Evaluation of the sysmex UF-5000 fluorescence flow cytometer as a screening platform for ruling out urinary tract infections in elderly patients presenting at the Emergency Department.

In this study, we evaluated the performance of the flow cytometer-based Sysmex UF-5000 automated urine analyzer as a screening tool for ruling out urinary tract infections in elderly patients presenting at the emergency department. A total of 1119 unselected patient samples (including 544 samples from elderly patients) submitted for urine culture were included in this study. Samples were measured on UF-5000 and dipsticks and the results were compared with interpretation of culture results, which is the gold standard.

Evaluation of Therapeutic Drug Monitoring in the Clinical Management of Patients with Rheumatic Diseases: Data from a Retrospective Single-Center Cohort Study.

Purpose: Treatment of rheumatic diseases with tumor necrosis factor inhibitors leads to improved clinical outcomes. Therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) may assist in guiding clinical decisions. This study investigates the impact of TDM on clinical outcome, decision-making and biologics cost expenditure.

Soluble HLA-G and TGF-β in couples attending assisted reproduction - A possible role of TGF-β isoforms in semen?

Soluble isoforms of the non-classical Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA)-G as well as Transforming Growth Factor (TGF)-β is expressed in seminal plasma possibly influencing the pregnancy potential. We wanted to examine the association of seminal plasma sHLA-G, TGF-β1, TGF-β2 and TGFβ3 with pregnancy success in a cohort of 127 couples and 4 single women attending fertility treatment with the use of assisted reproduction technologies (ART). Soluble HLA-G, TGF-β1, TGF-β2 and TGF-β3 in seminal plasma did not fluctuate significantly over time.

Dietary habits, metabolic health and vitamin D status in Greenlandic children.

Objective: To compare the dietary habits of children living in northern villages and in the capital of Greenland, given the reported transition from traditional to westernised diet in adults over recent decades, and to explore the association between consumption of marine mammals and fish (MMF) and the children's metabolic profile and vitamin D status.

Design: Children answered an FFQ encompassing sixty-four individual food types pooled into six food categories. Their pubertal stage, body fat, fitness level, metabolic profile (non-HDL-cholesterol, glycated Hb, insulin, glucose, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein) as well as serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) concentration were evaluated.

Compromised Activation of Vitamin D After Elective Surgery: A Prospective Pilot Study.

Surgical stress reduces concentrations of most proteins in serum and necessitates a rapid adjustment of hormones dependent on protein binding. Activation of vitamin D by renal 1α-hydroxylation is dependent on protein binding because 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D (1,25(OH)D) is formed after megalin-mediated reabsorption of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD) bound to vitamin D binding protein (DBP). Postoperative alterations in serum concentrations of DBP and albumin may therefore impair 1,25(OH)D production.

Estimates of insulin sensitivity and β-cell function in children and adolescents with and without components of the metabolic syndrome.

Introduction: The accumulation of components of the metabolic syndrome (MetS) is associated with a disturbed glucose metabolism in obese children.

Aim Of Study: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the association between MetS and estimates of insulin sensitivity and β-cell function obtained from oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT)-derived indices in lean and obese children.

Material And Methods: A 2-hour OGTT was administered in 83 children aged 7-17 years.

Urinary markers of nucleic acid oxidation in Danish overweight/obese children and youths.

Urinary excretion of the RNA and DNA oxidation markers, 8-oxo-7,8-dihydroguanosine (8-oxoGuo) and 8-oxo-7,8-dihydro-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-oxodG) in newly diagnosed adult type 2 diabetics are reported to be long-term predictors of mortality independent of conventional risk factors. In the current study, we investigated the relationships between urinary markers of nucleic acid oxidation concentrations and the degree of obesity and glucose metabolism in overweight compared to lean children. Forty-two (24 girls) overweight and 35 lean (19 girls) children and adolescents were recruited from the Registry of the Danish Childhood Obesity Biobank.

Common variants in CYP2R1 and GC genes are both determinants of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations after UVB irradiation and after consumption of vitamin D₃-fortified bread and milk during winter in Denmark.

Background: Little is known about how the genetic variation in vitamin D modulating genes influences ultraviolet (UV)B-induced 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] concentrations. In the Food with vitamin D (VitmaD) study, we showed that common genetic variants rs10741657 and rs10766197 in 25-hydroxylase (CYP2R1) and rs842999 and rs4588 in vitamin D binding protein (GC) predict 25(OH)D concentrations at late summer and after 6-mo consumption of cholecalciferol (vitamin D₃)-fortified bread and milk.

Objectives: In the current study, called the Vitamin D in genes (VitDgen) study, we analyzed associations between the increase in 25(OH)D concentrations after a given dose of artificial UVB irradiation and 25 single nucleotide polymorphisms located in or near genes involved in vitamin D synthesis, transport, activation, or degradation as previously described for the VitmaD study.

Simultaneous determination of glucose, triglycerides, urea, cholesterol, albumin and total protein in human plasma by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy: direct clinical biochemistry without reagents.

Objective: Direct measurement of chemical constituents in complex biologic matrices without the use of analyte specific reagents could be a step forward toward the simplification of clinical biochemistry. Problems related to reagents such as production errors, improper handling, and lot-to-lot variations would be eliminated as well as errors occurring during assay execution. We describe and validate a reagent free method for direct measurement of six analytes in human plasma based on Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR).

Randomized controlled trial of the effects of vitamin D–fortified milk and bread on serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations in families in Denmark during winter: the VitmaD study.

Background: Vitamin D intakes are lower than dietary recommendations in most populations, and thus, a low vitamin D status is widespread, especially during winter.

Objective: We investigated the effects of increasing vitamin D intake to the recommended amount by fortification of milk and bread on serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] concentrations in families during winter in Denmark.

Design: The study was a randomized controlled trial in 782 children and adults (4-60 y old) recruited as 201 families.

[Blood test results are available sooner if Point of Care testing is established in an emergency room].

To determine patient priority and degree of urgency with an objective high-quality evaluation, general Point of Care testing (POCT) was established as a novel facility in the emergency department at Holbæk Hospital, a laboratory that provides faster results for common lab tests. When evaluating response time from arrival of the patient to the time at which the test results are available, POCT is not a significantly better test method than ordinary test methods. This indicates that in order to benefit from POCT the time before taking blood samples should be reduced to a minimum.

Vitamin D is positively associated with sperm motility and increases intracellular calcium in human spermatozoa.

Background: The vitamin D receptor (VDR) is expressed in human spermatozoa, and VDR-knockout mice and vitamin D (VD) deficiency in rodents results in impaired fertility, low sperm counts and a low number of motile spermatozoa. We investigated the role of activated VD (1,25(OH)(2)D(3)) in human spermatozoa and whether VD serum levels are associated with semen quality.

Methods: Cross-sectional association study of semen quality and VD serum level in 300 men from the general population, and in vitro studies on spermatozoa from 40 men to investigate the effects of VD on intracellular calcium, sperm motility and acrosome reaction.