Suitability of Becton Dickinson Vacutainer rapid serum tube for collecting and storing blood samples for antibiotic and anticonvulsant drug monitoring.

Aims: To investigate the suitability of newly developed Becton Dickinson Vacutainer rapid serum tube (RST) for therapeutic drug monitoring of antibiotics and anticonvulsants.

Methods: Two pools of citrated whole blood were created by spiking high and low concentrations of gentamicin, vancomycin, phenytoin, lamotrigine and carbamazepine. After recalcification with 15 mmol/L calcium chloride, spiked whole blood was added into four different Becton Dickinson blood collection tubes: RST, serum separator tube, red top tube and polyethylene plain tube.

Free testosterone: clinical utility and important analytical aspects of measurement.

Testosterone, the most abundant androgen in men, is a steroid hormone that is synthesized predominantly by the testes. In women, minor amounts are synthesized in the ovaries. Androgen precursors are also produced and secreted from the adrenal glands in both sexes, where they undergo peripheral conversion to testosterone.

Advance targeted transfusion in anemic cardiac surgical patients for kidney protection: an unblinded randomized pilot clinical trial.

Introduction: : Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a serious complication of cardiac surgery, and preoperative anemia and perioperative erythrocyte transfusion are important risk factors. Prophylactic erythrocyte transfusion in anemic patients may, therefore, protect against AKI.

Methods: : In this unblinded, parallel-group, randomized pilot trial, 60 anemic patients (hemoglobin 10-12 g/dL) undergoing cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass were randomized (1:1) to prophylactic transfusion (2 units of erythrocytes transfused 1 to 2 days before surgery (n = 29) or standard of care (transfusions as indicated; n = 31).

Influence of erythrocyte transfusion on the risk of acute kidney injury after cardiac surgery differs in anemic and nonanemic patients.

Background: Acute kidney injury (AKI) after cardiac surgery is a major health issue. Two important risk factors for AKI are preoperative anemia and perioperative erythrocyte transfusion, and elucidating their relationship may help in devising preventive strategies.

Methods: In this cohort study of 12,388 adults who underwent cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass and received three units or less of erythrocytes on the day of surgery, the authors used propensity score methods and conditional logistic regression to explore the relationship between preoperative anemia (hemoglobin less than 12.

The novel immunoregulatory molecule FGL2: a potential biomarker for severity of chronic hepatitis C virus infection.

Background & Aims: This report describes the use of a novel sensitive and specific ELISA for the measurement of human fibrinogen-like protein 2 (FGL2/fibroleukin), a novel effector of natural regulatory T (Treg) cells, to predict the course of chronic hepatitis C viral infection (HCV).

Methods: Plasma levels of FGL2 were measured in HCV patients and compared to healthy controls and to patients with alcoholic liver disease.

Results: FGL2 levels were significantly higher in HCV patients (84.

Direct measurement of serum free testosterone by ultrafiltration followed by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry.

Background: Currently there is no reliable method suitable for routine measurement of serum free testosterone (FT).

Aim: To develop such a method involving liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-IDMS/MS) that directly detects and quantifies the FT present in serum.

Methods: Ultrafiltrate testosterone obtained from 0.

Evaluation of the ARCHITECT urine NGAL assay: assay performance, specimen handling requirements and biological variability.

Objectives: NGAL (Neutrophil Gelatinase-Associated Lipocalin) has emerged as a new biomarker for the identification of acute kidney injury. Reliable clinical evaluations require a simple, robust test method for NGAL, and knowledge of specimen handling and specimen stability characteristics. We evaluated the performance of a new urine NGAL assay on the ARCHITECT analyzer.

Rapid determination of serum testosterone by liquid chromatography-isotope dilution tandem mass spectrometry and a split sample comparison with three automated immunoassays.

Objectives: To develop a rapid convenient-to-implement high performance liquid chromatography-isotope dilution tandem mass spectrometry (LC-IDMS/MS) method for determination of serum testosterone concentration in routine clinical laboratories.

Methods: Following extraction by organic solvents, an Agilent 1200 Series HPLC system coupled to an API 5000 mass spectrometer equipped with an atmospheric pressure chemical ionization ion source was used to separate, detect and quantify serum testosterone. Ion-transitions of m/z 289.

Metabolic syndrome features and risk of neural tube defects.

Background: Maternal obesity and pre-pregnancy diabetes mellitus, features of the metabolic syndrome (MetSyn), are individual risk factors for neural tube defects (NTD). Whether they, in combination with additional features of MetSyn, alter this risk is not known. We evaluated the risk of NTD in association with maternal features of the MetSyn.

Vitamin B12 and the risk of neural tube defects in a folic-acid-fortified population.

Background: Low maternal vitamin B(12) status may be a risk factor for neural tube defects (NTDs). Prior studies used relatively insensitive measures of B(12), did not adjust for folate levels, and were conducted in countries without folic acid food fortification. In Canada, flour has been fortified with folic acid since mid-1997.