An LC-MS/MS method for the determination of drugs of abuse included THC-COOH, EtG, and NPS, using a single hair extraction sample.

Hair analysis plays an important role in the determination of drugs of abuse in both forensic and clinical toxicology investigations. The analysis of different substances often requires the use of different sample preparation methods, thereby increasing the amount of hair sample and time required. In the present study, a fast method involving a combination of a single 25 mg hair extraction procedure and four liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry methods using the same chromatographic phases and column was developed and validated.

Comparison of two methods for the extraction of ethylglucuronide from hair.

The aim was the comparison between the Society of Hair Testing (SoHT) consensus for the use of alcohol markers which powdering hair for the extraction of ethylglucuronide (EtG) in water and extraction using the patented M3 Reagent Test kit on cut hair. Hair samples were cut into small segments and washed twice with methanol and diethyl ether. The SoHT-Consensus entails the extraction of pulverised hair in water.

Activation of pituitary axis according to underlying critical illness and its effect on outcome.

Purpose: Critical illness is a life threatening condition inducing a severe acute physical stress. The aim of the study was to investigate the activation of pituitary axis early after ICU admission in patients with critical illnesses of different etiology and its association with outcome.

Materials And Methods: Patients admitted for acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), severe traumatic brain injury (TBI), subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) and neurocritically ill patients at the moment of brain death (BD) diagnosis were included in the present post-hoc analysis.

LC-MS/MS based 25(OH)D status in a large Southern European outpatient cohort: gender- and age-specific differences.

Background: Developed countries have a high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency. In previous studies, 25(OH)D was predominantly measured by immunoassays. The present study assessed serum 25(OH)D in a very large Southern European outpatient cohort by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS).

NTproBNP in insulin-resistance mediated conditions: overweight/obesity, metabolic syndrome and diabetes. The population-based Casale Monferrato Study.

Background And Aims: NTproBNP and BNP levels are reduced in obese subjects, but population-based data comparing the pattern of this relationship in the full spectrum of insulin-resistance mediated conditions, overweight/obesity, metabolic syndrome and diabetes, are limited.

Methods: The study-base were 3244 individuals aged 45-74 years, none of whom had heart failure, 1880 without diabetes and 1364 with diabetes, identified as part of two surveys of the population-based Casale Monferrato Study. All measurements were centralized.

Thrombopoietin as Early Biomarker of Disease Severity in Patients With Acute Pancreatitis.

Objectives: To study the concentrations of thrombopoietin (TPO), a growth factor recently involved in the pathogenesis of experimental acute pancreatitis (AP), and its potential role as an early diagnostic and prognostic biomarker in patients with AP.

Methods: Thrombopoietin was measured in 44 AP patients, 18 patients with nonpancreatic acute abdominal pain, and 18 healthy volunteers. Acute pancreatitis severity was classified on the basis of the 2012 International Atlanta Symposium on Acute Pancreatitis criteria.

Assessment of Diagnostic and Prognostic Role of Copeptin in the Clinical Setting of Sepsis.

The diagnostic and prognostic usefulness of copeptin were evaluated in septic patients, as compared to procalcitonin assessment. In this single centre and observational study 105 patients were enrolled: 24 with sepsis, 25 with severe sepsis, 15 with septic shock, and 41 controls, divided in two subgroups (15 patients with gastrointestinal bleeding and 26 with suspected SIRS secondary to trauma, acute coronary syndrome, and pulmonary embolism). Biomarkers were determined at the first medical evaluation and thereafter 24, 48, and 72 hours after admission.

Diagnostic accuracy of aldosterone and renin measurement by chemiluminescent immunoassay and radioimmunoassay in primary aldosteronism.

Objective: Up to 50% of hypertensive patients should be screened for primary aldosteronism, using the aldosterone to renin (or plasma renin activity) ratio [aldosterone to active renin ratio (AARR) and aldosterone to plasma renin activity ratio (ARR), respectively]. Aim of the study was to prospectively compare the diagnostic accuracy of AARR (measured by chemiluminescent immunoassay) and ARR (measured by radioimmunoassay) as screening tests for primary aldosteronism and aldosterone assays (measured by chemiluminescence and radioimmunoassay) during confirmatory testing.

