Development of a Highly Sensitive Neurofilament Light Chain Assay on an Automated Immunoassay Platform.

Background: Neurofilament light chain (NfL) is an axonal cytoskeletal protein that is released into the extracellular space following neuronal or axonal injury associated with neurological conditions such as multiple sclerosis (MS), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and other diseases. NfL is detectable in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and blood. Numerous studies on MS have demonstrated that NfL is correlated with disease activity, predicts disease progression, and is reduced by treatment with MS disease-modifying drugs, making NfL an attractive candidate to supplement existing clinical and imaging measures in MS.

A Novel Strategy for Detection and Enumeration of Circulating Rare Cell Populations in Metastatic Cancer Patients Using Automated Microfluidic Filtration and Multiplex Immunoassay.

Size selection via filtration offers an antigen-independent approach for the enrichment of rare cell populations in blood of cancer patients. We evaluated the performance of a novel approach for multiplex rare cell detection in blood samples from metastatic breast (n = 19) and lung cancer patients (n = 21), and healthy controls (n = 30) using an automated microfluidic filtration and multiplex immunoassay strategy. Captured cells were enumerated after sequential staining for specific markers to identify circulating tumor cells (CTCs), circulating mesenchymal cells (CMCs), putative circulating stem cells (CSCs), and circulating endothelial cells (CECs).

Diarrhea and reduced levels of antiretroviral drugs: improvement with glutamine or alanyl-glutamine in a randomized controlled trial in northeast Brazil.

The effects of therapy with glutamine and alanyl-glutamine on diarrhea and antiretroviral drug levels in patients with acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) were examined in a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled study in northeast Brazil. Patients with AIDS and with diarrhea and/or wasting were randomized into 4 groups to determine the efficacy of glutamine or high- or low-dose alanyl-glutamine given for 7 days, compared with isonitrogenous glycine given to control subjects. All patients in whom baseline antiretroviral drug levels were determined had low levels 2 h after dosing.

Quantitative evaluation of post-bone marrow transplant engraftment status using fluorescent-labeled variable number of tandem repeats.

Background: The analysis of highly polymorphic variable number of tandem repeat (VNTR) loci is useful for the estimation of donor-host chimerism in bone marrow transplant recipients.

Methods And Results: A rapid and sensitive engraftment assay has been developed in which the VNTR loci, D1S80, D17S5, D1S111, and apoB, are amplified with fluorescent-labeled (Cy5.5) oligonucleotide primers, followed by analysis using the Visible Genetics, Inc, OpenGene System.