The invention relates to a method for determining, diagnosis, prognosis, treatment guidance, treatment monitoring, risk assessment and/or risk stratification of patients with abnormal platelet levels comprising providing a sample of said patient, determining a level of proadrenomedullin (proADM) or fragment(s) thereof in said sample, wherein said level of proADM or fragment(s) thereof correlates with the abnormal platelet levels in said patient. In embodiments of the invention, a level of proADM or fragment(s) thereof of high severity indicates low platelet levels in the subject and subsequent initiating or modifying a treatment of the patient to improve said condition. In some embodiments of the invention the method comprises determining a level of one or more additional markers in a sample isolated from the patient, such as the level of platelets, the level of PCT or fragment(s) thereof, one or more markers of thrombocytopenia and/or one or more markers of an inflammatory response.

The invention relates to a method for determining, diagnosis, prognosis, treatment guidance, treatment monitoring, risk assessment and/or risk stratification of patients with abnormal platelet levels comprising providing a sample of said patient, determining a level of proadrenomedullin (proADM) or fragment(s) thereof in said sample, wherein said level of proADM or fragment(s) thereof correlates with the abnormal platelet levels in said patient. In embodiments of the invention, a level of proADM or fragment(s) thereof of high severity indicates low platelet levels in the subject and subsequent initiating or modifying a treatment of the patient to improve said condition. In some embodiments of the invention the method comprises determining a level of one or more additional markers in a sample isolated from the patient, such as the level of platelets, the level of PCT or fragment(s) thereof, one or more markers of thrombocytopenia and/or one or more markers of an inflammatory response.

Described is a method for identifying pathogenic platelet-activating antibodies in a subject's blood and particularly antibodies implicated in heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) which comprises the preparation of a platelet releasate from a normal subject's platelets, the combination of the platelet release with a normal subject's platelets, a test subject's blood sample, and analyzing the sample for platelet activation.

The present disclosure relates to use of GDF-15 as a safety biomarker for determining a toxicological effect of a Mdm2 inhibitor; an ex vivo method for determining a toxicological effect of a Mdm2 inhibitor in a subject, in particular for determining a likelihood of developing thrombocytopenia in a subject in response to administration of a dose of a Mdm2 inhibitor; methods of using a Mdm2 inhibitor in the treatment of cancer in a subject; a kit for use in predicting the likelihood that a patient having cancer will develop thrombocytopenia in response to a treatment with a dose of a Mdm2 inhibitor; a kit for use in treating a patient having cancer and related disclosure embodiments.

The present disclosure relates to use of GDF-15 as a safety biomarker for determining a toxicological effect of a Mdm2 inhibitor; an ex vivo method for determining a toxicological effect of a Mdm2 inhibitor in a subject, in particular for determining a likelihood of developing thrombocytopenia in a subject in response to administration of a dose of a Mdm2 inhibitor; methods of using a Mdm2 inhibitor in the treatment of cancer in a subject; a kit for use in predicting the likelihood that a patient having cancer will develop thrombocytopenia in response to a treatment with a dose of a Mdm2 inhibitor; a kit for use in treating a patient having cancer and related disclosure embodiments.

The present invention relates to polypeptides comprising at least one single domain antibody directed against vWF, vWF A1 domain, A1 domain of activated vWF, vWF A3 domain, gpIb and/or collagen, homologues of said polypeptides, and/or functional portions of said polypeptides, for the treatment for conditions which require a modulation of platelet-mediated aggregation and which overcomes the problems of the prior art. A further aspect of the invention is methods of production of said polypeptides, methods to coat devices with such polypeptides used in medical procedures (e.g. PCTA, stenting), methods and kits for screening for agents that modulate platelet-mediated aggregation and kits for the diagnosis of diseases related to platelet-mediated aggregation.

The present invention relates to a method for analyzing the platelets present in a blood sample, said method comprises the steps of (a) adding to said sample a ligand which binds to the MCH I coupled to a fluorochrome, (b) measuring the mean fluorescence intensity of the platelets (MFI.sub.platelets) with a flow cytometer and c) measuring the mean “Forward Scatter” parameter (FSC) with said flow cytometer and determining the MFI.sub.platelets/FSC ratio. The invention also relates to an in vitro method for diagnosing a peripheral or central thrombocytopenia in a subject.

An integrative pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamics (PK/PD) ESA-EpoR mathematical model calculates the binding behavior of erythropoiesis stimulating agents (ESA). The invention provides methods for the determining of ESA binding sites in cells or patients suffering from anemia. Knowing the amount of ESA binding sites enables the clinical practitioner to optimize the dosage regimen during a treatment of anemia, in particular in patients suffering from a cancerous disease. Further provided are methods for screening ESAs which have a higher specificity for cells strongly expressing the EPO receptor such as colony forming units-erythroid (CFU-E) cells, and not to cells with a low level of EPO receptor cell surface expression, which is the case in cancer cells. Also provided is a computer implemented method, comprising the use of the mathematical model of the invention.

Disclosed are methods and systems for measuring serotonin in a sample using liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry.

A system and method are provided for harvesting target biological substances. The system includes a substrate and a first and second channel formed in the substrate. The channels longitudinally extending substantially parallel to each other. A series of gaps extend from the first channel to the second channel to create a fluid communication path passing between a series of columns with the columns being longitudinally separated by a predetermined separation distance. The system also includes a first source configured to selectively introduce into the first channel a first biological composition at a first channel flow rate and a second source configured to selectively introduce into the second channel a second biological composition at a second channel flow rate. The sources are configured to create a differential between the first and second channel flow rates to generate physiological shear rates along the second channel that are bounded within a predetermined range.