Hb H diseases with the clinical features of thalassemia are found in many parts of the world, including Southeast Asia and southern China. There are limitations in molecular data from the population of Thailand, which includes multiple ethnic groups. Here, we characterized the molecular basis of the disease among a large cohort from this region. A total of 479 unrelated Thai patients with Hb H disease

Severe community-acquired pneumonia (SCAP) in elderly has more atypical clinical presentation compared to younger patients. Timely recognition could improve clinical care. This study investigated the value of soluble urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor (suPAR) on severity assessment and outcome prediction in elderly patients with CAP. We conducted a prospective, observational study between

Familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) is a monogenic disease characterized by a lifelong exposure to high LDL-C levels that can lead to early onset coronary heart disease (CHD). The main causes of FH identified to date include loss-of-function mutations in LDLR or APOB, or gain-of-function mutations in PCSK9. Early diagnosis and genetic testing of FH suspects is critical for improved prognosis of affected

Carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) can assess the cumulative effect of atherosclerotic risk factors and provides an independent predictor of future cardiovascular (CV) risk. The aim of this study was to investigate the progression of conventional risk factors in 933 long-term survivors from a Danish cohort with and without diabetes mellitus (DM) as predictors for attained carotid IMT during 35.6

Low-grade inflammatory indicators are widely used in the diagnosis and prognosis of different diseases, particularly, in cancers. The establishing of reference intervals (RIs) are necessary to provide baselines for the interpretation and application of the indicators in clinical. A retrospective review was organized to include ostensibly healthy subjects aged >18 years old to establish RIs based on

The aim of this study was to investigate risk factors and role of systemic inflammation, dyslipidemia and obesity in development of diabetic retinopathy (DR) in type 1 and type 2 diabetes and determine the differences in risk factors between these two types of diabetes. Eighty-four type 1 and 107 type 2 diabetic patients were included in this cross-sectional study. Diabetes duration, body mass index

This study examined the influence of temperature and time on the pre-analytical stability of the erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) measured on a TEST1 system. The first experiment included 102 samples stored at room temperature and the second experiment included 112 subjects and investigated refrigerated (2–8 °C) storage. Our study showed a stable ESR results at room temperature (15–25 °C) up to

Abstract The aim of this study was to establish creatinine growth curves separately for males and females that can be used to adjust childhood levels of serum creatinine to corresponding adult levels. Linear regression with fractional polynomials of age as independent variable was used to construct creatinine growth curves for a reference cohort (n = 83,157 samples from Belgium and Sweden, age 2–40

Structural hemoglobin (Hb) variant is generally caused by a point mutation in the globin gene that produces one amino acid substitution. Here, we describe a new α-chain variant found during HbA1c measurement. HbA1c procedures based on both ion-exchange high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and capillary electrophoresis (CE) techniques failed to identify its presence. In contrast, MALDI-TOF

Purpose: To evaluate stability of CBC parameters in samples containing K3-EDTA in Hema&Tube brand evacuated tubes stored at 4 °C and room temperature in upright, horizontal and upside-down transport positions for up to 240 min by comparing with different stability criteria. Methods: A total of 450 outpatient samples, 75 for each condition, were stored for 240 min. Blood samples were analyzed at baseline

(2020). Evidence of unilateral diaphragmatic paralysis on lung scintigraphy after double lung transplantation: impact on lung function and survival. Scandinavian Journal of Clinical and Laboratory Investigation. Ahead of Print.

Many mathematical formulas containing simple red blood cell parameters have been proposed for differentiating between iron deficiency and thalassemia in patients with microcytic anemia. Approximately half of these formulas do include red cell distribution width (RDW), along with other red cell parameters. In the present study we investigated the role of RDW, expressed in relative or in absolute units

(2020). Increased basophils in peripheral blood: an underutilized criterion for the early diagnosis of chronic myelogenous leukemia. Scandinavian Journal of Clinical and Laboratory Investigation. Ahead of Print.

Coronary artery and peripheral artery diseases represent different clinical outcomes of atherosclerosis and despite sharing common risk factors the ultimate reasons determining disease presentation are still unclear. The present study sought to define and compare the serum lipid and apolipoprotein profiles of patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting and those treated invasively for symptomatic

In the context of point of care testing (PoCT) and ISO 22870, internal quality control (IQC) is a crucial part of PoCT accreditation processes. Quality Control materials shall be periodically examined with a frequency that is based on the robustness of the analytical procedure and the risk of harm to the patient from an erroneous result. We propose to apply the statistical quality control (SQC) procedure

Background: Mitochondrial dysfunction may relate to metabolic disorders. The relation between maternal and fetal mitochondrial function needs attention due to heritage.Objectives: To evaluate the use of the staining methods TetraMethylRhodamine Methyl Ester (TMRM) and Mitotracker Green (MTG) for flow cytometric measurements of umbilical cord blood mitochondrial function. Methods: 53 euthyroid at-term

(2020). Estimating repeatability profiles. Scandinavian Journal of Clinical and Laboratory Investigation. Ahead of Print.

