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[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0266316.].

ObjectivesCaregivers of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HCT) cancer patients experience high caregiver burden and carry a significant amount of responsibility. Mindfulness has the potential to lessen caregiver burden by aiding in stress management. To date, no studies have examined the efficacy of mindfulness in reducing caregiver burden in this population. Based on our pilot study demonstrating initial feasibility and acceptability of FOCUS (Focusing On mindfulness for Caregivers Under Stress), this 3-arm randomized controlled trial aims to examine the efficacy of a 6-week mindfulness-based stress management program for allogeneic HCT caregivers. Hypotheses include that the FOCUS condition will have lower post-treatment caregiver burden and that patients of these caregivers will have better patient health outcomes compared to other treatment conditions.MethodEligible caregivers will be randomly assigned to one of three treatment conditions: FOCUS, Healthy Living (HL; active control), and Enhanced Care (EC; usual care). Caregivers in FOCUS and HL will participate in 6-week weekly individual treatment sessions and will be sent brief daily momentary interventions/messages. Caregivers in all conditions will complete daily diaries over the course of treatment. Patients of enrolled caregivers will be enrolled for assessments only. Participants will complete assessments at baseline, end of treatment, 2- and 6-months post-treatment. Biomarker data will be collected via hair cortisol concentrations from caregivers at baseline and 6 months post-treatment.ResultsRecruitment is ongoing.ConclusionsThe data collected from this study will provide evidence on the efficacy of mindfulness in alleviating HCT caregiver stress and impacting patient health outcomes.Trial registrationThe current study is registered in clinicaltrials.gov (NCT05078229); see https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT05078229?term=christine+vinci&draw=2&rank=1.

Recently our group has described a new autosomal dominant bleeding disorder characterized by very high plasma levels of soluble thrombomodulin (TM). The THBD c.1611C>A (p.Cys537X) mutation in heterozygous state was found in the propositus. This mutation leads to the synthesis of a truncated TM which has lost the last three amino-acids of the transmembrane domain and the cytoplasmic tail.We investigated the mechanism responsible for TM shedding in endothelial cells with THBD c.1611C>A mutation.Complementary DNA of TM wild type (TM-WT) was incorporated into a pcDNA3.1 vector for transient transfection in COS-1 cells. Mutagenesis was performed to create the c.1611C