The tumor markers TPA, TPS, TPACYK and CYFRA 21-1 react differently with the keratins 8, 18 and 19.

The commercially available tumor marker tests TPA, TPS, TPACYK and CYFRA 21-1 react with simple epithelium keratins. From clinical studies it can be deduced that the pattern of keratin recognition must be different for each of these tests. We therefore studied the reactivity of the keratin fragment combinations K8/K18 and K8/K19 in the different tests and determined the reactivity of the corresponding soluble antibodies with purified keratin 8, 18 and 19 in immunoblots.

Cytokeratin 19 fragments: a new marker for non-small-cell lung cancer.

We developed a new and automated assay for the detection of lung cancer associated cytokeratin 19 fragments in patients' sera/plasma. This new tumour marker assay CYFRA 21-1 was evaluated in technical and clinical studies using the multibatch analysers ES 300 and ES 600 from Boehringer Mannheim GmbH. The analytical performance was shown to be excellent.

Evaluation of Diabur-Test 5000: a cooperative study carried out at 12 diabetes centers.

Diabur-Test 5000, a new test strip for urinary glucose, permits the accurate measurement of up to 5% glucose concentrations in urine. In a survey carried out at 12 diabetes centers in Europe, the new test strip was tested in laboratory trials and routine self-monitoring. There was good agreement between the test strip and the quantitative glucose determination on 4105 urine samples in the laboratory trials.

Evaluation of the Micur microdilution systems for antibiotic susceptibility testing of gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria.

Two commercial systems for testing the antimicrobial susceptibility of bacteria were evaluated in a collaborative study at two sites using 306 freshly isolated clinical strains. Gram-negative bacteria were tested with the Micur RST 02 and gram-positive bacteria with the Micur RST 03, systems for MIC titration. For categorization of bacterial susceptibility into sensitive, intermediate or resistant, the Micur ST 02 and 03 were used for gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria respectively.

[Clinical importance of sampling method in leucocyturia (author's transl)].

The clinical importance of the method of obtaining a urine sample (spontaneous vs. catheter and midstream specimens) was investigated in 507 in-patients. Whereas leucocyturia was demonstrated with the Cytur-Test on spontaneous urine from 105 patients, only 30 out of 89 of these patients showed leucocyturia in catheter or midstream specimens one to three days later.

[Diabur-Test 5000 - a new test strip for urinary sugar control in diabetic patients (author's transl)].

Diabur-test 5000, a new test strip for estimation of urinary glucose, was compared with the hexokinase glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase method in more than 2500 urine samples. By combination of two test ranges glucose concentrations of up to 5% can be detected by the strip test. After a reading time of 2 minutes, very precise estimation of urinary glucose is possible in eight steps from negative to 5%.

[Diagnosis of leucocytes in urine by means of a test-strip (author's transl)].

A test-strip for diagnosing urinary leucocytes (Cytur) was evaluated by 11 centres, on a total of 1985 voided urine specimens. Results were compared with chamber counting of uncentrifuged urine, as well as by microscopic examination of spun sediment. With a reaction time of 15 minutes the test-strip compared well with the other two methods.

[Determination of low blood glucose levels in newborns with the reflectance photometer (author's transl)].

The paper reports the examination of a new test strip Reflotest-Hypoglycemie, which was developed specifically for the hypoglycemic range. In 2 series of 110 respectively 120 samples of capillary blood taken from premature and full term infants the blood glucose concentrations were determined using Reflotest-Hypoglycemie and the hexokineasured with the test strip agree well with the results of hexokinase method in a range less than 50 mg/dl. Bilirubin and hematocrit values do not affect the glucose test.

[A simple and quick method for measuring low blood-glucose concentrations (author's transl)].

A new method of measuring glucose concentrations (Reflotest-Hypoglycemie) was tested on 141 serum samples and 119 capillary blood samples and compared with the hexokinase-glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase method. The Reflotest (reflectance meter) compared well with the reference test. Comparison of results with three sera measured by the method in six different laboratories indicated the accuracy of the test.

[Pre-stained slides for differential blood counts (author's transl)].

A new method for differential blood counts using pre-stained slides showed it to be suitable for routine use. To differentiate white blood cells the same experience was needed as for conventional stainings. Normal and abnormal blood pictures can be reliably distinguished.

[A glucose dehydrogenase for the determination of glucose concentrations in body fluids (author's transl)].

The isolation of glucose dehydrogenase from Bacillus megaterium M 1286 is outlined. Data on the specificity of the enzyme towards carbohydrates are given. A specific method for glucose determination using this enzyme was developed.