Browsing by Author "Bromley, Amy"

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
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    ANCA Vasculitis and Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis following a Fecal Microbiota Transplant
    (2018-02-18) Amlani, Adam; Bromley, Amy; Fifi-Mah, Aurore
    A 69-year-old female with antisynthetase syndrome, a history of multiple recurrent infections, and documented previous negative titres for anti-neutrophil cystoplasmic antibody (ANCA) suddenly developed a de novo MPO-ANCA-associated glomerulonephritis three weeks after a fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) for recurrent Clostridium difficile infections. Six months following her FMT and less than two weeks following treatment for urosepsis, she developed severe cholestasis, a markedly elevated ferritin and hypertriglyceridemia. An initial liver biopsy was suggestive of drug-induced liver injury and thus she was treated with supportive care. After she failed to improve, a second liver biopsy supported the diagnosis of hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH). This case highlights difficulties surrounding the early diagnosis of HLH and also questions the role of FMT and/or recurrent infections as a trigger for ANCA-associated vasculitis.
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    Mesenchymal Stem Cells Exhibit Both a Proinflammatory and Anti-Inflammatory Effect on Saccular Aneurysm Formation in a Rabbit Model
    (2019-07-22) Avery, Michael B.; Belanger, Brooke L.; Bromley, Amy; Sen, Arindom; Mitha, Alim P.
    Several studies have demonstrated a potential interaction between mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and saccular aneurysms. In this study, we sought to determine whether allogenic bone marrow-derived MSCs had the ability to prevent aneurysm formation in a known rabbit elastase aneurysm model. MSCs were injected intravenously in experimental rabbits at the time of surgical creation and two weeks postcreation and compared with control rabbits receiving vehicle injection. Angiography was used to compare aneurysm measurements four weeks postcreation, and aneurysms were harvested for histological properties. Serum was collected longitudinally to evaluate cytokine alterations. Serum from control animals was also utilized to perform in vitro tests with MSCs to compare the effect of the serologic environment in animals with and without aneurysms on MSC proliferation and cytokine production. While aneurysm morphometric comparisons revealed no differences, significant cytokine alterations were observed in vitro and in vivo, suggesting both anti-inflammatory and proinflammatory processes were occurring in the presence of MSCs. Histological analyses suggested that tunica intima hyperplasia was inhibited in the presence of MSCs.
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    Tracheobronchial amyloidosis
    (2014-01-01) Jivraj, Khalil; Bromley, Amy; MacEachern, Paul R; Elliot, Tracy L
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    Whole Slide Imaging Analysis: A Tool for Quantifying and Comparing Histological Components of Type A Dissection and Non-Diseased Aorta
    (2017) Royall, Lorraine; Bromley, Amy; Appoo, Jehangir; Di Martino, Elena
    This thesis examines the use of whole slide imaging (WSI) analysis and staining techniques to maximize the amount of data from an entire glass slide. Although WSI is used in research, data are primarily from specimens obtained from biopsy rather than full thickness sections. To date the use of WSI has not been used to assess the histology of blood vessels. WSI is a method for quantifying components of tunica media and was found to be consistent with the qualitative descriptions in the literature. This data concordance was then applied to compare non-diseased aorta with Type A dissecting aorta. The results demonstrated differences in the comparison between the two vessels. Models derived from pixel-level informatics have the potential to be used for histopathological assessment of vascular wall content.