Platelet-activating anti-platelet factor 4 (PF4)/heparin antibodies and anti-PF4 antibodies cause heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) and vaccine-induced immune thrombocytopenia and thrombosis (VITT), respectively. Diagnostic and treatment considerations differ somewhat between HIT and VITT. We identified patients with thrombocytopenia and thrombosis without proximate heparin exposure or adenovirus-based vaccination who tested strongly positive by PF4/polyanion enzyme-immunoassays and negative/weakly positive by heparin-induced platelet activation (HIPA) test but strongly positive by PF4-induced platelet activation (PIPA) test (ie, VITT-like profile).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCRISPR-based diagnostics enable specific sensing of DNA and RNA biomarkers associated with human diseases. This is achieved through the binding of guide RNAs to a complementary sequence that activates Cas enzymes to cleave reporter molecules. Currently, most CRISPR-based diagnostics rely on target preamplification to reach sufficient sensitivity for clinical applications.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLiposome-based drug delivery systems have allowed for better drug tolerability and longer circulation times but are often optimized for a single agent due to the inherent difficulty of co-encapsulating two drugs with differing chemical profiles. Here, we design and test a prodrug based on a ribosylated nucleoside form of 5-fluorouracil, 5-fluorouridine (5FUR), with the final purpose of co-encapsulation with doxorubicin (DOX) in liposomes. To improve the loading of 5FUR, we developed two 5FUR prodrugs that involved the conjugation of either one or three moieties of tryptophan (W) known respectively as, 5FUR-W and 5FUR-W.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPersonalized medicine is pushing forward new diagnostic techniques to aid in controlling drug therapeutic levels and their toxic effects. This study aims to develop a high-throughput screening method for therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) and occupational exposure of cyclophosphamide (CP), an alkylating agent used as a chemotherapeutic and immunosuppressive drug. In order to achieve this goal, an immunizing hapten that exposes the cyclophosphamide moiety has been designed for the first time.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA novel approach for therapeutic drug monitoring of oral anticoagulants (OA) in clinical samples is reported, based on a NP-based biobarcode assay. The proposed strategy uses specific antibodies for acenocumarol (ACL) covalently bound to magnetic particles (pAb236-MP) and a bioconjugate competitor (hACL-BSA) linked to encoded polystyrene probes (hACL-BSA-ePSP) on a classical competitive immunochemical format. By using this scheme ACL can be detected in low nM range (LOD, 0.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA NP-based biobarcode for C-reactive protein (CRP) quantification in plasma samples is reported for the first time. The assay uses capture antibody functionalized magnetic beads (pAbCRP2-MP), multifunctional oligonucleotide encoded probes modified with a detection antibody (pAbCRP1-ePSP), and a fluorescent DNA microarray. Thus, magnetic beads are added to the sample to form immunocomplexes that will be isolated, to then add the codified particles to form a sandwich complex with both particles and the target protein, subsequently the complexes are treated to release the oligonucleotide codes, which are finally hybridized in a fluorescent DNA microarray.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe study of adverse drug reactions (ADRs) constitutes a challenge in the area of Medicine. Drugs generate a large number of the total registered hypersensitivity reactions, where penicillins are responsible for more than half of them. In vitro tests in the market are not efficient enough since they lack in sensitivity and specificity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCancer is a group of diseases in which abnormal cells grow and divide without control, with the potential to invade other parts of the body. Chemotherapy is a type of treatment that uses chemical agents to treat cancer. These drugs are toxic and produce undesirable adverse drug reactions due to their narrow therapeutic window and highly variable pharmacokinetics, thus, they need to be monitored to establish personalized treatment to achieve maximal efficiency and reduce drug toxicity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF