverse immune or inflammatory reaction to exogenous or endogenous immunogens, including response to non-syngeneic or syngeneic cells, tissues or organs, exogenous immunogens or stimuli, as well as ameliorate an autoimmune condition. The implantable material can be provided prior to, coincident with, or subsequent to occurrence of the immune response or inflammatory reaction. The implantable material can induce immunological acceptance in a transplant patient, reduce graft rejection and reduce donor antigen immunogenicity.

The present invention provides a comprehensive tissue management system for transplantable materials like tissues and organs. The tracking portion of the system prompts and verifies that staff members of a medical establishment like a hospital have handled, stored, transported, reconstituted, and used the tissue or organ materials in a safe and regulatory-compliant manner from the point of receipt to the point of issuance or surgical use throughout the hospital's organization. The tracing portion of the system creates an integral record that documents which hospital staff members have provided which processing steps to the tissue or organ, any associated materials used in conjunction with such tissue or organ, and an identification of the tissue or organ that was transplanted or implanted inside a patient. Such a system will enable adverse reaction investigations for transplant patients, and recalls of transplantable materials.

Methods of using a stabilized chlorite solution to inhibit antigen-specific immune responses are disclosed. The stabilized chlorite solution, when administered to a mammal in need thereof, can prevent the presentation of antigens by antigen presenting cells. The stabilized chlorite solution therefore is useful in treating, inter alia, auto-immune diseases, treating diseases caused by an inappropriate immune response, treating lymphoproliferative disease and in inhibiting rejection in transplant patients.

The present invention provides a comprehensive tissue management system for transplantable materials like tissues and organs. The tracking portion of the system prompts and verifies that staff members of a medical establishment like a hospital have handled, stored, transported, reconstituted, and used the tissue or organ materials in a safe and regulatory-compliant manner from the point of receipt to the point of issuance or surgical use throughout the hospital's organization. The tracing portion of the system creates an integral record that documents which hospital staff members have provided which processing steps to the tissue or organ, any associated materials used in conjunction with such tissue or organ, and an identification of the tissue or organ that was transplanted or implanted inside a patient. Such a system will enable adverse reaction investigations for transplant patients, and recalls of transplantable materials.

An extended release oral dosage form comprising as active substance tacrolimus or a pharmaceutically active analogue thereof for a once daily immunosuppressive treatment of a patient in need thereof, preferable a kidney or liver transplant patient. The dosage form releases the active substance over an extended period of time. It also provides improved pharmacokinetic parameters due to an extended and constant in vivo release including substantial decreased peak concentrations, despite increased bioavailability, substantial extended times for maximal concentration, and higher minimal concentrations when compared with conventional immediate release dosage forms and a recent modified release tacrolimus dosage form.

The object of the invention is to provide an immunological reconstitution promoter or a prophylactic agent for infections for use in allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation therapy for tumors. The promoter or prophylactic agent enables the amelioration of delayed immune reconstitution or the prevention of infection following transplantation, while maintaining the GVT effect of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Specifically, in a transplant patient in whom immune reconstitution is delayed, such reconstitution can be promoted by administering, at an early stage following transplantation, a substance capable of depleting CD4+ cells. Early completion of infection management in the patient and improvement in the survival rate are anticipated as a result. In addition, the risk of complications associated with allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation is reduced, enabling more widespread use of this therapy.

Methods for the diagnosis and treatment of fungal infections caused by microorganisms producing glucosylceramide are provided. In particular, methods for diagnosing or predicting dissemination of a fungal infection from the lungs to the blood stream of a patient are provided. Methods for treating a fungal infection and / or preventing the dissemination of a fungal infection from the lungs to the blood stream or to other organs of a patient, and methods for preventing or treating a fungal infection in a patient by administering a therapeutically effective amount of a fungal glucosylceramide synthase inhibitor to a patient. Such methods are particularly useful for use with patients at risk to develop fungal infections, such as HIV or cancer patients, patients hospitalized in intensive care units, or patients receiving immunosuppressive drugs such as transplant patients.

Methods for monitoring the immune response and predicting clinical outcomes for patients on immunosuppressive drugs (such as transplant patients) are provided. The methods are based on the measurement of an intracellular metabolic marker in lymphocytes (such as ATP) as an indicator of a patient's immune response.

Methods of using a stabilized chlorite solution to inhibit antigen-specific immune responses are disclosed. The stabilized chlorite solution, when administered to a mammal in need thereof, can prevent the presentation of antigens by antigen presenting cells. The stabilized chlorite solution therefore is useful in treating, inter alia, auto-immune diseases, treating diseases caused by an inappropriate immune response, treating lymphoproliferative disease and in inhibiting rejection in transplant patients.

The present invention relates to a composition for predicting the risk of thiopurine-induced leukopenia, containing a single nucleotide polymorphism marker within NUDT15 gene, and specifically, to: a composition for predicting the risk of thiopurine-induced leukopenia in Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, leukemia or transplant patients, containing a single nucleotide polymorphism marker within NUDT15 gene; a kit for predicting the risk; and a method for predicting the risk. According to the present invention, a patient having high sensitivity to leukopenia, which occurs during thiopurine therapy, in Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, leukemia or transplant patients can be rapidly classified early on, and thus patient-customized therapy can be efficiently carried out.

The present invention provides a comprehensive tissue management system for transplantable materials like tissues and organs. The tracking portion of the system prompts and verifies that staff members of a medical establishment like a hospital have handled, stored, transported, reconstituted, and used the tissue or organ materials in a safe and regulatory-compliant manner from the point of receipt to the point of issuance or surgical use throughout the hospital's organization. The tracing portion of the system creates an integral record that documents which hospital staff members have provided which processing steps to the tissue or organ, any associated materials used in conjunction with such tissue or organ, and an identification of the tissue or organ that was transplanted or implanted inside a patient. Such a system will enable adverse reaction investigations for transplant patients, and recalls of transplantable materials.

The invention encompasses a method of down-regulating a T cell-mediated immune response, through activation or T cell receptor (TCR) stimulation of antigen-primed T cells in the presence of alpha-melanocyte stimulating hormone (α-MSH), which may be optionally enhanced by adding transforming growth factor-β2 (TGF-β2) approximately 4-6 hours after the start of the primed T cells' exposure to α-MSH. Activation of the primed T cells may be mediated by presentation of the specific antigen to the primed T cells, or by an anti-TCR antibody or a T cell mitogen. As a result of the α-MSH treatment modulating the T cell activation, antigen-specific, regulatory, CD4+ / CD25+ T cells are generated that produce transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) and can non-specifically down-regulate Th1-mediated inflammatory activities. The method may be used to down-regulate or suppress an autoimmune condition or a graft rejection in a transplant patient. The invention also encompasses a kit for generating regulatory T cell comprising a specific antigen, α-MSH, and optionally, TGF-β2 and / or a T cell culture medium. Also provided are gene therapy treatments for suppressing an autoimmune or graft rejection response, or for re-establishing autotolerance, by introducing genetic material (e.g. nucleic acid) for expressing α-MSH or a receptor-binding portion thereof, into a localized tissue site.

The invention relates to suppressors of endogenous human interferon-gamma (INF-γ) applicable in treatment of diseases associated with impaired activity of endogenous IFN-γ. The suppressors of the invention are useful in treating autoimmune diseases and for prevention of graft arteriosclerosis and rejection of organs in allograft transplanted patients. The invention includes inactive analogues or variants of IFN-γ having preserved affinity to the IFN-γ receptor, genetically modified in the domain responsible for triggering the signal transduction pathway.