Patient Stratification for Antibiotic Prescriptions Based on the Bound-Free Phase Detection Immunoassay of C-Reactive Protein in Serum Samples.

C-reactive protein is a well-studied host response biomarker, whose diagnostic performance depends on its accurate classification into concentration zones defined by clinical scenario-specific cutoff values. We validated a newly developed, bead-based, bound-free phase detection immunoassay (BFPD-IA) versus a commercial CE-IVD enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kit and a commercial CE-IVD immunoturbidimetric assay (ITA) kit. The latter was performed on a fully automated DPC Konelab 60i clinical analyzer used in routine diagnosis.

Identification of women at high risk of postpartum psychiatric episodes: A population-based study quantifying relative and absolute risks following exposure to selected risk factors and genetic liability.

Background: We quantified relative and absolute risks of postpartum psychiatric episodes (PPE) following risk factors: Young age, past personal or family history of psychiatric disorders, and genetic liability.

Methods: We conducted a register-based study using the iPSYCH2012 case-cohort sample. Exposures were personal history of psychiatric episodes prior to childbirth, being a young mother (giving birth before the age of 21.

ImmunoDisk-A Fully Automated Bead-Based Immunoassay Cartridge with All Reagents Pre-Stored.

In this paper, we present the ImmunoDisk, a fully automated sample-to-answer centrifugal microfluidic cartridge, integrating a heterogeneous, wash-free, magnetic- and fluorescent bead-based immunoassay (bound-free phase detection immunoassay/BFPD-IA). The BFPD-IA allows the implementation of a simple fluidic structure, where the assay incubation, bead separation and detection are performed in the same chamber. The system was characterized using a C-reactive protein (CRP) competitive immunoassay.

OralDisk: A Chair-Side Compatible Molecular Platform Using Whole Saliva for Monitoring Oral Health at the Dental Practice.

Periodontitis and dental caries are two major bacterially induced, non-communicable diseases that cause the deterioration of oral health, with implications in patients' general health. Early, precise diagnosis and personalized monitoring are essential for the efficient prevention and management of these diseases. Here, we present a disk-shaped microfluidic platform (OralDisk) compatible with chair-side use that enables analysis of non-invasively collected whole saliva samples and molecular-based detection of ten bacteria: seven periodontitis-associated (, , , , , , ) and three caries-associated (oral , , ).

Divorce or Separation Following Postpartum Psychiatric Episodes: A Population-Based Cohort Study.

Psychiatric disorders are an established risk factor for divorce or separation. Despite the fact that 10%-15% of new mothers experience postpartum psychiatric episodes (PPEs), no previous studies have investigated the effects of PPEs on the probability of divorce in these new families. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate and quantify the probability of subsequent divorce/separation among women with either mild/moderate or severe PPE compared to mothers without PPE.

Validation and verification of predictive salivary biomarkers for oral health.

Oral health is important not only due to the diseases emerging in the oral cavity but also due to the direct relation to systemic health. Thus, early and accurate characterization of the oral health status is of utmost importance. There are several salivary biomarkers as candidates for gingivitis and periodontitis, which are major oral health threats, affecting the gums.

One-step, wash-free, bead-based immunoassay employing bound-free phase detection.

We present a simple and fast one-step heterogeneous immunoassay, with performance characteristics that can enable easy and versatile adaptation to miniaturized, automated point-of-care systems. This novel analytical method uses magnetic and fluorescent beads as capture and detection agents respectively. Its main feature is the measurement of the fluorescent signal in the bound-free phase for (semi-)quantitative detection of analytes.

Healthcare Challenges and Future Solutions in Dental Practice: Assessing Oral Antibiotic Resistances by Contemporary Point-Of-Care Approaches.

Antibiotic resistance poses a global threat, which is being acknowledged at several levels, including research, clinical implementation, regulation, as well as by the World Health Organization. In the field of oral health, however, the issue of antibiotic resistances, as well as of accurate diagnosis, is underrepresented. Oral diseases in general were ranked third in terms of expenditures among the EU-28 member states in 2015.

RespiDisk: a point-of-care platform for fully automated detection of respiratory tract infection pathogens in clinical samples.

We present the RespiDisk enabling the fully automated and multiplex point-of-care (POC) detection of (currently) up to 19 respiratory tract infection (RTI) pathogens from a single sample based on reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). RespiDisk comprises a RTI-specific implementation of the centrifugal microfluidic LabDisk platform and combines new and existing advanced unit operations for liquid control, thereby automating all assay steps only by a spinning frequency and temperature protocol in combination with the use of a permanent magnet for in situ bead handing. The capabilities of the system were demonstrated with 36 tested quality samples mimicking clinical conditions (clinical and/or cultured material suspended in transport medium or synthetic bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL)) from past external quality assessment (EQA) panels covering 13 of the 19 integrated RTI detection assays.

General medical conditions and mortality in women with postpartum psychiatric disorders.

Background: Psychiatric patients have an increased risk of general medical conditions and mortality, but no study has systematically explored these outcomes among women with mental disorders following childbirth (postpartum psychiatric disorders: PPD). Therefore, we aimed to investigate the risk of subsequent general medical conditions and mortality in women with a broad spectrum of PPD.

