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Blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasms (BPDCNs) are extremely rare and aggressive hematological malignancies that derive from precursors of plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDC) and frequently involve skin lesions and bone marrow infiltration. They mostly affect the elderly population and the prognosis is poor with the therapeutic choices currently available. Diagnosis is made with the help of tools such as immuno-histochemistry and flow cytometry. Here, we present a particular case of BPDCN with a positive FLT3-D835 mutation and we discuss the possible impact this may have on the evolution of the disease and response to treatment.

The aim of this study was to use clonal gene rearrangements assays to discriminate between oligo-clonal or polyclonal reactive processes in cases that presented difficulty in diagnosis of B or T-acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) due to abnormal phenotypes detected by flow-cytometry. Monoclonal B /T cells were detected by rearrangements of immunoglobulin (Ig) and T-cell receptors (TCR) in 10 patients. After DNA extraction from peripheral blood, multiplex PCR was used to amplify the Ig/TCR gene rearrangements followed by capillary electrophoresis, according to BIOMED 2 conditions. The evaluation of the results was carried out in the clinical and interdisciplinary (histomorphological, molecular and flow-cytometric) context. The presence of clonal rearrangements may indicate the existence of two neoplastic processes or a single clone with two gene rearrangements � one productive and one non-productive on the two alleles, considering the use of genomic DNA. By fragment analysis we identified B/T cells gene recombinations using multiplex PCR with primer sets that target each type of gene family. Using these molecular markers we can discriminate between monoclonal/polyclonal cells and follow a clonal marker throughout the disease evolution.

Health care-associated infections are a leading cause of inpatient complications. Rapid pathogen detection/identification is a major challenge in sepsis management that highly influences the successful outcome. The current standard of microorganism identification relies on bacterial growth in culture, which has several limitations. Gene sequencing research has developed culture-independent techniques for microorganism identification, with the aim to improve etiological diagnosis and, therefore, to change sepsis outcome. A prospective, observational, non-interventional, single-center study was designed that assesses biofilm-associated pathogens in a specific subpopulation of septic critically ill cancer patients. Indwelling device samples will be collected in septic patients at the moment of the removal of the arterial catheter, central venous catheter, endotracheal tube and urinary catheter. Concomitantly, clinical data regarding 4 sites (nasal, pharyngeal, rectal and skin) of pathogen colonization at the time of hospital/intensive care admission will be collected. The present study aims to offer new insights into biofilm-associated infections and to evaluate the infection caused by catheter-specific and patient-specific biofilm-associated pathogens in association with the extent of colonization. The analysis relies on the two following detection/identification techniques: standard microbiological method and next generation sequencing (NGS). Retrospectively, the study will estimate the clinical value of the NGS-based detection and its virtual potential in changing patient management and outcome, notably in the subjects with missing sepsis source or lack of response to anti-infective treatment.

Acute Myeloid Leukaemia (AML) is a neoplasia characterised by rapid proliferation and an increased rate of relapses. The AML blasts display features of antigen-presenting cells (APC), and thus can directly modulate the anti-tumour T cell responses. The bone marrow of a group consisting of 30 newly diagnosed patients and four healthy donors (HD) was investigated for the expression of HLA-DR, several molecules involved in MHC-II antigen-presentation and MHC-II groove editing, like HLA-DM, CD74 and CLIP, as well as a set of immune checkpoint ligands, like ICOS-L, B7.2, PD-L2 and B7-H3. The patients were further characterised for their genetic anomalies and distributed to favourable, intermediate and adverse ELN risk categories. We were able to show that while 23% of our patients displayed a low level of HLA-DR surface expression, all patients displayed higher HLA-DM and CD74 expression compared to HD. However, a higher CLIP expression was noticed only in the HLA-DR low patients. The co-inhibitory PD-L2 and B7-H3 molecules were increased in the cases with normal HLA-DR expression; oppositely, the co-stimulatory ICOS-L and the dual function B7.2 were significantly increased in the cases with HLA-DR low expression. Furthermore, no favourable ELN risk cases were found within the HLA-DR low group. All in all, these data show that the AML with low versus normal HLA-DR expression display different profiles of MHC class II machinery molecules and B7 ligands, which are correlated with distinct ELN stratification. Furthermore, as our study included healthy individuals, it offers valuable information about the expression levels that should be considered as normal for these markers known to cause differences in peptide repertoires, reflected further in distinct T-cells polarisation pathways.