Methods: One hundred patients were screened for primary aldosteronism and 34 underwent confirmatory testing.

Tenofovir clearance is reduced in HIV-positive patients with subclinical tubular impairment.

Objective: To assess if tenofovir (TFV) clearance is associated with urinary retinal-binding protein (RBP) in HIV-positive patients with normal estimated filtration rate.

Design: A cross-sectional diagnostic study.

Methods: HIV-positive patients with estimated creatinine clearance above 60 ml/min, on tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF)-containing combination since at least 6 months, taking TDF at night, and without significant comorbidities (diabetes, untreated hypertension, known renal malformations, recurrent nephrolithiasis) and nephrotoxic drugs were included.

Improvement of anthropometric and metabolic parameters, and quality of life following treatment with dual-release hydrocortisone in patients with Addison's disease.

In patients with Addison's disease (AD), a dual-release preparation of hydrocortisone (Plenadren, PLEN) has been demonstrated to maintain cortisol levels in a more physiological range than conventional glucocorticoid therapy, and to exert positive effects. This study aimed to assess variations of anthropometric, metabolic, and hormonal parameters in patients with AD after switching from conventional hydrocortisone (HC) treatment to PLEN. In nineteen AD patients (15 F and 4 M, age 27-65 years) treated with HC 20 mg/day thrice daily, body weight, BMI, waist circumference, fasting glucose, HbA1c, serum lipids, plasma renin activity, electrolytes, and blood pressure were evaluated at baseline, and 1, 3, 6, and 12 months after switching from HC to PLEN.

Treatment with intermittent PTH increases Wnt10b production by T cells in osteoporotic patients.

Unlabelled: We evaluated the effect of parathyroid hormone (PTH) on Wnt10b production by immune system cells in humans. We showed that bone anabolic effect of intermittent PTH treatment may be amplified by T cells through increased production of Wnt10b. Chronic increase in PTH as in primary hyperparathyroidism does not increase Wnt10b expression.

Renin and aldosterone measurements in the management of arterial hypertension.

Renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) is recognized as the main regulatory system of hemodynamics in man, and its derangements have a key role in the development and maintenance of arterial hypertension. Classification of the hypertensive states according to different patterns of renin and aldosterone levels ("RAAS profiling") allows the diagnosis of specific forms of secondary hypertension and may identify distinct hemodynamic subsets in essential hypertension. In this review, we summarize the application of RAAS profiling for the diagnostic assessment of hypertensive patients and discuss how the pathophysiological framework provided by RAAS profiling may guide therapeutic decision-making, especially in the context of uncontrolled hypertension not responding to multi-therapy.

Role of presepsin for the evaluation of sepsis in the emergency department.

Sepsis, severe sepsis and septic shock are among the most common conditions handled in the emergency department (ED). According to new Sepsis Guidelines, early diagnosis and treatment are the keys to improve survival. Plasma C-reactive protein (CRP) and procalcitonin (PCT) levels, when associated with documented or suspected infection, are now part of the definitions of sepsis.

Diagnostic and prognostic value of presepsin in the management of sepsis in the emergency department: a multicenter prospective study.

Introduction: Sepsis, severe sepsis and septic shock are common conditions with high mortality. Their early diagnosis in the Emergency Department (ED) is one of the keys to improving survival. Procalcitonin (PCT) has been used as a biomarker in septic patients but has limited specificity and can be elevated in other scenarios of systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS).

Rule out of acute aortic dissection with plasma matrix metalloproteinase 8 in the emergency department.

Introduction: Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are involved in aortic pathophysiology. Preliminary studies have detected increased plasma levels of MMP8 and MMP9 in patients with acute aortic dissection (AAD). However, the performance of plasma MMP8 and MMP9 for the diagnosis of AAD in the emergency department is at present unknown.

Fe(lll)-enhanced sonochemical degradation of methylene blue in aqueous solution.

