title: [Integration of Internal and Clinical Laboratory Medicine].
abstract: The mission of our department is to contribute to diagnostic improvement in medicine in order to promote better outcomes. We have clinical expertise in internal medicine including primary care medicine, hematology, allergy, rheumatology, and nephrology. We also have expertise in clinical laboratory medicine and hospital infection control. Specific areas of academic interest include immune-mediated hematological diseases, allergic diseases, autoimmune diseases, and chronic kidney disease. Immune recovery following hematopoietic stem cell transplantation and the immunopathophysiology of bone marrow failure syndrome have been our main topics of interest, and we have been applying our knowledge of T-cell receptor diversity to these areas in order to explore the mechanisms of immunodeficiency and autoimmunity in hematological disorders. We have found that the peripheral expansion of mature T cells in grafts plays an important role in immune reconstitution after stem cell transplantation in humans, and have also found altered T-cell repertoires in immune-mediated chronic acquired pure red cell aplasia. Thus, quantitative and qualitative analyses of immune receptors could be a promising method for assessing immunocompetence and exploring the pathophysiology of autoimmune diseases. Research and development of novel approaches in this field should be intensively conducted.
authors.forename: Makoto
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hirokawa
mesh_terms: D000486:Allergy and Immunology; D001327:Autoimmune Diseases / Q000276:immunology; D006402:Hematologic Diseases / Q000276:immunology; D006405:Hematology; D006801:Humans; D033183:Interdisciplinary Communication; D007388:Internal Medicine; D013677:Medical Laboratory Science / Q000639:trends; D010348:Patient Care Team