Background: Acute basophilic leukemia is a rare subtype of acute myeloid leukemia, as categorized by the 2008 World Health Organization classification of myeloid neoplasms. Acute basophilic leukemia diagnosis requires thorough morphological, cytochemical, immunophenotypic, molecular, and cytogenetic studies and exclusion of other hematological neoplasms associating basophilia. The disease course is defined by histamine driven, occasionally life-threatening respiratory, cardiovascular, cutaneous or digestive complications, as well as primary refractoriness to standard therapy. Clinical presentation: We herein report a case of a 63-year-old asthmatic female patient diagnosed with acute basophilic leukemia, associated with previously unpublished cytogenetic features and FLT-3 ITD mutation, pulmonary leukostasis and spontaneous pulmonary capillary leak syndrome, which worsened immediately following chemotherapy initiation. Respiratory complications were successfully managed, but recrudesced upon emergence of refractory disease and were ultimately fatal. We highlight the likelihood of pulmonary complications induced by basophil degranulation and tumor lysis in hypercellular acute basophilic leukemia and the potential benefit of histamine receptor blockade in this setting.

Purpose. Nontraditional cardiovascular risk factors as apolipoprotein A (ApoA), apolipoprotein B (ApoB), and the proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) increase the prevalence of cardiovascular mortality in chronic kidney disease (CKD) or in end-stage renal disease (ESRD) through quantitative alterations. This review is aimed at establishing the biomarker (ApoA, ApoB, and PCSK9) level variations in uremic patients, to identify the studies showing the association between these biomarkers and the development of cardiovascular events and to depict the therapeutic options to reduce cardiovascular risk in CKD and ESRD patients.Methods. We searched the electronic database of PubMed, Scopus, EBSCO, and Cochrane CENTRAL for studies evaluating apolipoproteins and PCSK9 in CKD and ESRD. Randomized controlled trials, observational studies (including case-control, prospective or retrospective cohort), and reviews/meta-analysis were included if reference was made to those keys and cardiovascular outcomes in CKD/ESRD.Results. 18 studies met inclusion criteria. Serum ApoA-I has been significantly associated with the development of new cardiovascular event and with cardiovascular mortality in ESRD patients. ApoA-IV level was independently associated with maximum carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT) and was a predictor for sudden cardiac death. The ApoB/ApoA-I ratio represents a strong predictor for coronary artery calcifications, cardiovascular mortality, and myocardial infarction in CKD/ESRD. Plasma levels of PCSK9 were not associated with cardiovascular events in CKD patients.Conclusions. Although the “dyslipidemic status” in CKD/ESRD is not clearly depicted, due to different research findings, ApoA-I, ApoA-IV, and ApoB/ApoA-I ratio could be predictors of cardiovascular risk. Serum PCSK9 levels were not associated with the cardiovascular events in patients with CKD/ESRD. Probably in the future, the treatment of dyslipidemia in CKD/ESRD will be aimed at discovering new effective therapies on the action of these biomarkers.

Background: Congenital disorder of glycosylation (CDG) is a severe morphogenic and metabolic disorder that affects all of the systems of organs and is caused by a mutation of the gene PMM2, having a mortality rate of 20% during the first months of life. Results: Here we report the outcome of an in vitro fertilisation (IVF) cycle associated with preimplantation genetic testing for monogenic diseases (PGT-M) in a Romanian carrier couple for CDG type Ia with distinct mutations of the PMM2 gene. The embryonic biopsy was performed on day five of the blastocyst stage for six embryos. The amplification of the whole genome had been realized by using the PicoPLEX WGA kit. Using the Array Comparative Genomic Hybridisation technique, we detected both euploid and aneuploid embryos. The identification of the PMM2 mutation on exon 5 and exon 6 was performed for the euploid embryos through Sanger Sequencing with specific primers on ABI 3500. Of the six embryos tested, only three were euploid. One had compound heterozygosity and the remaining two were simple heterozygotes. Conclusion: PGT-M should be strongly considered for optimising embryo selection in partners with single-gene mutations in order to prevent transmission to the offspring.

Titanium alloy scaffolds with novel interconnected and non-periodic porous bone-like micro architecture were 3D-printed and filled with hydroxyapatite bioactive matrix. These novel metallic-ceramic hybrid scaffolds were tested in vitro by direct-contact osteoblast cell cultures for cell adhesion, proliferation, morphology and gene expression of several key osteogenic markers. The scaffolds were also evaluated in vivo by implanting them on transverse and spinous processes of sheep's vertebras and subsequent histology study. The in vitro results showed that: (a) cell adhesion, proliferation and viability were not negatively affected with time by compositional factors (quantitative MTT-assay); (b) the osteoblastic cells were able to adhere and to attain normal morphology (fluorescence microscopy); (c) the studied samples had the ability to promote and sustain the osteogenic differentiation, matrix maturation and mineralization in vitro (real-time quantitative PCR and mineralized matrix production staining). Additionally, the in vivo results showed that the hybrid scaffolds had greater infiltration, with fully mineralized bone after 6 months, than the titanium scaffolds without bioactive matrix. In conclusion, these novel hybrid scaffolds could be an alternative to the actual spinal fusion devices, due to their proved osteogenic performance (i.e. osteoinductive and osteoconductive behaviour), if further dimensional and biomechanical optimization is performed.

Soil microorganisms, especially rhizobacteria, play a key role in soil phosphorus (P) dynamics and the subsequent availability of phosphate to plants. Utilization of phosphate-solubilizing bacteria as biofertilizers instead of synthetic chemicals is known to improve plant growth through the supply of plant nutrients, and may help to sustain environmental health and soil productivity. The main purpose of this study was to identify new phosphate-solubilizing bacteria isolated from runner bean rhizosphere. Ten out of 25 isolated bacterial strains solubilized Ca3(PO4)2 in qualitative and quantitative P-solubilization. The strain that exhibited the highest potential to solubilize Ca3(PO4)2, was selected for further determination of the mechanisms involved in the process. The medium pH was measured, organic acids released in the culture medium were identified by HPLC analysis, and the acid and alkaline phosphatase activities were determined. Our results showed that strain R7 solubilized phosphorous through the production of various organic acids such as lactic, isocitric, tartaric and pyruvic acids, and that it can be used as a potential biofertilizer.

Dizabilitatea intelectuală (DI) este o afecțiune frecventă, cu consecințe majore pentru individ, familie și societate. Datorită heterogenității sale clinice și genetice, în aproximativ 50% din cazuri etiologia bolii nu poate fi stabilită. Scopul acestui studiu a fost evaluarea capacității de stabilire a diagnosticului etiologic la 369 pacienți cu DI sindromic și rezultat normal sau incert la cariotip folosind o combinație de kituri MLPA. Toţi pacienţii au fost investigaţi prin metoda MLPA, folosind fie kiturile SALSA MLPA P064 sau P096, dacă fenotipul a fost sugestiv pentru un sindrom cu microdeleţie (subgrupul A - 186 pacienți), fie kiturile subtelomerice P036 și P070, dacă fenotipul nu a fost sugestiv pentru un sindrom cu microdeleţie sau rezultatul la cariotipul standard a fost incert (subgrupul B - 183 pacienți). Rezultatele anormale detectate de aceste kituri au fost caracterizate folosind kiturile MLPA corespunzătoare de urmărire (Telomere Follow-up set, P029-A1, P250-B2, ME028-B1). În subgrupul A am identificat 25 de pacienți cu microdeleții (13,4%). Folosind kiturile de screening subtelomeric și de urmărire la subgrupul B am detectat rearanjări criptice în 7,5% din cazuri și am identificat originea materialului suplimentar observat la cariotipul standard la 10 din 11 pacienți. Sumarizând datele obţinute din cele două loturi, folosirea combinată a seturilor MLPA a dus la stabilirea diagnosticului la 10,6% (38/358) dintre pacienții cu cariotip normal. Folosirea seturilor MLPA de urmărire a permis atât confirmarea prezenţei anomaliei, cât şi determinarea dimensiunii ei, ceea ce a facilitat interpretarea semnificaţiei clinice a rearanjărilor. Pentru laboratoarele care nu au acces la tehnologiile bazate pe microarray, folosirea mai multor kituri MLPA reprezintă o strategie eficientă pentru stabilirea diagnosticului etiologic la pacienţii cu DI.

The hallmark of chronic myeloid leukemia is the existence of the cytogenetic evidence of the Phyladelphia chromosome (reciprocal translocation between chromosome 9 and 22, and is specifically designated t(9;22)(q34;q11). The result of the translocation is the oncogenic BCR-ABL gene fusion, located on the shorter derivative 22 chromosome. This gene encodes the Bcr-abl fusion protein the BCR-ABL tyrosine kinase - a protein that is continuously activated. The result of this unregulated activation is an unregulated neoplastic type cell division - chronic myeloid leukemia. The first targeted molecular treatment operating in cancer- inhibitor of the BCR-ABL tyrosine kinase, Imatinib mesylate, is the standard of care for chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) Methods. A retrospective review of patients in one department of hematology with a diagnosis of Ph/BCR-ABL positive CML and received imatinib. Results. From 2002 to 2012, 66 patients in CML-CP received imatinib were introduced in the study. 22 (33%) patients received imatinib as upfront therapy, the others as second or third line treatment. The cytogenetic response (CyR) achieved was major in 62% with 56% complete cytogenetic response (CCR), no CyR in 17 patients (25%). The molecular response was complete in 13 (20%) and major in 16 (24%) patients. Better cytogenetic and molecular responses were achieved by those with low and intermediary risk (Sokal) Seven patients developed under imatinib additional cytogenetic anomalies: supplemental chromosome 8 (6), duplication of Ph1 (2), trisomy 17 and 19 (1). The median of follow-up was 69 months (range 18-180) and under imatinib was 52 months (range 3-126). The Sokal score was a better predictor of survival than Hasford’s. Conclusions. Imatinib remains the best first line treatment, but there are still a significant number of patients who did not achieve a CyR. The responses and survival were not influenced by the previous treatments but the earlier introduction of imatinib is better. The Sokal score seems to have a better prognostic role. The survival of patients with CML is evidently improuved by tyrosin kynase inhibitors.

The clinical management of severe pathological conditions, such as B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL), is subject to continuous optimization and re-evaluation. Patients may fully benefit from rapid, standardized laboratory tools designed to facilitate their early stratification according to disease risk, stage and prognosis. Such technologies may also aid the clinician in selecting the therapeutic option with the greatest chances of success. The presence of specific genetic abnormalities are frequently associated with the clinical outcome of oncologic patients in general, and B-CLL patients in particular. In the current study, a group of 58 B-CLL patients were evaluated for the detection of gene copy number alterations (deletions or duplication/ amplifications) within 45 distinct genetic targets, by means of a novel molecular methodology, Multiplex Ligation - Dependent Probe Amplification (MLPA). Simple or complex genetic defects were identified in 67% of cases, and the most common aberrations observed were: deletion of the short arm of chromosome 13 in 33% of cases, deletion of the long arm of chromosome 11 in 16% of cases, trisomy 12 in 16% of cases, and deletion of the short arm of chromosome 17 in 7% of cases. The main conclusion of the study presented here points towards MLPA as a potential key step of clinical management protocols in B-CLL, providing that it will be fully standardised for routine diagnosis.

Obiectiv: Limfocitele T se constituie în factori celulari importanţi ai răspunsului imun. Leucemia limfocitară cronică B se caracterizează prin defecte ale sistemului imun. Studiul nostru îşi propune caracterizarea diferitelor subseturi maturative şi funcţionale limfoide T şi NK la pacienţi aflaţi în stadii distincte de boală. Material şi metoda: au fost utilizate celule mononucleate separate în gradient de densitate de la 43 de pacienţi cu LLC-B (16 femei, 27 bărbaţi, vârsta 68±10 ani, 8 în Rai0, 22 în Rai1/2 şi 13 în Rai3/4) în vederea analizei prin citometrie in flux multiparametrică. Au fost identificate şi comparate între diferite stadii Rai, subseturile limfoide T CD4+ (naive, memorie centrală, memorie periferică/efector, reglatorii, foliculare-TFH, CXCR3 şi/sau CCR4+), CD8+ (naive+memorie, efectorii, senescente) şi NK (CD57 şi/sau CD94+). Rezultate: Limfocitele T totale circulante se găsesc în numere crescute la pacienţi în stadii avansate ale bolii. Majoritatea limfocitelor T CD4+ sunt celule ce au întâlnit antigenul, cu subseturi crescute de tip reglator, folicular şi CXCR3+ (asociat profilului Th1). Expansiunea limfocitelor citotoxice CD8+ este corelată cu un subset diferenţiat terminal, senescent, CD57+. În ceea ce priveşte subseturile limfocitare NK, nu s-au identificat diferente semnificative între diferite stadii ale bolii. Concluzii: Comportamentul leucemiei limfocitare cronice B pare a fi asociat cu o creştere în valori absolute a limfocitelor T CD4+ reglatorii şi foliculare circulante, dar şi cu expansiunea limfocitelor T citotoxice senescente. Modularea răspunsului T la pacienţii cu LLC-B joacă un rol important în evoluţia bolii şi se constituie în eveniment cheie al compensarii imunodeficientei caracteristice stadiilor avansate ale bolii.

