[Phalloidin syndrome: role of Elisa-based assay for the detection of alpha- and gamma-amanitins in urine. Preliminary results].

Unlabelled: After consumption of mushrooms containing amatoxins (Amanita, Lepiota, and Galerina species), symptoms usually develop after a long delay (>6 h). Initial symptoms start as severe gastroenteritis, progressing to liver failure and possibly death as a result of hepatic coma. Since the survival rate of poisoned patients is claimed to depend on the time of beginning of efficient treatment, fast and reliable assays for amatoxins in biological fluids are essential.

Hydroxyzine and metabolites as a source of interference in carbamazepine particle-enhanced turbidimetric inhibition immunoassay (PETINIA).

A 32-year-old epileptic patient with a lengthy history of multiple-drug abuse and psychotic disorders was found to have an elevated serum carbamazepine concentration of 40.5 mg/L (therapeutic range 4-12 mg/L) using particle-enhanced turbidimetric inhibition immunoassay (PETINIA). Serum reanalysis by LC-DAD revealed only high hydroxyzine (HDZ) concentration (HDZ = 0.

[Antidigoxin Fab fragments and digoxin monitoring: a challenge for the biologist].

Following administration of anti-digoxin Fab fragments, monitoring unbound digoxin concentrations may help ensure appropriate dosing, and prevent recrudescent toxicity. Ultrafiltration by using Centrifree system and measurement of digoxin in the ultrafiltrate is considered as reference technique. However, ultrafiltration method is cumbersome, costly, and some immunoassays are affected by matrix differences.

Cross-reactivity assessment of carbamazepine-10,11-epoxide, oxcarbazepine, and 10-hydroxy-carbazepine in two automated carbamazepine immunoassays: PETINIA and EMIT 2000.

This study was conducted to compare the cross-reactivity of two commercially available carbamazepine (CBZ) immunoassays (PETINIA and EMIT 2000) with carbamazepine-10,11-epoxide (CBZ-E), the active metabolite of CBZ. Oxcarbazepine (OCBZ) and its main metabolite 10-hydroxy-carbazepine (HCBZ) have a chemical structure closely related to that of CBZ. The cross-reactivities of these two drugs were also investigated.

Chemiluminescent measurement of oxalate in serum by detection of hydrogen peroxide generated through oxalate oxidase.

Today, chemiluminescence detection reactions have become popular in analytical biochemistry essentially due to their high sensitivity. A chemiluminescent synthetic system (luminol/porphyrin) was successfully used to measure serum oxalate by determination of hydrogen peroxide generated through oxalate oxidase (EC 1.2.

Serum oxalate microassay using chemiluminescence detection.

Determination of serum oxalate concentration is important for the diagnosis and monitoring of hyperoxalurias, and extends to patients with all types of renal disease. Approximately 5 to 10 ml of blood is required for each test by conventional methods, and the test is not adapted for use in children. We developed a highly sensitive method that limits the volume of blood required for the test.

European multicentre evaluation of the analytical performance of the Abbott AxSYM Abused Drugs Assays.

In accordance with the guidelines of the European Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards (ECCLS), the performance of the Abbott AxSYM Abused Drugs assays were evaluated and compared with the results provided by the following systems: Syva Emit d.a.u.

Automated Cobas Mira kinetic enzymatic assay for ethylene glycol applied to emergency situations.

An automated kinetic method for assaying ethylene glycol in serum using glycerol dehydrogenase with the multiparametric analyzer Cobas Mira is described. Initially, 5 microL of sample is mixed with tris-NAD buffer; after enzyme addition, the variation of the absorbance at 340 nm is automatically measured, and the instrument calculates the ethylene glycol concentration of the specimen. The method has good precision and specificity and is suitable for emergency screening.

Assessment of recently developed blood gas analysers: a multicentre evaluation.

Providing guidelines for testing expected inaccuracy and imprecision is still a matter under debate. The Expert Panel of the French Society of Clinical Chemistry has developed a protocol, which was based on a comparative multi-centre evaluation of four instruments: the Ciba-Corning 278, the Instrumentation Laboratory 1306, the Nova SP 5 and the ABL 330. The purpose was to evaluate the analytical performance and efficiency of the analysers.

Ca2+ measurement with ion selective electrodes. The French coordinated evaluation of seven analyzers, for a better clinical relevance and acceptance.

The measurement of ionized calcium has evolved in the last decade, and can now be easily performed by clinical laboratories using direct potentiometric analyzers available from a number of manufacturers. An original protocol for a comparison of the analyzers was used through a parallel multicenter evaluation in France. Using newly developed aqueous buffered solutions, this study focused not only on the analytical performance and operational handling of analyzers, but also on possible interferences in biological samples and the clinical relevance of the measurement with respect to the techniques of sample collection.