The sonochemical degradation rate of Methylene Blue (MB) is markedly increased in the presence of Fe(Ill), a rather inexpensive reagent for the application of sonochemistry to wastewater treatment. The effect of Fe(lll) is due to a sonochemically induced Fenton reaction, where both reactants (Fe(ll) and H2O2) are sonochemically synthesized. Hydroperoxide/superoxide, generated upon sonochemical processes in aerated solution, is a key species involved in both Fe(lll) reduction to Fe(ll) and in the production of H2O2.

Nitration and hydroxylation of benzene in the presence of nitrite/nitrous acid in aqueous solution.

This paper studies the nitration and hydroxylation of benzene in the presence of nitrite/nitrous acid in aqueous solution, both in the dark upon addition of hydrogen peroxide and under 360 nm irradiation. In both cases the detected transformation intermediates were phenol (P), nitrobenzene (NB), 2-nitrophenol (2NP) and 4-nitrophenol (4NP). P and NB directly form from benzene, and the initial formation rate of P is at least an order of magnitude higher than that of NB.

New processes in the environmental chemistry of nitrite. 2. The role of hydrogen peroxide.

The oxidation of nitrite and nitrous acid to *NO2 upon irradiation of dissolved Fe(III), ferric (hydr)oxides, and nitrate has previously been shown to enhance phenol nitration. This allowed the proposal of a new role for nitrite and nitrous acid in natural waters and atmospheric aerosols. This paper deals with the interaction between hydrogen peroxide, a key environmental factor in atmospheric oxidative chemistry, and nitrite/nitrous acid.

Dynamics of viral variants in HIV-1 Nef and specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes in vivo.

The vigorous CTL response directed against HIV is considered to be important in reducing HIV viral load, although it is unable to stop ongoing viral replication, which generates new antigenic variants. We analyzed the impact of sequential changes in five epitopes of HIV-1 Nef on CTL recognition in four stable patients. A high rate of variation was found, and in all these patients we could detect CTL specific for 32 out of 36 autologous viral variants occurring in 5 HLA-A2- or HLA-B7-restricted Nef epitopes at two time points.

Contribution of proteasome-mediated proteolysis to the hierarchy of epitopes presented by major histocompatibility complex class I molecules.

Major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I-restricted cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) recognize peptide epitopes of protein antigens in a hierarchical fashion. We investigated whether proteolytic cleavage, in particular by proteasomes, is important in determining epitope hierarchy. Using highly purified 20S proteasomes, we find preferred cleavage sites directly adjacent to the N- and C-terminal ends of the immunodominant epitope of chicken ovalbumin, Ova257-264, while most of the subdominant epitope, Ova55-62, is destroyed by a major cleavage site located within this epitope.

Human immune response to HIV-1-Nef. I. CD45RO- T lymphocytes of non-infected donors contain cytotoxic T lymphocyte precursors at high frequency.

The immune response of peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) of non-exposed human individuals to the Nef protein of HIV-1 was studied. Nef is a regulatory protein of HIV which is immediately expressed after infection and which seems to be important in the pathogenicity of HIV. Nef may therefore serve as a potential target for effective immunity against HIV infection.

Reduction of the accumulation of viral mRNA and of cellular rRNA synthesis in MHV3-infected macrophages of resistant mice.

1. After MHV3 infection, only macrophages from resistant A/J mice partially restricted virus growth compared to those from susceptible BALB/c mice (2 logs of difference in virus titer). 2.

TNF alpha, IL-1 and O2- release by macrophages do not correlate with the anti-mouse hepatitis virus 3 effect induced by interferon gamma.

Macrophages have been described to be important in determining the resistance of A/J mice or the susceptibility of BALB/c mice to the experimental infection with Mouse Hepatitis Virus 3 (MHV3). The interferon gamma (IFN gamma) activation of A/J and BALB/c mouse macrophages was shown to partially restrict the MHV3 replication only in macrophages from the resistant A/J mice. The activation by IFN gamma and/or infection with MHV3 showed that BALB/c mouse macrophages were capable of releasing tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF alpha), interleukin 1 (IL-1) and anion superoxide (O2-), and A/J mouse macrophages were capable of releasing TNF alpha and IL-1 but not O2-.