Characterization of Hemoglobin Variants by Capillary Electrophoresis, UV-Vis, and FTIR Spectroscopy.

Hemoglobinopathies, hereditary disorders affecting the structure or production of hemoglobin, were detected by routine HbA measurements by capillary electrophoresis (CE) at the University Hospital Motol, Prague. The potential of ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) and Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy for the detection and characterization of hemoglobinopathies was investigated. FTIR spectra were recorded with a very high resolution (0.

Long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid-containing phosphatidylcholines predict survival rate in patients after heart failure.

Background: Heart failure (HF) is becoming an increasingly prevalent issue, particularly among the elderly population. Lipids are closely associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD) pathology. Lipidomics as a comprehensive profiling tool is showing to be promising in the prediction of events and mortality due to CVD as well as identifying novel biomarkers.

Kidney volume and function of low-birth-weight children at 5 years: impact of singleton and twin birth.

Background: Many studies have demonstrated the association between low birth weight (LBW) and chronic kidney disease, estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and kidney volume (KV). However, studies on twins and those investigating numerous perinatal factors beyond LBW, and their associations with various kidney parameters are scarce.

Methods: A two-center cross-sectional study on five-year-old LBW children was conducted between 2021 and 2023.

Spectrophotometric and chromatographic analysis of creatine:creatinine crystals in urine.

Creatinine is the end product of the catabolism of creatine and creatine phosphate. Creatine phosphate serves as a reservoir of high-energy phosphate, especially in skeletal and cardiac muscle. Besides typical known changes in serum and urinary creatinine concentrations, rare cases associated with changes in serum and urinary creatine levels have been described in the literature in humans.

Electrochemical Sensors and Biosensors for Identification of Viruses: A Critical Review.

Due to their life cycle, viruses can disrupt the metabolism of their hosts, causing diseases. If we want to disrupt their life cycle, it is necessary to identify their presence. For this purpose, it is possible to use several molecular-biological and bioanalytical methods.

Eicosanoids in human heart failure: pilot study of plasma epoxyeicosatrienoic and dihydroxyeicosatrienoic acid levels.

Introduction: The role of eicosanoids, metabolites of arachidonic acid with cardio-renal activity, remains unclear in human heart failure (HF).

Methods: We enrolled 50 patients with HF to measure plasma 14,15-EET and 14,15-DHET levels using commercial ELISA kits and compared them with 25 age- and sex-matched controls.

Results: Both of the measured eicosanoids were significantly higher in the HF group: 14,15-EET (91.

Serum Thymidine Kinase 1 - Potential Prostate Cancer Biomarker: A Clinical Study.

Background/aim: Serum thymidine kinase 1 (STK1) is a proliferation biomarker that has been used as a diagnostic marker of several malignant diseases. However, there are limited data for prostate cancer (PCa).

Patients And Methods: In this study, we retrospectively analysed serum samples from 169 patients with biopsy confirmed PCa, who had been indicated for radical prostatectomy (RP) between 2013-2016.

Impact of liver fibrosis and nodules formation on hemodynamics in young adults after total cavopulmonary connection. A magnetic resonance study.

Background: The aim of this study was to analyze the relation between the hepatic fibrosis markers, liver morphology and hemodynamics assessed by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) after total cavopulmonary connection (TCPC).

Materials And Methods: Adult patients after TCPC performed in childhood between 1993 and 2003 are the subjects of this observational study. The follow-up protocol consisted of clinical and echocardiographic examination, liver elastography, cardiopulmonary exercise test, MRI hemodynamics and liver morphology assessment and direct enhanced liver fibrosis (ELF) test.

Antimicrobial peptide in polymethylmethacrylate bone cement as a prophylaxis of infectious complications in orthopedics-an experiment in a murine model.

Polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) bone cement mixed with antibiotics is used in orthopedic surgery to cope with implant-related infections which are typically associated with the formation of bacterial biofilms. Taking into account the growing bacterial resistance to current antibiotics, we examined here the efficacy of a selected antimicrobial peptide (AMP) mixed into the bone cement to inhibit bacterial adhesion and the consequent biofilm formation on its surface. In particular, we followed the formation of bacterial biofilms of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) on implants made from PMMA bone cement loaded with AMP composed of 12 amino acid residues.

Perioperative changes of FGF23 in patients undergoing surgery for primary hyperparathyroidism.

Background: Fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF23) is a key regulator of urine phosphate excretion. The aim of the study was to investigate the perioperative (intraoperative and postoperative) changes of plasma intact and C-terminal FGF23 (iFGF23, cFGF23) concentrations in patients with primary hyperparathyroidism (pHPT) submitted to surgery.

Materials And Methods: The study involved 38 adult patients with pHPT caused by adenoma.

Hyaluronic acid concentration in the middle ear fluid as an indicator of severity of the secretory otitis in newborns with cleft palate.

The aim of the study was to investigate the hyaluronic acid concentration in middle ear fluid of patients with cleft palate as an indicator of the severity of the disease. Hyaluronic acid was examined in the middle ear fluid of 65 children (48 boys and 17 girls) subjected to cleft lip surgery in neonatal period up to 10 days of age. Patients were divided into 3 groups according to the course of the disease.

Diagnostic benefits of mindin as a prostate cancer biomarker: Dijagnostičke prednosti mindina kao biomarkera raka prostate.

Background: It has been shown that decreased expression and activity of extracellular matrix protein mindin correlate with various types of cancers including breast, colon and lung cancers. The aim of the presented study was to investigate the serum mindin levels in prostate cancer.

Methods: Mindin concentrations in serum were measured in 56 patients with prostate cancer (mean age 68 years) and in control group of 29 healthy men (mean age 64 years) using commercially available enzymatic immunoassay (Cusabio, WuHan, China).

Thymidine Kinase-1 as Additional Diagnostic Marker of Prostate Cancer.

Background: Thymidine kinase-1 (TK-1) is associated with proliferation and malignancy and has been extensively studied as a diagnostic biomarker for a variety of tumors, but there are limited data for prostate cancer.

Methods: TK-1 concentrations in serum were measured in 59 patients with prostate cancer (mean age 68 years) and in the control group of 28 healthy men (mean age 63 years) using commercially available enzymatic immunoassay (LSBio, Inc., Seattle, WA, USA).

Polycyanoacrylate (super glue) as bladder concretion in a patient after bilateral inguinal hernioplasty.

A rare case of cyanoacrylate urine bladder urolithiasis in a 60-year-old male is presented. The application of surgical glue (Glubran) as treatment of seroma one month after laparoscopic inguinal hernioplasty led to the instillation of the n-butyl cyanoacrylate into the bladder resulting in the formation of a concretion. Infrared spectroscopy of the urine stone removed by cystoscopic laser lithotripsy four months after the surgery allowed the identification of the nature of the stone and revealed cyanoacrylate as the major component and co-monomer methacryloxy sulfolane as the minor component.

High-Performance Liquid Chromatography as a Novel Method for the Determination of α-Defensins in Synovial Fluid for Diagnosis of Orthopedic Infections.

The α-defensins (AD) present in synovial fluid have been regarded as constituting the most accurate periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) biomarker. The methods most commonly used for estimating AD as a biomarker are the qualitative Synovasure PJI tests, based on the technique of lateral flow, and quantitative enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Here, we propose a novel test based on detecting α-defensins in synovial fluid by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC).

The Effect of Inhibin A on Prenatal Screening Results for Down Syndrome in the High Risk Czech Pregnant Women.

Background: Currently, prenatal testing is based on an ultrasound examination, the testing of certain biochemical markers and, most recently, also on the analysis of fragments from the extracellular DNA of the fetus in the mother´s blood. The aim of this work was to verify whether inhibin A testing during pregnancy can help influence the risk distribution of Down syndrome screening results in high risk population and thus possibly reduce the number of unnecessarily invasive procedures, or for better stratification of risks when deciding on non-invasive DNA testing.

Methods: The concentrations of inhibin A were measured using a chemiluminescent immunoassay in two groups of screening tests.

