Annals of clinical and laboratory science最新文献

Objective: Gastrointestinal metaplasia (GIM) has a close relationship with gastric cancer (GC), but it is unclear how to judge which GIM could develop into GC. This study aimed to assess the role of CDX2 and its association with Helicobacter pylori (H.pylori) genotypes in GIM.

Methods: CagA and vacA genes were identified via PCR in 466 H. pylori-positive gastric tissues, including gastritis (n=104), GIM diagnosed endoscopically (GIM-1; n=82), gastric cancer (GC; n=173), and paired adjacent GIM tumors resected surgically (GIM-2; n=107). GIM was subclassified per the HID- AB pH2.5-PAS as follows: type I (n=23), type II (n=43), and type III (n=16) in GIM-1; type I (n=8), type II (n=40), and type III (n=59) in GIM-2. CDX2 expression was evaluated immunohistochemically.

Results: In GIM-1, the infection rate of vacAm2 (55.8%) and vacAs1m2 (53.5%) was higher in subtype II than in others (P<0.05), while that of vacAm1 (49.2%) and vacAs1m1 (33.9%) was higher in subtype III than in others. The cagA⁺ rate was higher in subtypes I (75.0%) and III (64.4%) than in subtype II (40.0%; P<0.05) respectively. CDX2 was upregulated in subtype I than in subtypes II and III in GIM-1 and GIM-2. In GIM-2 and GC, CDX2 was downregulated in vacAm1, vacAs1m1, and cagA⁺ (P<0.05). The predominant genotype was vacAs1m2 in subtype II of GIM-1, CDX2 expression remaining unaltered; however, the predominant genotype was cagA⁺ vacAs1m1 in subtypes II and III of GIM-2, negatively correlated with CDX2 expression.

Conclusion: These GIM subtypes (cagA⁺ vacAs1m1 H. pylori-positive GIM with negative CDX2 expression) resemble GC and should be evaluated similar to cancerous GIM.

Objective: Carbonic anhydrase inhibitors (CAIs) are intraocular pressure-reducing medications used in ophthalmology. Human leukocyte antigen-B*59:01 (HLA-B*59:01) is strongly associated with CAI-induced severe cutaneous adverse reactions (SCARs). This study aimed to develop and validate a rapid and economical screening method for HLA-B*59:01 to prevent carbonic anhydrase inhibitor-induced SCARs.

Methods: Duplex allele-specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with an internal control was performed for HLA-B*59:01 genotyping. The accuracy of duplex allele-specific PCR for HLA-B*59:01 genotyping was evaluated in 200 blood samples, using sequence-based typing (SBT) as the reference method.

Results: In total, 50 HLA-B*59:01-positive and 150 HLA-B*59:01-negative results obtained using duplex allele-specific PCR were in complete agreement with the SBT results.

Conclusion: Duplex allele-specific PCR is a rapid, reliable, and economical assay for screening the HLA-B*59:01 allele.

Objective: Multiple Myeloma (MM) is a malignant hematological disease. Heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein C1/C2 (HNRNPC) acts as an oncogene in a variety of cancers. However, the role of HNRNPC in MM has not been reported so far.

Methods: The mRNA and protein expressions of HNRN-PC and FOXM1 were detected by qRT-PCR and western blot. CCK8, EDU staining, flow cytometry and western blot were used to detect cell viability and cell cycle. The extracellular flux analyzer XF96 was used to detect the production of oxygen consumption rate (OCR) and extracellular acidification rate (ECAR). Lactic acid and glucose levels in culture medium were detected by lactic acid assay kits and glucose assay kits, respectively. Then, the binding ability of HNRNPC with FOXM1 was detected by RIP and the stability of FOXM1 mRNA was appraised with qRT-PCR. With the application of qRT-PCR and western blot, the transfection efficacy of si-HNRNPC and Oe-FOXM1 was examined. Western blot was applied for the estimation of GLUT1/LDHA signaling pathway-related proteins.

Results: The expression of HNRNPC in MM cell line was abnormally elevated. HNRNPC silence significantly inhibited the proliferation, facilitated the apoptosis, induced cycle arrest, and suppressed aerobic glycolysis in MM cells, which were all reversed by FOXM1 overexpression. It was also found that the regulatory effect of HNRNPC is realized by stabilizing FOXM1 mRNA and regulating GLUT1/LDHA pathway.

Conclusion: HNRNPC regulated GLUT1/LDHA pathway by stabilizing FOXM1 mRNA to promote the progression and aerobic glycolysis of MM.

Objective: We utilized Premier Hb9210 analyzer (HPLC method; Trinity Biotech, Jamestown, NY) for measuring HBA1c in whole blood. As our laboratory is transitioning to Abbott system, we compared HbA1c values obtained by Alinity c and Premier Hb9210.

Methods: The Premier Hb9210 analyzer is based on boronate affinity high performance liquid chromatography with analytical measurement range of 3.8 to 18.5%. The Alinity c Hemoglobin A1c assay measured both total hemoglobin and HbA1c (enzymatic assay) in whole blood and then calculated %HbA1c. The analytical measurement range of this assay is 4 to 14% of HbA1c. We evaluated the analytical performance of Alinity c HbA1c by evaluating precision and also comparing 77 clinical samples with our reference HPLC method.