(2020). Response to Dr. Sadler’s comments. Scandinavian Journal of Clinical and Laboratory Investigation. Ahead of Print.

Background: Mitochondrial dysfunction may relate to metabolic disorders. The relation between maternal and fetal mitochondrial function needs attention due to heritage. Objectives: To evaluate the use of the staining methods TetraMethylRhodamine Methyl Ester (TMRM) and Mitotracker Green (MTG) for flow cytometric measurements of umbilical cord blood mitochondrial function. Methods: 53 euthyroid at-term

D-dimer testing combined with a clinical assessment has become a standard pathway for ruling-out venous thromboembolism (VTE). Recently, novel Point-of-Care (POC) D-dimer assays have been introduced, enabling low-volume blood sampling for rapid exclusion of VTE in a one-step procedure. We assessed the analytical validity and user-friendliness of a set of these novel POC D-dimer assays, and compared

Abstract Shrunken pore syndrome (SPS) is defined by a cystatin C-based estimation of glomerular filtration rate (eGFRCYS) being less than 60% or 70% of a creatinine-based GFR estimation (eGFRCR) in the absence of extrarenal influences on cystatin C or creatinine concentrations. SPS has been associated with a substantial increase in mortality or morbidity in all investigated populations. However, in

The Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) pandemic first broke out in December 2019 in Wuhan, China, and has now spread worldwide. Laboratory findings have been only partially described in some observational studies. To date, more comprehensive systematic reviews of laboratory findings on COVID-19 are missing. We performed a systematic review with a meta-analysis to assess laboratory findings in patients

This study aimed to evaluate the predictive value of procalcitonin (PCT) in ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) after cardiac valve replacement. A total of 80 patients who underwent cardiac valve replacement in our department were enrolled in this study. Of these patients,40 were diagnosed with VAP and assigned to the observation group, while the other 40 patients not diagnosed with VAP were assigned

Multiple small studies have suggested that women with pre-eclampsia present elevated levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) and interleukin-6 (IL-6). However, little is known regarding the source of this CRP and IL-6 increase. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between CRP and IL-6 levels with pre-eclampsia considering different confounding factors. Using data from a large

Carbohydrate-restricted diets are increasingly recognized as options for dietary management of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). We investigated the effects of a carbohydrate-reduced high-protein (CRHP) and a conventional diabetes (CD) diet on oxidative stress and inflammation in weight stable individuals with T2DM. We hypothesized that the CRHP diet would improve markers of oxidatively generated RNA

The issue of whether 99mTc-DTPA can replace 51Cr-EDTA for measurement of plasma clearance as a surrogate for glomerular filtration rate (GFR) is of great relevance to daily clinical practice. Prompted by the shortage of 51Cr-EDTA we conducted a head-to-head comparison in patients attending our department for GFR determination. The two tracers (3.7 MBq of 51Cr-EDTA and 8 MBq of 99mTc-DTPA) were administered

Bile acids are known to pass the blood-brain barrier and are present at low concentrations in the brain. In a previous work, it was shown that subdural hematomas are enriched with bile acids and that the levels in such hematomas are higher than in the peripheral circulation. The mechanism behind this enrichment was never elucidated. Bile acids have a high affinity to albumin, and subdural hematomas

Aim: This study aimed to evaluate concentration of plasma extracellular ubiquitin (UB) in coronary heart disease (CHD) patients and its correlation with the disease severity.Methods: Levels of UB and stromal cell-derived factor-1a (SDF-1a) were measured in 60 healthy controls and 67 CHD cases. Coronary atherosclerosis was assessed with Gensini scoring system. Spearman correlation was used to evaluate

Few studies were reported on trace elements' alterations in uremic patients undergoing long-term (>24 months) hemodialysis (HD), especially by using the whole blood as the biological fluid for the measuring purpose. Our objective was to develop an improved micro-sampling inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) method to determine the levels of Ca, Mg, Cu, Zn, Fe, Mn, Se and Pb in uremic

Left ventricular hypertrophy is a common adaptive response to increased cardiac workload. Cardiomyocytes growth and increase in contractile force are conditioned by sufficient energy production, which implies appropriate mitochondrial function. The 60 kDa heat shock protein (HSP60) is a chaperone essential for mitochondrial proteostasis, but when translocates from mitochondria, it can also act as a

