Bay Biosciences provides high-quality, fresh frozen, peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC’s), with matched fresh frozen sera (serum), plasma, bio-fluids from patients diagnosed with Raynaud’s syndrome.
The sera (serum), plasma and PBMC bio-fluid specimens are processed from Raynaud’s syndrome patient’s peripheral whole-blood using customized collection and processing protocols.
Raynaud’s Disease Overview
Raynaud’s disease is an issue with blood circulation that causes the fingers or toes to turn white or pale and then blue, cold, and numb. It occurs when temperatures drop and blood vessels spasm and narrow, reducing blood supply.
Also known as Raynaud’s syndrome or Raynaud’s phenomenon, the condition is common, affecting about 3% to 5% of adults worldwide. It is more common in females than in males.
What is Raynaud’s Disease?
Raynaud’s disease is a condition that causes blood vessels in the fingers or toes to spasm and temporarily narrow. This restricts blood flow and causes the fingers to turn cold and numb.
In rare cases, Raynaud’s episodes affect other areas, such as the nose or ears. An episode usually occurs from exposure to cold temperatures or, sometimes, emotional stress.
In most people, lifestyle changes, such as avoiding cold temperatures, may keep symptoms under control. Other treatments depend on the severity of Raynaud’s and whether it is a primary or secondary form.
Signs and Symptoms of Raynaud’s Disease
Raynaud’s disease affects some people when they are exposed to the cold.
Symptoms often occur in the extremities, such as the fingers and toes. A Raynaud’s episode may involve the following symptoms:
- Affected body areas turn pale or white as blood flow reduces
- Body area turns blue and feels cold to the touch and numb
- The area turns red and might tingle, swell, or throb as the person warms up and circulation returns
A Raynaud’s episode may last from a few minutes to a few hours.
Some people with severe Raynaud’s disease may develop small, painful sores on the fingers or toes.
Rarely, an extended episode of the condition lasting for days can lead to gangrene if the tissue does not receive oxygen for a lengthy period.
Causes of Raynaud’s Disease
Raynaud’s disease can be primary or secondary. Primary Raynaud’s disease has no known cause and occurs when a person has no other associated condition. It is more common than secondary Raynaud’s disease.
Secondary Raynaud’s has links to another condition, for example:
- Blood clotting diseases
- Certain thyroid disorders
- rheumatoid arthritis
- Carpal tunnel syndrome
- Sjögren’s syndrome
- Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE)
Certain medications, such as those that treat migraine or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or beta blockers for high blood pressure (Hypertension), can cause similar symptoms or worsen Raynaud’s disease.
There are also some genetic mutations that doctors associate with increased blood vessel spasms. This is an area of ongoing research.
Diagnosis of Raynaud’s Disease
There is no one test that diagnoses Raynaud’s disease. A doctor may ask about symptoms to see if they align with the condition. They will take a medical history and perform a physical exam.
If a doctor thinks a person has Raynaud’s, they may request certain tests to determine which form it is. These include:
- Nailfold capillary microscopy: The doctor examines the fingernails with a magnifier to look at tiny blood vessels called capillaries. Changes in capillaries can indicate secondary Raynaud’s.
- Blood tests: These tests might indicate another disease with links to Raynaud’s, such as lupus.
Treatment of Raynaud’s Disease
There is no cure for Raynaud’s disease, but there are ways to manage symptoms.
For mild forms of Raynaud’s disease, covering exposed skin before leaving the house can help. If an attack occurs, soaking the affected parts in warm, not hot water can ease symptoms and prevent them from worsening.
If stress is a factor, learning to manage stress can help.
Medication
For moderate to severe cases, medication may be necessary. These may include:
- Alpha-1 blockers: These can counter the effect of norepinephrine, which constricts blood vessels. Examples include doxazosin and prazosin.
- Dihydropyridine calcium channel blockers: These relax the smaller blood vessels of the hands and feet. Examples include amlodipine, nifedipine, and felodipine.