Results: Both Alinity c HbA1c and Premier HB9210 have excellent total precision. Plotting HbA1c results obtained by the Premier Hb9210 analyzer in the x-axis (currently used reference method) and the corresponding values obtained by the Alinity c assay, we observed the following regression equation: y=0.9473x+0.1548 ( n=77, r=0.99).

Discussion: Our result indicates that HbA1c enzymatic assay on the Alinity c analyzer showed values comparable to HPLC method. However, at the decision points (2.8% average negative bias at >6.4% and 3.3% average negative bias at 7%), HbA1c values obtained by the Alinity c analyzer were lower than the reference method.

Conclusions: We conclude that HbA1c assay on the Alinity c analyzer is a viable alternative to HPLC for measuring HbA1c in clinical laboratories but values at the decision points must be interpreted with caution and if necessary should be repeated by a reference HPLC method.

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the roles of nuclear factor-kappa B p65 (NF-[Formula: see text]B p65) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) in cell apoptosis occurring in the fetal membranes of pregnant women who experience preterm premature rupture of membranes (PPROM).

Methods: This was a case-control study involving 57 pregnant women who delivered in the obstetric department of Affiliated Loudi Hospital, Hengyang Medical School, University of South China, from June 2021 to June 2022. Samples of fetal membrane tissue were collected from pregnant women with PPROM (n=27) and pregnant women who had normal deliveries (control group; n=30). The membrane tissue morphology of both groups was observed, and the expression of NF-[Formula: see text]B p65, p-NF-[Formula: see text]B p65, TNF-α, and caspase-3 was detected. Apoptosis in fetal membranes was examined.

Results: Morphological evaluation of the fetal membrane tissues obtained from patients with PPROM revealed an abnormal structure with a thin collagen fiber layer and cells with a largely vacuolar cytoplasm. There was a positive correlation between the expression of p-NF-[Formula: see text]B p65/NF-[Formula: see text]B p65 and cell apoptosis (r¹ =0.89, R² =0.805, P=0.00). Furthermore, TNF-α was positively correlated with fetal membrane cell apoptosis (r² =0.93, R²=0.881, P=0.00).

Conclusion: NF-[Formula: see text]B p65 is involved in the occurrence of PPROM by promoting the expression of TNF-α, which upregulates caspase-3 to cause apoptosis of fetal membrane cells.

Platelet count increases are typically a reactionary response to one of a variety of pathophysiological events. We present here a case of microcytic hypochromic red blood cells and thrombocytosis in an adolescent female that we have monitored for three years. The patient was positive for alpha thalassemia trait; negative for mutation in Janus kinase 2, calreticulin, or myeloproliferative leukemia virus oncogene; and negative for reactive causes of thrombocytosis. Noticeably, a variant in atypical chemokine receptor 1 (ACKR1) (c.-67T>C, rs2814778) was found to be homozygous. Accordingly, the case was diagnosed as idiopathic thrombocytosis, and treatment was given to restore platelet levels to normal. Our findings highlight the possibility of an unknown association between alpha thalassemia trait and idiopathic thrombocytosis in the presence of ACKR1 mutation, which could be implicated in disease pathogenesis.

Objective: We assessed the performance of the Humasis COVID-19 AgHS Test (Humasis, Korea), a novel antigen rapid diagnostic test (Ag-RDT) based on lateral flow immunoassay.

Methods: 85 SARS-CoV-2-positive and 155 SARS-CoV-2-negative nasopharyngeal swab specimens confirmed by rRT-PCR were tested using the Humasis and PBCheck Ag-RDTs. The analytical specificity of the Humasis Ag-RDT was evaluated using 27 strains of human respiratory pathogens.

Results: The overall sensitivity and specificity were 72.9% and 99.4% for the Humasis Ag-RDT and 64.7% and 100% for the PBCheck Ag-RDT, respectively. The sensitivity for specimens with Ct≤25 was 100% for both Ag-RDTs. The Humasis Ag-RDT showed no cross-reactivity with other respiratory pathogens.

Conclusion: Our data suggests that the Humasis Ag-RDT can be a useful diagnostic tool for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Combined hepatocellular-cholangiocarcinoma (cHCC-CC) is a liver tumor with features of both hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC). It consists of intermingled malignant biliary and hepatic tissue and thus a distinct entity, rather than two separate coexisting malignancies. A 59-year-old female with a history of hepatitis C and cirrhosis presented with abdominal pain and altered mental status. She developed hematemesis, and despite extensive interventions, she expired one day after her initial presentation. At autopsy, the liver was diffusely and markedly fibrotic with numerous nodules of varying size with invasion into adjacent vasculature. Microscopic examination of the nodules revealed cHCC-CC with stem cell features, lymphovascular invasion, and tumor emboli scattered throughout the right lung. The patient had end-stage liver disease due to the accumulation of damage and consequent fibrosis. This led to portal hypertension with subsequent massive gastrointestinal bleeding, hemorrhagic shock, and death. cHCC-CC is a rare, aggressive primary liver tumor with a poor prognosis. It can present with a cirrhotomemetic pattern with small nodules that can evade clinical and radiographic detection. Autopsy findings can provide valuable insights into the pathogenesis and clinical course of cHCC-CC, highlight the aggressive nature of the disease, and may inform future diagnostic and therapeutic strategies. Accurate diagnosis of this tumor is important for patient management and prognostication.