Introducere. Sindromul Down este o boală gravă, lipsită de terapie patogenică. Singurele posibilităţi de reducere a consecinţelor bolii le reprezintă screeningul şi diagnosticul prenatal. Standardul de aur în diagnosticul prenatal este analiza cromosomică a celulelor fetale obţinute prin proceduri invazive. Pentru reducerea complicaţiilor, în ultimii ani au fost dezvoltate diferite metode de detecţie a celulelor sau ADN-ului fetal în sângele matern. Scop. Scopul studiului a fost verificarea aplicabilităţii metodei de cuantificare prin imunoprecipitare a ADN-ului fetal metilat din sângele matern în diagnosticul prenatal al trisomiei 21. Metodă. Am analizat probe de la 12 gravide (7 cu făt cu trisomie 21 şi 5 cu făt euploid confirmate citogenetic), două probe fiind eliminate din considerente tehnice. Pentru fiecare probă am efectuat: extracţia ADN-ului total (matern şi fetal), fragmentarea ADN-ului, imunoprecipitarea ADN-ului metilat, spălarea, izolarea ADN-ului şi qPCR pentru ADN-ul imunoprecipitat. Pentru evidenţierea regiunilor metilate specifice pe cromosomii 21 fetali am utilizat opt perechi de amorse specifice cromosomului 21. În final, am analizat rezultatele qPCR aplicând formula: D=-6,331+0,959XEP4+1,188XEP5+0,424XEP6+0,621XEP7+0,028XEP8+0,387XEP10-0,683XEP11 +0,897XEP12 unde XEPi= valoarea fracţiei pentru fiecare marker. Rezultate. În toate sarcinile normale, valoarea factorului D a fost negativă concordant cu absenţa trisomiei (specificitate 100%). În 5 din 6 sarcini cu trisomie 21 valoarea factorului D a fost pozitivă, ceea ce indică o sensibilitate crescută. Totuşi, pentru estimarea precisă a metodei este necesară analiza mai multor cazuri, ceea ce ar permite obţinerea de date valabile statistic

The BK virus nephropathy (BKVN) is one of the most important infectious complications in renal transplant recipients. As BKVN lacks any effective antiviral treatment, early diagnosis is required in order to try to limit viral replication and subsequent damage to the renal allograft, by reducing the immunosuppressive therapy. Our study, the first of its kind in Romania, aimed to assess the prevalence of BKVN among renal transplant patients in our center.In this cross-sectional study, we included 143 renal transplant patients from our center who had received their renal allograft between 2005 and 2010. We searched for latent BK virus infection by detection of serum anti-BK virus antibodies, using an in-house developed enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) technique. Serology was considered positive if results were0.33 optical density units. In patients with positive serology, we searched for BKVN with qualitative (polymerase chain reaction, PCR) and quantitative (TaqMan real-time PCR) molecular techniques. Additionally, we searched for other viral infections, including hepatitis B (with HBsAg test), hepatitis C (with anti-HCV Abs test), and cytomegalovirus (CMV, with pp65Ag test).All patients screened with ELISA were found to have positive BK virus serology and two of these were diagnosed with BKVN. Both patients with BKVN presented with acute impairment of the renal graft function, and one of them also developed a ureteral graft stenosis. In both cases, BKVN resolved after reduction of immunosuppressive doses. We also diagnosed hepatitis B in 18.18%, hepatitis C in 7.0%, and CMV in 27.97% of patients.Our study demonstrates for the first time the existence of BK virus in Romania, and we believe it opens the prospective of diagnosing BKVN in high-risk patients in our country in the future. In renal transplant patients from our center, we found the prevalence of BK virus infection to be as high as 100%. The prevalence of hepatitis B and CMV was also remarkably high. In patients with BKVN, the reduction of immunosuppression enables the spontaneous resolution of the disease.