Methods: This register-based cohort study followed all Danish women born after January 1, 1960, until January 1, 2016.

Automated Pre-Analytic Processing of Whole Saliva Using Magnet-Beating for Point-of-Care Protein Biomarker Analysis.

Saliva offers many advantages for point-of-care (PoC) diagnostic applications due to non-invasive, easy, and cost-effective methods of collection. However, the complex matrix with its non-Newtonian behavior and high viscosity poses handling challenges. Several tedious and long pre-analytic steps, incompatible with PoC use, are required to liquefy and homogenize saliva samples before protein analysis can be performed.

Genetic risk scores for major psychiatric disorders and the risk of postpartum psychiatric disorders.

Postpartum psychiatric disorders are heritable, but how genetic liability varies by other significant risk factors is unknown. We aimed to (1) estimate associations of genetic risk scores (GRS) for major depression (MD), bipolar disorder (BD), and schizophrenia (SCZ) with postpartum psychiatric disorders, (2) examine differences by prior psychiatric history, and (3) compare genetic and familial risk of postpartum psychiatric disorders. We conducted a nested case-control study based on Danish population-based registers of all women in the iPSYCH2012 cohort who had given birth before December 31, 2015 (n = 8850).

Population-Based Assessment of the Recurrence Risk of Postpartum Mental Disorders: Will It Happen Again?

This study examines the frequency of postpartum mental disorders in women who are primiparous and multiparous.

Perinatal psychiatric episodes: a population-based study on treatment incidence and prevalence.

Perinatal psychiatric episodes comprise various disorders and symptom severity, which are diagnosed and treated in multiple treatment settings. To date, no studies have quantified the incidence and prevalence of perinatal psychiatric episodes treated in primary and secondary care, which we aimed to do in the present study. We designed a descriptive prospective study and included information from Danish population registers to study first-time ever and recurrent psychiatric episodes during the perinatal period, including treatment at psychiatric facilities and general practitioners (GPs).

All-Cause Mortality in Women With Severe Postpartum Psychiatric Disorders.

Objective: The postpartum period is associated with a high risk of psychiatric episodes. The authors studied mortality in women with first-onset severe psychiatric disorders following childbirth and compared their mortality rates with those in women from the background population including other female psychiatric patients (mothers and childless women).

Method: In a register-based cohort study with linked information from Danish population registers, the authors identified women with first psychiatric inpatient or outpatient contacts 0-3 months postpartum.

Pre-eclampsia and first-onset postpartum psychiatric episodes: a Danish population-based cohort study.

Background: Recent evidence suggests that postpartum psychiatric episodes may share similar etiological mechanisms with immune-related disorders. Pre-eclampsia is one of the most prevalent immune-related disorders of pregnancy. Multiple clinical features are shared between pre-eclampsia and postpartum psychiatric disorders, most prominently a strong link to first pregnancies.

Yttrium-86-labelled human serum albumin microspheres: relation of surface structure with in vivo stability.

Introduction: Radiolabelled particles are an attractive tool in the therapy of malignancies of the liver. We consider particles manufactured from denatured human serum albumin (HSA) as useful carriers of therapeutic radionuclides. Covalent attachment of suitable chelators onto the surface of the spheres promises an easy access to radiolabelled HSA microspheres.

The usefulness of radiotracers to make the body biochemically transparent.

Radioactive isotopes are uniquely applicable to observe reactions or circuits of reactions at the molecular level without disturbing the system being studied. The advent of molecular imaging modalities, particularly positron emission tomography (PET), is a major breakthrough for the visualisation and quantitative assessment of cellular and molecular processes occurring in living tissues. The recent development of animal PET scanners that offers 2-mm resolution and is tailored to laboratory rodent models, has made a further great impact on in vivo biochemistry.

Biodistribution and catabolism of 18F-labelled isopeptide N(epsilon)-(gamma-glutamyl)-L-lysine.

Isopeptide bonds between the epsilon-amino group of lysine and the gamma-carboxamide group of glutamine are formed during strong heating of pure proteins or, more important, by enzymatic reaction mediated by transglutaminases. Despite the wide use of a microbial transglutaminase in food biotechnology, up to now little is known about the metabolic fate of the isopeptide N(epsilon)-(gamma-glutamyl)-L-lysine. In the present study, N-succinimidyl-4-[(18)F]fluorobenzoate was used to modify N(epsilon)-(gamma-glutamyl)-L-lysine at each of its two alpha-amino groups, resulting in the 4-[(18)F]fluorobenzoylated derivatives, for which biodistribution, catabolism, and elimination were investigated in male Wistar rats.

3-O-methyl-6-18F-fluoro-L-dopa, a new tumor imaging agent: investigation of transport mechanism in vitro.

Unlabelled: (18)F-Labeled amino acids represent a promising class of imaging agents in tumors, particularly brain tumors. However, the determination of their potential to image peripheral tumors, possibly depending on individual transport characteristics, still remains an area of investigation. The present study investigated the transport mechanism for 3-O-methyl-6-(18)F-fluoro-L-dopa (OMFD), a novel (18)F-labeled phenylalanine derivative, into tumor cells.