Frontiers in Laboratory Medicine最新文献

We report a simple and original method to synthesize water-soluble gold nanoparticles in which a polyphenolic fraction, extracted by two plants originated from Reunion Island, was mixed to tetrachloroauric acid (HAuCl₄) leading to shell-like hybrid flavonoid-metal nanoparticles (NPs). The nanoparticles have been characterized by ultra-violet/visible Raman spectroscopy, and also by electron microscopy imaging (TEM). The results of these analytical green methodologies highlight nanometric sized, stable, hybrid complexes of about 15 nm, or flower-shaped 40 nm diameter with outer surface rich of functional chemical groups. This paper, through an original chemical approach, will occupy an important position in the field of Nanomedicine, and the authors hope that novel perspectives will be proposed for the development of a double nanotheranostic (plasmonic phototherapeutic and X-ray based computed tomography (CT scan)) in order to treat cancer simultaneously by plasmonic phototherapy (PTT), and at the same time to allow the visualization by X-ray based computed tomography.

Background

James O. Westgard advised that the relation between internal quality control (IQC) and statistical methods, such as t-test, should be seriously considered. The results of IQC fully fit in the requirements of the t-test. But there was no research on analyzing the results of IQC by t-test. So the study aimed to explore the value of t-test for IQC by analyzing a specific example.

Methods

The results of IQC about luteotropichormone (LH) were collected in July 2015 in two instruments from a clinical laboratory as a specific example. The pre-determined target value of IQC was evaluated by a one-sample t-test first. Then the consistency of two instruments was analyzed by comparing their results of IQC with two paired samples t-test.

Results

In middle LH level of No. 1 instrument, though there was no out-of-control IQC result, the difference between the mean of IQC results in July 2015 and the pre-determined target value was statistically significant (t = 2.311, p = 0.027). So it was earlier to find whether the pre-determined target value was inappropriate by using a one-sample t-test when no out-of-control results appeared in the traditional IQC chart. For high LH level, the difference between the IQC results of two instruments was statistically significant (t = 2.435, p = 0.020) in July 2015, so it was helpful to discover the inconsistency of two instruments by analyzing their IQC results with two paired samples t-test.

Conclusions

The one-sample t-test was helpful to guide the correction of pre-determined target value of IQC. Two paired samples t-test was beneficial to improve consistency between two instruments.

Objective

High-sensitivity cardiac troponins I (hs-cTnI) has been endorsed as a standard biomarker for diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and can provide information for risk stratification. Our study aimed to develop a quantum-dot-labeled magnetic immunoassay for the hs-cTnI detection.

Methods

We developed a novel immunomagnetic microparticle and quantum dots-based sandwich assay (QM-cTnI) that employs digital recording of fluorescence. Immunomagnetic microparticle conjugated with two monoantibodies was used as capture antibody, and two biotinylated monoantibodies were used as detection antibody, then quantum dots conjugated streptavidin served as a fluorescence bioprobe and the signal was recorded by the luminescence spectrometer.

Results

Hs-cTnI was quantifiable in serum within one hour in the QM-cTnI assay which has a detection limit of 0.047 ng/mL and the effective measuring range was 0–40 ng/mL. The intra-assay and interassay coefficients of variation were 8.56% and 8.92% at 0.2 ng/mL, 5.83% and 7.66% at 4 ng/mL, and 6.21% and 8.76% at 20 ng/mL, respectively. All of the recovery rates were within the range of 98.11–101.89% and the average recovery rate was 99.69%. This assay performed well compared with FDA-approved SIEMENS ADVIA Centaur XP immunoassay system by 104 patient serum samples (R² = 0.9951). High-concentration interferents (bilirubin, triglycerides, and hemoglobin) did not influence the test results indicating good specificity of the MQ-cTnI assay.

Conclusion

Our results demonstrated that hs-cTnI sandwich assay with the immunomagnetic microparticle and quantum dots-based multi-mAb approach is a sensitive, accurate, and quantitative method for the detection of disease biomarkers.

Kerstersia gyiorum is a member of the family Alcaligenaceae and is infrequently isolated from clinical samples. Here we reported the isolation of K. gyiorum from a patient with chronic osteomyelitis. This strain obtained from wound secretion was identified by biochemical tests, matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization–time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI–TOF MS) and 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Our case highlighted the potential role of K. gyiorum in wound infection from limbs and a rising number of this organism will probably be reported in future with the promotion of MALDI–TOF MS and 16S rRNA gene sequencing in clinical laboratories.

Cardiac troponins T and I are proteins released into serum after cardiac injury, and are the standard biomarkers for patients presenting to the emergency department with a suspicion of acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Cardiac troponin that appears in blood within a few hours is due to release from the cytosolic pool. A sustained irreversible release over the ensuing days is due to the degradation of the myofibrils, although recent data have challenged this concept. The analytical sensitivity for troponin assays have significantly improved since the initial release of commercial troponin assays over 20 years ago. As a result, the specificity of troponin for AMI has steadily declined, with abnormal concentrations seen in many non-cardiac diseases such as renal failure, sepsis, pulmonary embolism, and cardiac injury after chemotherapy such as with trastuzumab and doxorubicin. There are many theories as to how troponin is released into blood from patients with reversible myocardial ischemia and from patients with cardiac damage that is not related to ischemia. These theories include release of free subunit release through bleb formation, transient imbalance of oxygen supply and demand such as what occurs with acute vasospasm of coronary vessels, pulmonary embolism with right heart damage, apoptosis, acute cardiac stress leading to release of catecholamines and integrins, myocardial stretching, inflammation, and release of degraded troponin peptides. The mechanisms for these etiologies are reviewed.