Apolipoprotein CIII (apoCIII) is associated with triglyceride (TG)-rich particles like VLDL and exerts an inhibitory effect of lipoprotein lipase. Increased levels are related to cardiovascular diseases and diabetes and therefore apoCIII has been proposed as a useful biomarker. Even if several commercial assays for measuring apoCIII in human plasma/serum are available, data is scarce concerning their

Clinical testing of bronchial hyperreactivity (BHR) provides valuable information in asthma diagnostics. Nevertheless, the test results depend to a great extent on the testing procedure: test substance, apparatus and protocol. In Nordic countries, three protocols predominate in the testing field: Per Malmberg, Nieminen and Sovijärvi methods. However, knowledge of their equivalence is limited. We aimed

The aim of this exploratory clinical study was to evaluate whether the preanalytical quality of blood samples subjected to delayed centrifugation and transport – as a result of home-sampling – is affected in a way it alters the clinical decision-making for patients under systemic cancer therapy. This evaluation is part of a comprehensive investigation of the opportunities for oncological home-hospitalization

Abstract Measurement imprecision is usually calculated from measurement results of the same stabilized control material(s) obtained over time, and is therefore, principally, only valid at the concentration(s) of the selected control material(s). The resulting uncertainty has been obtained under reproducibility conditions and corresponds to the conventional analytical goals. Furthermore, the commutability

Measurement uncertainties in clinical chemistry are commonly regarded as heteroscedastic - having a constant relative standard deviation irrespective of the concentration of the measurand. The uncertainty is usually determined at two concentrations using stabilized control materials and assumed to represent the analytical goal. The purpose of the present study was to use duplicates of unselected patient

The most prominent event that defines acute coronary syndrome (ACS) is the formation of an intra-arterial thrombus, usually resulting from activation of platelet and fibrinogen at the ruptured plaque. Usually, conventional coagulation tests (CCTs) are used to estimate the hemostatic properties of patients. However, CCTs have significant limitations because they each assess individual aspects of the

Excess of iodine may interfere with thyroid function. It is unclear to what extent the thyroid function is disturbed by repeated infusion of iodide contrast agent (IC) used during X-ray examinations. Thyroid function tests free T4 (FT4), free FT3 (FT3), thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), TSH receptor antibodies (TRAb) and thyroid peroxidase antibodies (TPO-Ab) were measured in a group of Norwegian

The aim was to investigate if the pharmacokinetics of methotrexate (MTX) are affected by the addition of cyclosporin (CsA). Forty patients diagnosed with early rheumatoid arthritis (RA) were included in this open prospective study: 20 patients were treated with a dose of 7.5 mg MTX and a dose of 2.5 mg/kg CsA, 20 patients were treated with a dose of 7.5 mg MTX and placebo. Baseline measurements of

This prospective study aimed at investigating the influence of surgery type and perioperative sampling times on the correlations between rotational thromboelastometry (ROTEM) parameters and standard laboratory coagulation tests assessing comparable coagulation phases. Patients undergoing glioblastoma multiforme resection (GBR group, n = 60) or laparoscopic colon cancer resection (CCR group, n = 40)

S100 proteins are involved in biological events related to colorectal carcinogenesis. Aim of this prospective study was to assess serum concentration of S100A6, A8, A9 and A11 proteins in patients with colorectal neoplasia. Eighty-four subjects were enrolled: 20 controls (average risk population with normal findings on colonoscopy; 7 men, 13 women, age 23–74, mean 55 ± 14), 20 patients with non-advanced

Compared to healthy pregnant women, changes in erythrocytic membrane anionic charge (EAC) and urinary glycosaminoglycans (UGAGS) have been reported in African women with preeclampsia. A single previous study showed a decrease in erythrocytic membrane sialic acid (EMSA) in preeclampsia compared to healthy pregnancy; however, EMSA was not significantly different between women with preeclampsia and non-pregnant

Dyslipidaemia is common in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) appearing both early and advanced stages of the disease. A retrospective study was designed to explore the clinical significance of high density lipoprotein (HDL) in Chinese patients with RA. Serum levels of total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), high density lipoprotein (HDL) and low density lipoprotein (LDL) were compared between

Commutability is a prerequisite when using a candidate reference materials (CanRMs) for calibration and trueness control of routine methods or for value transfer from the reference method to end-user calibrators of routine methods through a calibration hierarchy. The CanRMs include commercial general chemistry materials (GCs), enzyme trueness verification materials (ETVs), and secondary reference materials

(2020). Expression of concern. Scandinavian Journal of Clinical and Laboratory Investigation. Ahead of Print.

In the last decades, an important role of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers for Alzheimer disease (AD) diagnosis has emerged. The evaluation of the triad consisting of 42 aminoacid-long amyloid-beta peptide (Aβ42), total Tau (tTau) and Tau phosphorylated at threonine 181 (pTau) have been recently integrated into the research diagnostic criteria of AD. For a long time, the enzyme-linked immunosorbent

Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have received much attention not least for melanoma since the award of the Nobel prize in 2018. Here, we review the current state of knowledge about the use of these monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). These drugs have generally been conditionally approved on limited early data and there are few long-term follow-up data from randomized

Renin-Angiotensin-Aldosterone System (RAAS) measurements are influenced by several factors. We investigated the effect of sample delivery conditions on RAAS measurements including sample storage temperature and time. Blood samples were collected from thirty participants using enzyme inhibitor tubes and serum separation gel evacuated tubes. Plasma and serum from fresh blood samples without further storage

Abstract Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) for cardiovascular cell therapy are procured from different sources including bone marrow and adipose tissue. Differently located MSCs differ in growth potential, differentiation ability and gene expression when cultured in vitro, and studies show different healing abilities for different MSC subgroups. In this study, bone marrow derived MSCs (BMSCs) and adipose

suPAR is a plasma marker of chronic inflammation, and an elevated suPAR is consistently associated with worse outcome in a variety of clinical conditions. Quantification of suPAR is useful for determining patient risk in triage, but there is no fast automatized method for quick determination of suPAR. We developed and validated a rapid latex particle-enhanced turbidimetric immunoassay for quantification

Abstract Impaired insulin secretion and action are important for development of type 2 diabetes (T2D) and metabolic syndrome (MetS). Despite recognized heterogeneity of these glucometabolic disorders, few data are available of biological variation in insulin secretion and action among individuals with T2D and MetS. The aim of this study was to explore the inter-individual variations using gold standard

Abstract Leptin, an adipocyte-derived hormone, is involved in the regulation of body weight and is associated with obesity-related complications, notably cardiovascular disease (CVD). A putative link between obesity and CVD could be induction of plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) synthesis by leptin. In this study, we hypothesized that the beneficial effect of the angiotensin-converting enzyme

Platelet transfusions are commonly administered to treat bleeding in cardiac surgery. The aim of this study was to compare platelet (PLT) count and values of collagen adenosine diphosphate closure time (cADP-CT) measured by Platelet Function Analyzer (PFA) for prediction of PLT transfusion therapy following coronary bypass surgery. For this prospective observational study, 66 patients scheduled for

According to the standard ISO 15189 clinical routine laboratories shall estimate measurement uncertainty (MU) of patient results of their provided measurands. Up to now there was no accepted description on how to perform. Recently, the ISO technical standard ISO/TS 20914 was published giving a practical guide for uncertainty estimation. The immunosuppressive drugs Everolimus, Ciclosporin, Sirolimus

The differentiation between tuberculous plural effusion (TPE) and malignant plural effusion (MPE) remains a major clinical challenge in the diagnosis and management of pleural effusions, especially in developing countries with a high incidence of tuberculosis. We aimed to evaluate the diagnostic value of cytokines, tumor markers and biochemical markers in the differentiation of TPE and MPE. Two hundred

The neurofilament light chain (NfL) is a promising biomarker of neuronal injury which is approaching routine clinical use. With the development of ultra-sensitive technologies, NfL has become measurable in the peripheral blood but the reference interval for serum NfL remains to be established. NfL was measured by a single-molecule array (Simoa™) analysis under internal and external quality control

Circulating cell-free DNA (cf-DNA) is present in human biological fluids, mainly in plasma and serum, originating from cell death, a process that massively takes place during acute myocardial infarction (AMI). In the present study, cf-DNA was assessed by different quantification techniques, in order to determine its levels in patients admitted with AMI. A total of 130 subjects were included in the

Environmental, genetic, oxidative and biochemical factors play an important role in the atherosclerotic process. We investigated the association of serum fibroblast growth factor (FGF-23), klotho, fetuin-A, osteoprotegerin (OPG), osteopontin (OPN) and high-sensitive-CRP (Hs-CRP) markers with coronary artery disease and whether one was superior to others or not. A study group of 52 patients with coronary

Objective of this work is to investigate, for the first time, serum concentration of neuropilin-1 (NRP-1), aiming to evaluate its diagnostic performance in endometriosis and usability as a potential non-invasive serum marker of endometriosis. Two hundred women were treated laparoscopically. After laparoscopic surgery women were divided into two groups: 120 women diagnosed with endometriosis and 80