Performance characteristics of a microfluidic Lab-on-Chip electrophoresis system for high-density lipoprotein (HDL) subfraction separation and measurement.

Background: High-density lipoprotein (HDL) is believed to be protective against coronary heart disease (CHD). HDL is comprised of different subfractions. Of these, HDL 2b is believed to be the most important in preventing CHD.

Reduced high-density lipoprotein 2b in non-obese type 2 diabetic patients analysed by a microfluidic chip method in a case-control study.

Background: Alterations in high-density lipoprotein (HDL) subfractions, especially in the HDL2b subfraction, have been reported in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). However, new methods for convenient and reliable quantitation of HDL2b are yet to be developed.

Methods: Thirty-eight patients with T2DM were enrolled and age-, sex- and body mass index (BMI)-matched controls were selected from the same population.

A case-control study on the relationship between HDL2b and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in Chinese type 2 diabetic patients.

Background: It has been shown that low concentrations of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) are associated with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). HDL2b, a major subfraction of high-density lipoprotein (HDL), is more significantly correlated with coronary heart disease (CHD) compared with total HDL. In this study, we analysed HDL2b in a cohort of Chinese T2DM subjects with or without NAFLD.

PROCAM Study: risk prediction for myocardial infarction using microfluidic high-density lipoprotein (HDL) subfractionation is independent of HDL cholesterol.

Background: High-density lipoprotein (HDL) subfractions are among the new emerging risk factors for atherosclerosis. In particular, HDL 2b has been shown to be linked to cardiovascular risk. This study uses a novel microfluidics-based method to establish HDL 2b clinical utility using samples from the Prospective Cardiovascular Muenster (PROCAM) Study.

The RIN: an RNA integrity number for assigning integrity values to RNA measurements.

Background: The integrity of RNA molecules is of paramount importance for experiments that try to reflect the snapshot of gene expression at the moment of RNA extraction. Until recently, there has been no reliable standard for estimating the integrity of RNA samples and the ratio of 28S:18S ribosomal RNA, the common measure for this purpose, has been shown to be inconsistent. The advent of microcapillary electrophoretic RNA separation provides the basis for an automated high-throughput approach, in order to estimate the integrity of RNA samples in an unambiguous way.

Towards standardization of RNA quality assessment using user-independent classifiers of microcapillary electrophoresis traces.

While it is universally accepted that intact RNA constitutes the best representation of the steady-state of transcription, there is no gold standard to define RNA quality prior to gene expression analysis. In this report, we evaluated the reliability of conventional methods for RNA quality assessment including UV spectroscopy and 28S:18S area ratios, and demonstrated their inconsistency. We then used two new freely available classifiers, the Degradometer and RIN systems, to produce user-independent RNA quality metrics, based on analysis of microcapillary electrophoresis traces.

Semiquantitative determination of Alicyclobacillus acidoterrestris in orange juice by reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction and capillary electrophoresis--laser induced fluorescence using microchip technology.

The semiquantitative detection of Alicyclobacillus acidoterrrestris in orange juice by reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) with a linear dynamic range of 2 x 10(5)-2 colony forming units (CFU)/mL in terms of cell count is described. Separation, detection, and quantification of the RT-PCR products were accomplished using the Agilent 2100 bioanalyzer in conjunction with the DNA 1000 LabChip kit. After 0 and 12 h of enrichment, it was possible to generate a linear standard curve between the amount of cells and amplicon concentration of RT-PCR and PCR products.