Protein-S-100-beta is increased in patients with decompensated cirrhosis admitted to ICU.

Background: Hepatic encephalopathy (HE) is highly prevalent in patients with liver diseases. The pathophysiology of HE is centered on the synergic role of hyperammonemia and systemic inflammation. However, some data suggest altered functioning of the blood-brain barrier (BBB).

Comparison of Transient Elastography, ShearWave Elastography, Magnetic Resonance Elastography and FibroTest as routine diagnostic markers for assessing liver fibrosis in children with Cystic Fibrosis.

Background And Objective: Reliable markers are needed for early diagnosis and follow-up of liver disease in Cystic Fibrosis (CF). The objective was to evaluate the diagnostic performance of Transient Elastography (TE), Real-Time ShearWave Ultrasound Elastography (SWE), Magnetic Resonance Elastography (MRE) and the FibroTest as markers of Cystic Fibrosis Liver Disease (CFLD).

Methods: A monocentric prospective cross-modality comparison study was proposed to all children (6 to 18 years of age) attending the CF center.

Transportation and handling of blood samples prior to ammonia measurement in the real life of a large university hospital.

Background: Hyperammonemia is neurotoxic and as such can be a medical emergency. Preanalytical factors greatly influence the blood ammonia concentration results.

Aims And Methods: Ammonia concentrations measured in the real life setting of a large hospital after pneumatic transport of blood samples and various time periods before centrifugation were compared to those based on the indications of the reagent manufacturer.

Performance of liver biomarkers, in patients at risk of nonalcoholic steato-hepatitis, according to presence of type-2 diabetes.

Objective: There is a controversy about the performance of blood tests for the diagnostic of metabolic liver disease in patients with type-2-diabetes in comparison with patients without type-2-diabetes. These indirect comparisons assumed that the gold-standard is binary, whereas fibrosis stages, steatosis and nonalcoholic-steato-hepatitis (NASH) grades use an ordinal scale. The primary aim was to compare the diagnostic performances of FibroTest in type-2-diabetes vs.

LCR1 and LCR2, two multi-analyte blood tests to assess liver cancer risk in patients without or with cirrhosis.

Background: No blood test has been shown to be effective in the prediction of primary liver cancer in patients without cirrhosis.

Aim: To construct and internally validate two sequential tests for early prediction of liver cancer. These tests enable an algorithm which could improve the performance of the standard surveillance protocol recommended (imaging with or without AFP), limited to patients with cirrhosis.

Long-term prognostic value of the FibroTest in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, compared to chronic hepatitis C, B, and alcoholic liver disease.

Background: Although the FibroTest has been validated as a biomarker to determine the stage of fibrosis in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) with results similar to those in chronic hepatitis C (CHC), B (CHB), and alcoholic liver disease (ALD), it has not yet been confirmed for the prediction of liver-related death.

Aim: To validate the 10-year prognostic value of FibroTest in NAFLD for the prediction of liver-related death.

Method: Patients in the prospective FibroFrance cohort who underwent a FibroTest between 1997 and 2012 were pre-included.

Wide-range CRP versus high-sensitivity CRP on Roche analyzers: focus on low-grade inflammation ranges and high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T levels.

Wide-range C-reactive protein (wr-CRP) has been proposed as an economical alternative to high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) for the evaluation of low-grade inflammation-associated cardiovascular risk (LGI-CVR). Concomitant values of serum hs-CRP and plasma wr-CRP ≤5 mg/L, and high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T (hs-cTnT), all assayed on Roche Diagnostics analyzers over a 1.8-year period, were extracted from a hospital laboratory database.

Plasma cystatin C as a marker for estimated glomerular filtration rate assessment in HIV-1-infected patients treated with dolutegravir-based ART.

Objectives: Inhibition of the organic cation transporter-2 renal tubule transporter by dolutegravir leads to serum creatinine increase. Serum cystatin C is a non-organic cation transporter-2-dependent marker, possibly enabling glomerular filtration rate (GFR) estimation under dolutegravir. Our goal was to evaluate the changes in creatinine- and cystatin C-based estimated GFR values before and after dolutegravir initiation.

Serum apolipoprotein A1 and haptoglobin, in patients with suspected drug-induced liver injury (DILI) as biomarkers of recovery.

Background: There is a clear need for better biomarkers of drug-induced-liver-injury (DILI).

Aims: We aimed to evaluate the possible prognostic value of ActiTest and FibroTest proteins apoliprotein-A1, haptoglobin and alpha-2-macroglobulin, in patients with DILI.

Methods: We analyzed cases and controls included in the IMI-SAFE-T-DILI European project, from which serum samples had been stored in a dedicated biobank.