- Topical nitroglycerin ointment: Applying creams near the affected area may relieve symptoms.
- Other vasodilators: These dilate the veins, easing symptoms. Examples include losartan, sildenafil (Viagra), fluoxetine (Prozac), and prostaglandin.
Nerve Surgery
In very severe cases, more invasive procedures, such as sympathectomy, are an option.
The sympathetic nerves in the affected areas control the vasoconstriction that causes Raynaud’s.
A surgeon can perform a sympathectomy by making small incisions and stripping the nerves away from the blood vessels to decrease the frequency or severity of attacks. However, this is not always an effective treatment.
Chemical Injections
Injecting certain chemicals that block sympathetic nerve fibers from carrying out vasoconstriction can be effective.
Local anesthetics or Botox work well for some people. However, the effect will wear off, and repeat treatments are necessary.
Complications of Raynaud’s Disease
Symptoms of Raynaud’s are mild and not life threatening for most people, especially those who have the primary form. Secondary Raynaud’s may cause more severe symptoms, but they are rarely life threatening.
Some possible complications include the following.
Chilblains
With chilblains, the skin can become itchy, red or purple, and swollen and may feel hot, burning, and tender.
Chilblains usually resolve in 1 to 2 weeks, but they can return. Keeping the extremities warm can help prevent them.
Ulcers and gangrene
If oxygen is completely cut off from the area, skin ulcers and gangrenous tissue can develop. These are hard to treat and may require amputation.
However, this is rare and mainly occurs in specific autoimmune diseases such as scleroderma.
Summary
People who are prone to Raynaud’s can take measures to avoid some triggers.
Possible management techniques for Raynaud’s include the following:
- Avoiding emotional stress, where possible
- Exercising to promote a healthy lifestyle and reduce stress
- Avoiding medicines and substances that trigger the symptoms
- Limiting consumption of caffeine and alcohol
- Avoiding smoking
- Wrapping up and keeping the house warm when temperatures are cold
Bay Biosciences is a global leader in providing researchers with high-quality, clinical grade, fully characterized human tissue samples, biospecimens, and human biofluid collections.
Samples available include cancer (tumor) tissue, cancer serum, cancer plasma, cancer, peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC). and human tissue samples from various other therapeutic areas and diseases.
In addition, Bay Biosciences maintains and manages its own bio-repository. The human tissue bank (biobank) consisting of thousands of diseased samples (specimens) and from normal healthy donors available in all formats and types.
Moreover, our biobank procures and stores fully consented, de-identified human biospecimens collected under institutional review board (IRB) approved protocols.
Furthermore, all our specimen collections, human tissue samples, and human biofluids are provided with detailed annotations, including associated patients’s clinical data accordingly.
Accordingly, this critical patient’s clinical data includes information relating to their past and current disease, treatment history, lifestyle choices, biomarkers, and genetic information.
Equally important, sample-associated patient’s data is extremely valuable for researchers and is also subsequently used to help identify new effective treatments (drug discovery and development) in oncology and other therapeutic areas and diseases.
Bay Biosciences banks wide variety of human tissue samples and biological samples cryogenically preserved at – 80°C.
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Please contact us anytime to discuss your special research projects and customized human tissue sample requirements.
Types of Biospecimens
Above all, Bay Biosciences provides human tissue samples (human specimens) from diseased and normal healthy donors which includes:
- Peripheral whole-blood
- Amniotic fluid
- Bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BAL)
- Sputum
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- Serum (sera)
- Plasma
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- Saliva
- Buffy coat
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- Aqueous humor
- Vitreous humor
- Kidney stones (renal calculi)
- Other bodily fluids from most diseases including cancer.
Notably, we can also procure most human biospecimen types, special sample collections, and requests for human samples that are difficult to find.
In addition to the standard processing protocols, Bay Biosciences can also provide human plasma, serum, and PBMC bio-fluid samples using custom processing protocols; you buy donor-specific collections in higher volumes and specified sample aliquots from us.
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