Analytical performance and user-friendliness of four commercially available point-of-care devices for C-reactive protein.

Introduction: Proper implementation of Point-of-Care testing (POCT) for C-reactive protein (CRP) in primary care can decrease the inappropriate use of antibiotics, thereby tackling the problem of growing antimicrobial resistance.

Objective: The analytical performance and user-friendliness of four POCT-CRP assays were evaluated: QuikRead go easy, LumiraDx, cobas b 101 and Afinion 2.

Materials And Methods: Imprecision was evaluated using plasma pools in addition to manufacturer-specific control material.

The influence of undetected hemolysis on POCT potassium results in the emergency department.

Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate discrepancies in potassium measurements between point-of-care testing (POCT) and central laboratory (CL) methods, focusing on the impact of hemolysis on these measurements and its impact in the clinical practice in the emergency department (ED).

Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted using data from three European university hospitals: Technische Universitat München (Germany), Hospital Universitario La Paz (Spain), and Erasmus University Medical Center (The Netherlands). The study compared POCT potassium measurements in EDs with CL measurements.

Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) at the preanalytical phase for POCT blood gas analysis: proposal for a shared proactive risk analysis model.

Objectives: Proposal of a risk analysis model to diminish negative impact on patient care by preanalytical errors in blood gas analysis (BGA).

Methods: Here we designed a Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) risk assessment template for BGA, based on literature references and expertise of an international team of laboratory and clinical health care professionals.

Results: The FMEA identifies pre-analytical process steps, errors that may occur whilst performing BGA (potential failure mode), possible consequences (potential failure effect) and preventive/corrective actions (current controls).

Organisation and quality monitoring for point-of-care testing (POCT) in Belgium: proposal for an expansion of the legal framework for POCT into primary health care.

Background: There is a trend towards decentralisation of laboratory tests by means of Point-of-Care testing (POCT). Within hospitals, Belgian law requires a POCT policy, coordinated by the clinical laboratory. There is however no legal framework for POCT performed outside the hospital: no reimbursement, no compulsory quality monitoring and no limits nor control on the prices charged to the patient.

Biomarkers and Donor Selection in Heart Transplantation.

Background: Previously, we showed that B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) measured in the donor was related to cardiac performance after cardiac transplantation. The present study assesses the value of 3 biomarkers in the selection of donor hearts in a larger cohort.

Methods: Blood samples were prospectively obtained in 105 brain-dead patients scheduled for heart donation.

Bi-allelic Loss-of-Function Mutations in the NPR-C Receptor Result in Enhanced Growth and Connective Tissue Abnormalities.

The natriuretic peptide signaling pathway has been implicated in many cellular processes, including endochondral ossification and bone growth. More precisely, different mutations in the NPR-B receptor and the CNP ligand have been identified in individuals with either short or tall stature. In this study we show that the NPR-C receptor (encoded by NPR3) is also important for the regulation of linear bone growth.

Rapid Ventricular Pacing for Neurovascular Surgery: A Study on Cardiac and Cerebral Effects.

Background And Objective: Intraoperative rupture of a cerebral aneurysm during neurosurgery can be a devastating event that increases perioperative morbidity and mortality. Rapid ventricular pacing (RVP) is a technique to obtain flow arrest for short periods of time during dissection or rupture of the aneurysm. The objective of this study was to evaluate the neurological and cardiac effects of repetitive periods of RVP during cerebrovascular surgery.

Analytical performance of a platform for point-of-care CRP testing in adults consulting for lower respiratory tract infection in primary care.

C-reactive protein (CRP) is a biomarker widely used for disease severity assessment and treatment of inflammatory conditions. Point-of-care testing (POCT) devices should ideally be rapid and provide similar results to standard tests done in laboratories. Two thousand nine hundred twenty-two serum samples were obtained from adult patients presenting to primary care with symptoms of lower respiratory infection in a European diagnostic study.

Coronary artery calcifications and diastolic dysfunction versus visceral fat area in type 1 diabetes: VISCERA study.

Aims: Type 1 diabetic patients (T1DM) experience a higher cardiovascular disease and mortality risk than controls. We investigated whether visceral adipose tissue (VAT) contributes to coronary artery calcifications (CAC) and cardiac dysfunction in T1DM.

Methods: A cross-sectional study of 118 T1DM patients without a history of cardiovascular disease (men/women: 68/50, age 46±12years, HbA1c 7.

Accuracy, user-friendliness and usefulness of the Cobas h232 point-of-care test for NT-proBNP in primary care.

Aims: N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) has been shown to be useful for ruling out heart failure in primary care. In this study, we examined the accuracy of the Cobas h232 point-of-care (POC) instrument in primary care compared with an in-hospital measurement. Furthermore, we investigated the user-friendliness and usefulness of the POC device.

Failed Downregulation of Circulating MicroRNA-155 in the Early Phase after ST Elevation Myocardial Infarction Is Associated with Adverse Left Ventricular Remodeling.

Background: MicroRNA are noncoding RNA that have a significant role in both inflammatory and cardiovascular diseases.

Aims: We aimed to assess whether the inflammation-related microRNA-155 is associated with the development of adverse left ventricular (LV) remodeling following ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI).

Methods: Peripheral blood samples were collected in the inflammatory (day 2), proliferative (day 5), and maturation phases (6 months) after STEMI (n = 20).

Caspase-3 Deletion Promotes Necrosis in Atherosclerotic Plaques of ApoE Knockout Mice.

Apoptosis of macrophages and vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) in advanced atherosclerotic plaques contributes to plaque progression and instability. Caspase-3, a key executioner protease in the apoptotic pathway, has been identified in human and mouse atherosclerotic plaques but its role in atherogenesis is not fully explored. We therefore investigated the impact of caspase-3 deletion on atherosclerosis by crossbreeding caspase-3 knockout (Casp3) mice with apolipoprotein E knockout (ApoE) mice.

Hepatocellular autophagy modulates the unfolded protein response and fasting-induced steatosis in mice.

Autophagy and the unfolded protein response (UPR) are key cellular homeostatic mechanisms and are both involved in liver diseases, including nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Although increasing but conflicting results link these mechanisms to lipid metabolism, their role and potential cross talk herein have been poorly investigated. Therefore, we assessed the effects of hepatocyte-specific autophagy deficiency on liver parenchyma, the UPR, and lipid metabolism.

Bone Marrow-Derived Progenitor Cells Are Functionally Impaired in Ischemic Heart Disease.

To determine whether the presence of ischemic heart disease (IHD) per se, or rather the co-presence of heart failure (HF), is the primum movens for less effective stem cell products in autologous stem cell therapy, we assessed numbers and function of bone marrow (BM)-derived progenitor cells in patients with coronary artery disease (n = 17), HF due to ischemic cardiomyopathy (n = 8), non-ischemic HF (n = 7), and control subjects (n = 11). Myeloid and erythroid differentiation capacity of BM-derived mononuclear cells was impaired in patients with underlying IHD but not with non-ischemic HF. Migration capacity decreased with increasing IHD severity.

NecroX-7 reduces necrotic core formation in atherosclerotic plaques of Apoe knockout mice.

Background And Aims: A large necrotic core is a key feature of atherosclerotic plaque instability. Necrotic cellular debris accumulates in the lipid-rich core and promotes inflammation, destabilization and ultimately rupture of the plaque. Although the role of necrosis in atherosclerosis is rather clear-cut, not many strategies have been performed up till now to specifically target plaque necrosis.

Primary skeletal muscle myoblasts from chronic heart failure patients exhibit loss of anti-inflammatory and proliferative activity.

Background: Peripheral skeletal muscle wasting is a common finding with adverse effects in chronic heart failure (HF). Whereas its clinical relevance is beyond doubt, the underlying pathophysiological mechanisms are not yet fully elucidated. We aimed to introduce and characterize the primary culture of skeletal muscle cells from individual HF patients as a supportive model to study this muscle loss.

A Novel Domain-Specific Mutation in a Sclerosteosis Patient Suggests a Role of LRP4 as an Anchor for Sclerostin in Human Bone.

Mutations in the LRP4 gene, coding for a Wnt signaling coreceptor, have been found to cause several allelic conditions. Among these, two are characterized by a strong skeletal involvement, namely sclerosteosis and Cenani-Lenz syndrome. In this work, we evaluated the role of LRP4 in the pathophysiology of these diseases.

Incidence and predisposing factors for the development of disturbed glucose metabolism and DIabetes mellitus AFter Intensive Care admission: the DIAFIC study.

Introduction: Elevated blood glucose levels during intensive care unit (ICU) stay, so-called stress hyperglycaemia (SH), is a common finding. Its relation with a future diabetes risk is unclear. Our objective was to determine the incidence of disturbed glucose metabolism (DGM) post ICU admission and to identify predictors for future diabetes risk with a focus on stress hyperglycaemia.

Usefulness of early rule-in and rule-out biomarker protocols to estimate ischemia-induced myocardial injury in early chest pain presenters.

Protocols to minimize the time between 2 measurements of troponin or a combination with copeptin have been developed to rapidly rule-in or rule-out myocardial injury (MI) in patients with chest pain. These fast track protocols to rule-in and rule-out MI are not sufficiently validated for early chest pain presenters. The "early presenter" model was tested in 107 stable patients after a short period of myocardial ischemia, induced by stenting of a significant coronary artery stenosis.

Bone matrix vesicle-bound alkaline phosphatase for the assessment of peripheral blood admixture to human bone marrow aspirates.

Purpose: Peripheral blood (PB) admixture should be minimized during numerical and functional, as well as cytokinetic analysis of bone marrow (BM) aspirates for research purposes. Therefore, purity assessment of the BM aspirate should be performed in advance. We investigated whether bone matrix vesicle (BMV)-bound bone alkaline phosphatase (ALP) could serve as a marker for the purity of BM aspirates.

Efficient voltammetric discrimination of free bilirubin from uric acid and ascorbic acid by a CVD nanographite-based microelectrode.

We report a novel electrochemical sensor based on nanographite grown on platinum microelectrodes for the determination of bilirubin in the presence of normal concentrations of albumin. The albumin is a protein with an intrinsic ability to bind the bilirubin therefore reducing the concentration of the free electroactive metabolite in human fluids. In addition, the proposed device permits the discrimination of free bilirubin from two interferents, uric acid and ascorbic acid, by the separation of their oxidation peaks in voltammetry.

An observational study on rhabdomyolysis in the intensive care unit. Exploring its risk factors and main complication: acute kidney injury.

Background: Because neither the incidence and risk factors for rhabdomyolysis in the ICU nor the dynamics of its main complication, i.e., rhabdomyolysis-induced acute kidney injury (AKI) are well known, we retrospectively studied a large population of adult ICU patients (n = 1,769).