Traffic of tumorand normal cells through the peripheral blood (PB) of patients with B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL) to the lymph nodes (LN) or spleen/ liver sites is governed by specific changes in surface and intracellular molecule expression. The study aims to investigate the potential association between different lymphocyte subsets, chemokine receptors or genetic alterations and specific clinical signs in a group of B-CLL patients. Forty-three patients were included in the study. The expression of CCR7, CXCR5, CXCR3, CCR4, CD3, CD4, CD8, CD27, CD28, CD45RA, CD25, CD127, CD38 was tested by multiparameter flow cytometry. Genetic alterations were determined by MLPA. We found increased frequency of CD38+ B-CLL cells directly correlated with the presence of LN>5cm. CXCR5 and CCR7 are homogenously expressed by monoclonal B-CLL cells. CCR4+ B-CLL cell frequency is found to be lower in the PB of patients presenting particular LN involvement. Heterogeneous and complex genetic alterations were found and only the presence of trisomy 12 associated with less frequent axillary LN involvement. We also report a significant increase in the frequency of total T cells and T cell subsets (effectorand central memory CD4+ T cells, regulatory T cells, follicular T helper cells, distinct functional CD8+ T cells) with the occurrence of specific clinical manifestations. Chemokine receptor expression on circulating CD4+ T cell subsets was augmented in connection to some specific LN locations. Consequently, clinical manifestations in B-CLL are linked to both, factors intrinsic to the monoclonal B cells, and external influences coming from the microenvironment.

Introducere. Pacienţii cu leucemie acuta limfoblastică (LAL) neonatală prezintă în mod frecvent, o tran- slocaţie particulară, t(4;ll)(q21;q23), care duce la fuziunea genei MLL (mixed lineage leukemia) de pe cromo- zomul 11 cu gena AF4 de pe cromozomul 4. Deşi în literatura de specialitate au fost descrise anterior cazuri de LAL neonatală caracterizate prin prezenţa unor produşi de fuziune MLL-AF4 cu variate puncte de ruptura, cazul prezentat în acest material este inedit, atât prin complexitatea fuzatului MLL-AF4 identificat, cât şi prin particu- larităţile sale clinico-biologice. Materiale şi metode. Intr-o probă de sânge periferic provenită de la un nou-năs- cut în vârstă de 21 de zile a fost testată, prin biologie moleculară, prezenţa genelor de fuziune: TEL-AML1, BCR-ABL(plQO). E2A-PBX1 si MLL-AF4. Fragmentul MLL-AF4 identificat, având o lungime neobişnuită, a fost purificat şi secvenţiat. Evaluarea imunofenotipică a blaştilor leucemici circulanţi s-a efectuat prin citometrie în flux, multiparametrică, utilizându-se un citometru FACSCanto-II (Becton-Dickinson). Rezultate. S-a identificat un transcript de fuziune MLL-AF4 cu o secvenţă particulară (fuziunea exonului 12 de pe gena MLL cu exonul 4 de pe gena AF4). Evaluarea imunofenotipică a evidenţiat, de asemenea, o evoluţie particulară: la diagnostic s-a des- cris o clonă malignă cu fenotip de precursor limfoid B, în timp ce la recădere s-a evidenţiat expansiunea predominantă a unei clone monocitoide. Prezenţa aceluiaşi transcript MLL-AF4(el2-e4) a fost evidenţiată şi la recădere, în absenţa oricăror altor fuzaţi caracteristici pentru lineajul mieloid. Concluzie. Considerăm că particularităţile punctelor de ruptură care au dus la generarea rearanjamentului MLL-AF4 în acest caz sunt inedite, nemaifiind menţionate anterior în literatura de specialitate. Detecţia sa timpurie are potenţial predictiv pentru switch-ul imunofenotipic şi implicaţii în optimizarea strategiilor terapeutice.

The aim of this study was to monitor the influence of the fermentation conditions on the exopolysaccharides (EPS) biosynthesis. For this, different culture media compositions were tested on an isolated lactic acid bacteria (LAB) strain, identified by 16S rDNA sequence as being Weissella confusa. It was proved that this bacterial strain culture in MRS medium supplemented with 80g/L sucrose and dissolved in UHT milk produced up to 25.2g/L of freeze-dried EPS, in static conditions, after 48h of fermentative process. Using FTIR and NMR analysis, it was demonstrated that the obtained EPS is a dextran. The thermal analysis revealed a dextran structure with high purity while GPC analysis depicted more fractions, which is normal for a biological obtained polymer. A concentration up to 3mg/mL of dextran proved to have no cytotoxic effect on normal human dermal fibroblasts (NHDF). Moreover, at this concentration, dextran breaks up to 70% of the biofilms formed by the Candida albicans SC5314 strain, and has no antimicrobial activity against standard bacterial strains. Due to their characteristics, these EPS are suitable as hydrophilic matrix for controlled release of drugs in pharmaceutical industry.