Ricerc@Sapienza

The direct oral anticoagulant apixaban (APX), a strong factor Xa inhibitor, binds also to plasma proteins, especially albumin, and minimally to α 1 -acid glycoprotein. Although APX can cross the red cell membrane, due to its chemical structure, and could bind to haemoglobin (Hb), no investigation was performed on this possible phenomenon that could affect the APX plasma concentration and thus its pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics.

The determination of the function of cells in zero-gravity conditions is a subject of interest in many different research fields. Due to their metabolic unicity, the characterization of the behaviour of erythrocytes maintained in prolonged microgravity conditions is of particular importance. Here, we used a 3D-clinostat to assess the microgravity-induced modifications of the structure and function of these cells, by investigating how they translate these peculiar mechanical stimuli into modifications, with potential clinical interest, of the biochemical pathways and the aging processes.

The scintigraphy with radiolabelled autologous leukocytes (WBCs) is considered the gold-standard technique for imaging infections. Leukokit (R) is a commercially available, disposable, sterile kit for labelling WBCs ex vivo. In this kit, WBCs isolation from red blood cells (RBCs) was performed using poly(O-2-hydroxyethyl)starch (HES) as the RBCs sedimentation agent. Due to its poor availability, HES has been recently replaced by Gelofusine as the RBC sedimentation agent.