We planned a series of experiments to investigate the possible role of spike protein of different SARS-CoV-2 variants in influencing erythrocyte biology. The values of erythrocyte count, hemoglobin, and mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MHC) did not vary across all samples challenged with both concentrations of the four different SARS-CoV-2 recombinant spike proteins. A significant increase in mean corpuscular volume (MCV) was observed with the recombinant SARS-CoV-2 Alpha and Delta spike proteins at both 2 and 20 ng/mL final concentrations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis research report provides a comprehensive overview of the historical trends in heavy metal concentrations in the Pontic shad (Alosa immaculata) populations from both the Danube River and the Black Sea, while also exploring the potential influence of global warming on metal accumulation. Through bibliometric modeling analysis, it reveals significant limitations in existing international research, particularly the lack of comprehensive data on the impact of hydroclimatic changes on heavy metal accumulation in Alosa immaculata. Recognizing the critical importance of studies on heavy metal bioaccumulation in Danube shad, this research underscores their significance in defining tolerance thresholds, quantifying the impact of toxic elements along the aquatic food chain, and enhancing the economic sustainability of ichthyofauna monitoring efforts.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBerberine (BBR) and silymarin (SM) are natural compounds extracted from plants known for their antioxidant and chemoprotective effects on the liver. The present study aimed to investigate the beneficial properties of BBR and SM and the association of BBR with SM on liver function using fish as "in vivo" models. Moreover, the study investigated their hepatoprotective role after acetaminophen (APAP) exposure.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: Because there is little published evidence on the effects of incomplete filling of KEDTA evacuated blood tubes on routine hematological testing, this original study aimed to provide updated information on this preanalytical aspect.
Methods: The study population consisted of 17 ostensibly healthy volunteers. Blood was drawn by venipuncture with a 10 mL syringe and dispensed in varying amounts (0.
Platelets are central elements of hemostasis and also play a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of thrombosis in coronavirus disease 2019. This study was planned to investigate the effects of different severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) recombinant spike protein variants on platelet morphology and activation. Citrated whole blood collected from ostensibly healthy subjects was challenged with saline (control sample) and with 2 and 20 ng/mL final concentration of SARS-CoV-2 recombinant spike protein of Ancestral, Alpha, Delta, and Omicron variants.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis study investigated the biological effects on circulating monocytes after challenge with SARS-CoV-2 recombinant spike protein. Whole blood collected from seven ostensibly healthy healthcare workers was incubated for 15 min with 2 and 20 ng/mL final concentration of recombinant spike protein of Ancestral, Alpha, Delta, and Omicron variants. Samples were analyzed with Sysmex XN and DI-60 analyzers.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFChronic anaemia in advanced liver disease is a frequent finding. The aim was to explore the clinical impact of spur cell anaemia, a rare entity typically associated with end-stage of the disease. One-hundred and nineteen patients (73.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Despite the important diagnostic role of peripheral blood morphology, cell classification is subjective. Automated image-processing systems (AIS) provide more accurate and objective morphological evaluation. The aims of this multicenter study were the evaluation of the intra and inter-laboratory variation between different AIS in cell pre-classification and after reclassification, compared with manual optical microscopy, the reference method.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPeripheral blood smear is a simple laboratory tool, which remains of invaluable help for diagnosing primary and secondary abnormalities of blood cells despite advances in automated and molecular techniques. Red blood cells (RBCs) abnormalities are known to occur in many viral infections, typically in the form of mild normo-microcytic anemia. While several hematological alterations at automated complete blood count (including neutrophilia, lymphopenia, and increased red cell distribution width-RDW) have been consistently associated with severity of COVID-19, there is scarce information on RBCs morphological abnormalities, mainly as case-reports or small series of patients, which are hardly comparable due to heterogeneity in sampling times and definition of illness severity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol
December 2020
Objective: Pulmonary thrombosis is observed in severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 pneumonia. Aim was to investigate whether subpopulations of platelets were programmed to procoagulant and inflammatory activities in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients with pneumonia, without comorbidities predisposing to thromboembolism. Approach and Results: Overall, 37 patients and 28 healthy subjects were studied.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAims: Optical microscopic (OM) evaluation of peripheral blood (PB) cells is still a crucial step of the laboratory haematological workflow. The morphological cell analysis is time-consuming and expensive and it requires skilled operator. To address these challenges, automated image-processing systems, as digital morphology (DM), were developed in the last few years.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFImmune Thrombocitopenic Purpura (ITP) is an autoimmune disease characterized by antibody-mediated platelet destruction and variable reduced platelet production. Besides antibody-mediated platelet destruction, new pathogenic mechanisms have been reported to be involved in reducing platelet count. Among these, desialylation is one of the most recent and innovative mechanisms that has been found to be implied, at least in part, in non-antibody mediated platelet clearance.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: The correctness of the results of automated platelet analysis is still highly debated. The aim of this multicenter study, conducted according to international guidelines, was to verify the analytical performance of nine different types of hematology analyzers (HAs) in the automated platelet analysis.