Treating hepatic encephalopathy in cirrhotic patients admitted to ICU with sodium phenylbutyrate: a preliminary study.

Hepatic encephalopathy (HE) influences short-term and long-term prognoses. Recently, glycerol phenylbutyrate (PB), that lowers ammonia by providing an alternate pathway to urea for waste nitrogen excretion, has shown that it was effective in preventing the occurrence of HE in RCT. The aim was to assess the benefits of sodium PB in cirrhotic patients admitted to ICU for overt HE, in terms of ammonia levels decrease, neurological improvement, and survival.

Plasma Circulating Tumor DNA in Pancreatic Cancer Patients Is a Prognostic Marker.

Purpose: Despite recent therapeutic advances, prognosis of patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma remains poor. Analyses from tumor tissues present limitations; identification of informative marker from blood might be a promising alternative. The aim of this study was to assess the feasibility and the prognostic value of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) in pancreatic adenocarcinoma.

High-Sensitivity Cardiac Troponin T: a Preanalytical Evaluation.

Background: Little is known about the effects of preanalytical conditions on high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T (hs-cTnT) concentrations.

Methods: Variations of hs-cTnT concentrations were evaluated under the following preanalytical conditions: 1) serum vs. lithium-heparin (Li-Hep) plasma, with or without separator gel; 2) centrifugation time (15-minutes vs.

Stability of Routine Biochemical Analytes in Whole Blood and Plasma From Lithium Heparin Gel Tubes During 6-hr Storage.

Background: The stability of biochemical analytes has already been investigated, but results strongly differ depending on parameters, methodologies, and sample storage times. We investigated the stability for many biochemical parameters after different storage times of both whole blood and plasma, in order to define acceptable pre- and postcentrifugation delays in hospital laboratories.

Methods: Twenty-four analytes were measured (Modular® Roche analyzer) in plasma obtained from blood collected into lithium heparin gel tubes, after 2-6 hr of storage at room temperature either before (n = 28: stability in whole blood) or after (n = 21: stability in plasma) centrifugation.

Hemolysis indexes for biochemical tests and immunoassays on Roche analyzers: determination of allowable interference limits according to different calculation methods.

Objectives: To determine the hemolysis interference on biochemical tests and immunoassays performed on Roche Diagnostics analyzers, according to different maximum allowable limits.

Design And Methods: Heparinized plasma and serum pools, free of interferences, were overloaded by increasing amounts of a hemoglobin-titrated hemolysate. This interference was evaluated for 45 analytes using Modular(®) and Cobas(®) analyzers.

Variability in definitions of transaminase upper limit of the normal impacts the APRI performance as a biomarker of fibrosis in patients with chronic hepatitis C: "APRI c'est fini ?".

Background: The aspartate aminotransferase platelet ratio index (APRI) is a validated, non-patented blood test for diagnosing fibrosis or cirrhosis in patients with chronic hepatitis C. We assess the impact of two limitations, the variability of the upper limit of normal for aspartate aminotransferase (AST-ULN) and the risk of overestimating fibrosis stage due to necroinflammatory activity.

Methods: The variability of AST-ULN was assessed by an overview of the literature and an assessment of AST-ULN in 2 control populations 7521 healthy volunteers and 393 blood donors.

Role of genotype G hepatitis B virus mixed infection on the progression of hepatic fibrosis in HIV positive patients over 5 years of follow-up.

Background: Due to common routes of transmission, HIV and HBV are frequently found as concomitant infections. The dynamic of liver disease in co-infected patients is important to understand for appropriate clinical management. Conflicting data surround the role played by genotype-G HBV (HBV-G) during the course of HIV co-infection.

Slow regression of liver fibrosis presumed by repeated biomarkers after virological cure in patients with chronic hepatitis C.

Background & Aims: Chronic hepatitis C is both a virologic and fibrotic disease and complications can occur in patients with sustained virologic response (SVR) with residual fibrosis. Due to the limitations of repeated biopsies, no studies have assessed the dynamic of fibrosis before and after treatment. Using biopsy as reference, FibroTest™ has been validated as a biomarker of fibrosis progression and regression, with similar prognostic values.

Small platelet microparticle levels are increased in pulmonary arterial hypertension.

Background: The various aetiologies and risk factors for pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) lead to close phenotypes with small differences. Plasma microparticles have been shown to be increased in vascular pathologies including PAH. The aim of this study was to determine whether the levels of endothelial and platelet-derived microparticles could vary between different forms of PAH: idiopathic PAH (iPAH), heritable PAH associated with BMPR2 (Bone morphogenetic protein receptor, type II) mutation (hPAH) and PAH associated with connective tissue diseases (aPAH).