Serum neopterin for early assessment of severity of severe acute respiratory syndrome.

Neopterin and C-reactive protein (CRP) concentrations were determined in serum samples from 129 severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) patients and 156 healthy blood donors. In the patients with confirmed SARS, an early neopterin elevation was detected already at the day of onset of symptoms and rose to a maximum level of 45.0 nmol/L 3 days after the onset.

One-step quantitative cortisol dipstick with proportional reading.

Rapid quantitative immuno-detection of haptens by the lateral flow assay without "typical" competitive inhibition results is studied. In the present study, we describe an immuno-threshold-based assay for the quantification of cortisol. It gives a signal which is directly proportional to the cortisol concentration in plasma samples with a performance time of only 5 min.

Development of a quantitative lateral-flow assay for rapid detection of fatty acid-binding protein.

Using human heart-type fatty acid-binding protein (H-FABP) as an early cardiac marker to confirm or exclude a diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) soon after admission requires a rapid assay system. Due to the requirement of skillful technicians and complicated assay procedures, most immunochemical assays for H-FABP are of limited use for routine clinical practice. In the present study, we describe a rapid lateral-flow assay for detection of H-FABP.