Manganese and selenium concentrations in cerebrospinal fluid of seriously ill children.

Background: The homeostasis of essential trace elements such as selenium and manganese may be altered in patients with severe diseases of various etiologies (trauma brain injuries, tumors, leukemias, lymphomas, neurological diseases).

Methods: Concentration of manganese and selenium were determined in cerebrospinal fluid by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry in 50 hospitalized children with various clinical ethiologies including oncological, neurological, and brain related diseases.

Results: The concentrations of manganese in cerebrospinal fluid of children were 0.

A Comparison of Four Methods (Immunochemistry and HPLC) for Determination of 25-(OH)-Vitamin D in Postmenopausal Women.

Background: Three immunochemical methods for the determination of 25-(OH)-vitamin D and validated HPLC method for the determination of 25-(OH)-vitamin D3 and 25-(OH)-vitamin D2 were compared. 62 patient samples from postmenopausal women were measured and the results obtained by all these methods were compared.

Methods: We used three chemiluminescent assays for determination of 25-(OH)-vitamin D.

Diagnostic Efficiency of Serum and Urine Procathepsin B and Cathepsin B in Patients with Carcinoma of the Urinary Bladder.

Background: The aim of the study was to evaluate the diagnostic efficiency of cathepsins B (cathepsin B and procathepsin B) in patients with transient cell carcinoma of the urinary bladder.

Methods: Serum and urine concentrations of cathepsin B and procathepsin B were measured by two commercially available enzymatic immunoassays in a group of 125 patients with bladder cell carcinoma without metastases and in a group of 72 healthy individuals. Concentrations in urine were adjusted to creatinine.

Determination of Urine Albumin by New Simple High-Performance Liquid Chromatography Method.

Background: A simple high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method was developed for the determination of albumin in patients' urine samples without coeluting proteins and was compared with the immunoturbidimetric determination of albumin. Urine albumin is important biomarker in diabetic patients, but part of it is immuno-nonreactive.

Methods: Albumin was determined by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), UV detection at 280 nm, Zorbax 300SB-C3 column.

Usefulness of N-Terminal Pro-Brain Natriuretic Peptide to Predict Mortality in Adults With Congenital Heart Disease.

Natriuretic peptides are often elevated in congenital heart disease (CHD); however, the clinical impact on mortality is unclear. The aim of our study was to evaluate the prognostic value of N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) in the prediction of all-cause mortality in adults with different CHD. In this prospective longitudinal mortality study, we evaluated NT-proBNP in 1,242 blood samples from 646 outpatient adults with stable CHD (mean age 35 ± 12 years; 345 women).

NT-proBNP levels and their relationship with systemic ventricular impairment in adult patients with transposition of the great arteries long after Mustard or Senning procedure.

Background: The aim of the study was to investigate serum NT-proBNP levels in adult patients with transposition of the great arteries (d-TGA) corrected by atrial switch procedures (Mustard or Senning) operation and to assess the relationship with ventricular impairment and NYHA class.

Methods: Serum NT-proBNP levels were measured in a group of 81 consecutive adult patients (59 males, mean age 27 years and 22 females, mean age 28 years) with transposition of the great arteries (TGA) after surgical correction in childhood, and in a control group of 25 healthy individuals (16 males, mean age 32 years, and 9 females, mean age 29 years). Age-matched correlation of NT-proBNP concentrations in TGA patients after Mustard or Senning correction was performed, but this correlation was considered not significant (p=0.

Concentrations of MMP-9 and TIMP-1 in lip tissue and their impact on cleft lip surgery healing.

Aim: To compare aspects of wound healing after cleft lip surgery performed within one week of age and wound healing after surgery performed within 2 - 4 months of age, especially concentrations of matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases-1 (TIMP-1) in tissue removed during surgery.

Methods: 34 tissue samples (26 boys and 8 girls) were removed during surgery within one week of age (n=19) or within 2 - 4 months of age (n=15). Tissue samples were separated into epidermis, dermis and mucous membrane.