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Oral rinse tracks marrow patient's health
TORONTO, Jun 22, 2005 (United Press International via COMTEX) -- Canadian researchers have developed a mouthwash that indicates how successful a bone marrow transplant was and if infection is likely.
The researchers at the University of Toronto monitored the oral rinses of 29 pediatric bone marrow transplant patients, testing the sodium bicarbonate solutions for the return of neutrophils, which are specialized white blood cells which fight infection.
Their test was able to detect the white blood cells about a week earlier than the blood test commonly used to confirm a successful bone marrow transplant.
"This test is telling you something you can't yet see in a blood test, and we obtained the information simply by having patients rinse their mouths, which is something they'd be doing anyway to counteract the oral mucositis caused by their treatment regimen," said University of Toronto researcher Dr. Michael Glogauer, who led the study.
The report was published in this month's online journal, Bone Marrow Transplantation.