In order to determine the nephrotoxicity of gentamicin, an aminoglycoside antibiotic, activity of the enzymes dominantly localized in proximal tubules, i.e. alanine aminopeptidase (AAP), g-glutamyl transferase (GGT) and N-acetylß-D-glucosaminidase (NAG) was examined. Determinations were performed in 12-h urine samples of 30 neonates i.v. receiving gentamicin against Gram negative...
Members of the glutathione S-transferase (GST) superfamily exhibit polymorphic expression. GSTs are investigated as biomarkers of risk for various cancers, including renal cell carcinoma (RCC). The aim of this study was to test the association between GSTM1 and GSTT1 polymorphism and susceptibility to RCC, independently or in conjunction with known risk factors. Genomic DNA was...
There is an urgent need for early renal biomarkers for the monitoring of proximal tubular injury because tubulointerstitial disease accompanies many processes leading to chronic and end stage kidney disease. One of these is kidney injury molecule-1 (KIM-1) a new specific histological biomarker for diagnosing early tubular injury from renal biopsies but also in urine. This trans...
The aim of this work was to examine the relationship between active (acylated ghrelin) and inactive (desacylated ghrelin) ghrelin in the serum and other serum parameters in intestinal parasitic infections and healthy controls. Conventional microscopic methods (saline and iodine solutions, trichrome stain) were used to identify intestinal parasites in stool samples of 29 subjects...
The erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) remains one of the most widely used laboratory tests. Its clinical usefulness and interpretation are in the monitoring of inflammatory diseases, in particular rheumatoid arthritis, temporal arteritis and polymyalgia rheumatica. At present, the reference method for measuring the ESR proposed by the International Committee for...
Th1-type and Th2-type cytokine profiles and adhesion molecules in the serum of patients suffering from systemic lupus erythematosus and the cytokine production by peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) were stud- ied. Tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-a), interferon- gamma (IFN-g), interleukin-1b (IL-1b), IL-4, IL-10, IL-13, intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) and...
Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is becoming a major public health problem worldwide due to the epidemic increase of patients on renal replacement therapy and their high cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. The only effective approach to this problem is prevention and early detection of CKD. In addition, despite significant improvements in therapeutics, the mortality and morbidity...
Cardiac troponins (cTn) are considered to be the 'gold standard' biomarkers for the diagnosis of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) a pathological spectrum which includes cardiac ischemia, angina, myocardial infarction and ultimately cardiac failure. The growing evidence base for the diagnostic and prognostic use of cTn in ACS has resulted in a universal redefinition of acute...
The serum immunoglobulin free light chain assay measures levels of free k and l immunoglobulin light chains. There are three major indications for the free light chain assay in the evaluation and management of multiple myeloma and related plasma cell disorders. In the context of screening, the serum free light chain assay in combination with serum protein electrophoresis and...
Today's hospital laboratory faces increasing pressure to improve turnaround time (TAT), while being required to handle an increasing number of test requests. At the same time, it must operate ever tighter cost controls. Using LEAN process improvement techniques is an effective way of identifying how to delivering greater efficiency and quality. LEAN focuses on identifying those...
Reducing errors and improving quality are an integral part of Laboratory Medicine. Laboratory testing, a highly complex process commonly called the total testing process (TTP), is usually subdivided into three traditional (pre-, intra-, and post-) analytical phases. A series of papers published from 1989 drew the attention of laboratory professionals to the pre-analytical phase...
D-dimer testing is efficient in the exclusion of venous thromboembolism (VTE). D-dimer laborator y assays are predominantly performed in centralised laboratories in intra-hospital settings although most patients with suspected VTE are presented in primary care. On the other hand decreasing turnaround time for laboratory testing may significantly improve efficacy in emergency...
It has been suggested that oxidative stress defined as a shift in antioxidant/oxidant balance towards oxidants is associated with the pathogenesis of many diseases, including carcinogenesis. Reactive oxygen species can induce carcinogenesis via injury to macro molecules such as DNA, carbohydrates and proteins. Forty primary gastric carcinoma patients and 40 healthy controls were...
Neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) are a heterogeneous group of neoplasms originating from endocrine cells, which are characterized by the presence of secretory granules as well as the ability to produce biogenic amines and polypeptide hormones. These tumors originate from endocrine glands such as the adrenal medulla, the pituitary, and the parathyroids, as well as endocrine islets...
The objective of this study was to evaluate variation in the lumbar spine extension (LSE) muscular strength index and the hydroxyproline (HP) urinary concentrations as a function of flexibility training with maximum intensity (flexibilizing) statically, by proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) and submaximally. The sample population - with an age of 17.13 ± 1.23; body...
The last few decades have seen a significant decrease in the rates of analytical errors in clinical laboratories, while a growing body of evidence demonstrates that the pre and post-analytical steps of the total testing process (TTP) are more error-prone than the analytical phase. In particular, most errors are identified in pre-preanalytic steps outside the walls of the...
Thyroid carcinomas are the most common malignant endocrine tumors. Thyroglobulin (Tg), a specific thyroid protein, is the most important tumor marker in thyroid oncology. After total thyroidectomy or radioiodine therapy, detectable or increasing serum Tg levels in patients with differentiated thyroid carcinoma indicate persistence of active thyroid tissue or cancer recurrence...
The MARP (muscle ankyrin repeat protein) family comprises three structurally similar proteins: CARP/Ankrd1, Ankrd2/Arpp and DARP/Ankrd23. They share four conserved copies of 33-residue ankyrin repeats and contain a nuclear localization signal, allowing the sorting of MARPs to the nucleus. They are found both in the nucleus and in the cytoplasm of skeletal and cardiac muscle cells...
Renal involvement in autoimmunity has many facets. Glomerular, tubular and vascular structures are targeted and damaged as a consequence of autoimmune processes. Immunologically mediated kidney diseases represent the third most common cause of end-stage renal failure (after diabetic and hypertensive nephropathies). Appropriate evaluation of patients with immune-mediated kidney...
Thiopurine S-methyltransferase (TPMT: EC 2.1.1.67) is an enzyme that metabolizes immunosuppressive thiopurine medications, used in the treatment of autoimmune diseases, cancer and in transplantation medicine. In some individuals, TPMT enzyme activity is significantly increased or decreased compared to the normal TPMT activity level. Structural and biochemical analyses of the TPMT...
More than a half century of experience with aspiration punch of nodal changes in the thyroid gland has confirmed this procedure as a golden standard in the examination of thyroid nodal disease. Although sensitivity, specificity, reliability and reproducibility are incontestably high, this procedure cannot give a simple answer on whether the change examined is benign or malignant...
This study aimed to assess the acute effect of stretching and neural mobilization on urinary hydroxyproline (HP) levels in young adults. The sample, composed of physical therapy students from Teresina (PI), was divided into three groups: a neural mobilization group (NMG; n=15; age= 22±3 years; BMI=24.75±3.09); a static stretching group (SSG; n=15; age=23±4 years; BMI: 25±4.33...
Occupational cement dust exposure has been associated with an increased risk of liver abnormalities, pulmonary disorders, and carcinogenesis. Decreased anti oxidant capacity and increased plasma lipid peroxidation have been posed as possible causal mechanisms of disease. Accordingly, this study examined the serum paraoxonase (PON1) arylesterase (AE), ghrelin, HDL-C, LDL-C and...
The increasing incidence of diabetes mellitus worldwide has prompted a rapid growth in the pace of scientific discovery of the mechanisms involved in the etiopathogenesis of this multifactorial disease. Accumulating evidence suggests that endoplasmic reticulum stress plays a role in the pathogenesis of diabetes, contributing to pancreatic beta cell loss and insulin resistance...
Classical epidemiology addresses the distribution and determinants of diseases in populations, and the factors associated with disease causation, with the aim of preventing disease. Both genetic and environmental factors may contribute to susceptibility, and it is still unclear how these factors interact in their influence on risk. Genetic epidemiology is the field which...