Methods: Four hundred eighty-six peripheral blood samples (PB), collected in K EDTA tubes, were analyzed by ABX Pentra, ADVIA2120i, BC-6800, BC-6800 Plus, Cell-DYN Sapphire, DxH800, XE-2100, XE-5000, XN-20 with PLT-F App.
Interv Med Appl Sci
September 2020
Background: Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA)-dependent pseudothrombocytopenia is a rare phenomenon. Spurious pseudothrombocytopenia has also been described in other circumstances, while artifactual platelet count in whole blood samples anticoagulated with sodium citrate is an exceptional occurrence.
Case Report: In this study, we describe the case of a 44-year-old ostensibly healthy woman who attended the local outpatient clinic for routine laboratory testing, including platelet count in EDTA and sodium citrate, for suspected artifactual pseudothrombocytopenia previously identified in another center.
Hematol Transfus Cell Ther
August 2019
Background: The osmotic fragility test (OFT), conventionally used for assisting the diagnosis of many erythrocyte disorders, is a manual and time-consuming analysis not daily performed in many medical laboratories. This study was aimed at defining the stability of whole blood samples used for assessing erythrocyte osmotic resistance.
Methods: Twenty-one consecutive routine whole blood samples collected into 5.
Background: Successful peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) collection depends on optimal timing of apheresis, as usually determined by flow cytometry CD34-positive () cell count in peripheral blood (PB). Since this method is costly and labour-intensive, we evaluated the use of the Hematopoietic Progenitor Cell count programme on a Sysmex XN haematologic analyser (XN-HPC) as a rapid and inexpensive alternative for predicting CD34 cell count in PB samples.
Materials And Methods: Haematopoietic progenitor cell and CD34 cell counts were compared using 273 PB samples collected from 78 healthy donors and 72 patients who underwent PBSC transplantation.
Introduction: Recent automated hematology analyzers (HAs) can identify and report nucleated red blood cells (NRBC) count as a separate population out of white blood cells (WBC). The aim of this study was to investigate the analytical performances of NRBC enumeration on five top of the range HAs.
Methods: We evaluated the within-run and between-day precision, limit of blank (LoB), limit of detection (LoD), and limit of quantitation (LoQ) of XE-2100 and XN-module (Sysmex), ADVIA 2120i (Siemens), BC-6800 (Mindray), and UniCel DxH 800 (Beckman Coulter).
Background: The aims of this study were to compare the diagnostic accuracy of blood smear review criteria, by means of three different panel rules, those proposed by: the International Consensus Group for Hematology [41-ICGH rules], the Italian Survey [IS rules] and the Working Group on Hematology-SIBioC (WGH) consensus rules (WGH rules).
Methods: This study is based on 2707 peripheral blood (PB) samples referred for routine hematological testing to the WGH-associated laboratories displaced all over the Italian territory. The PB samples were processed on seven different hematology analyzers (HAs): Advia 2120i, XE-2100, BC-6800, ABX Pentra, XN-1000, Cell-DYN Sapphire, and DxH800, respectively.