Clinical Laboratory

BACKGROUND: Pregnant women infected with hepatitis B virus (HBV) have a high rate of mother to child transmission and with adverse effects on their children. Recently, pregnant women were screened for HBV infection at a limited urban health facility of Ethiopia. The trend of HBV infection prevalence from year to year is unknown. Hence, the aim of this study was to determine the trend in sero-prevalence of HBV infection among pregnant women at a Referral Hospital, Northwest Ethiopia, over a period of five years (2015 to 2019)...

BACKGROUND: The aim was to explore the value of combined detection of PCT, CRP, and FIB in differentiating severe pneumonia from viral infection and bacterial infection. METHODS: A total of 100 patients with severe pneumonia admitted to Hebei General Hospital from August 2020 to November 2021 were selected as the research objects, including 50 patients with viral pneumonia (as the viral group, n = 50) and 50 patients with bacterial pneumonia (as the bacterial group, n = 50)...

BACKGROUND: Ioversol is a commonly used non-ionic radiological contrast media in medical imaging to enhance the visualization of blood vessels, tissues, or organs. However, if it is not completely excreted, ioversol can interfere with urinalysis and lead to abnormal test results. METHODS: This study reported a case where the contrast media ioversol interfered with Sysmex UN automated urine analyzer. RESULTS: UC-3500 displayed no test results except the error code "0401"...

BACKGROUND: The emergence of next-generation sequencing (NGS) is currently leading the diagnosis of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and its treatment using a more genetic-level approach. The study aimed to find clinical and prognostic correlations with genomic mutation profiles in Korean patients with AML using NGS. METHODS: This retrospective study enrolled a total of 30 patients who were newly diagnosed with AML from February 2021 to October 2022 in Korea. NGS was used to identify the genetic profiles of 40 genes relevant to AML...

BACKGROUND: Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disease in the world. Despite its worldwide prevalence, there is currently no clear explanation for the mechanism of this disease. In addition, the lack of reliable and accurate biomarkers makes the early detection of PD difficult. Therefore, we examined serum beta-alanine and kynurenine levels and expression of Wnt pathway genes in leukocytes from patients with PD. METHODS: Ninety patients, 45 with PD and 45 healthy subjects, were enrolled in this study...

INTRODUCTION: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections are major causes of hepatitis, an important disease affecting millions of people worldwide. The present study aimed to estimate the prevalence of HBV-HCV coinfection in Iran and evaluate the demographic and behavioral factors associated with a heterogeneity of results. METHODS: We used MEDLINE/PubMed, Web of Science, SCOPUS, Google Scholar, and 1 Persian database (Scientific Information Database) for a systematic search from January 1, 2005 to February 26, 2022...

BACKGROUND: This study was designed to compare the body fluid module of Sysmex XN9000 (XN-BF) with optical microscopy (OM) for cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) analysis after two-step cell slide centrifuge (TSCSC), defining the best procedure for CSF optical microscopy analysis. METHODS: Items of RBC, WBC enumeration and differentiation were observed. The cell count and morphologic evaluation of the cellular composition by OM was carried out both with and without two-step cell slide centrifuge (TSCSC) and were compared the data with XN-BF...

BACKGROUND: This cross-sectional study aimed to describe and discuss the epidemiology of mucopolysaccharidoses (MPS) in Tunisia. METHODS: Patients diagnosed with a MPS disorder in two referral laboratories in Tunisia between 1999 and 2021 were included. Diagnosis was based on clinical and radiological features and analysis of urinary glycosaminoglycans, and enzyme assay in some of the patients. RESULTS: Over the twenty-two years, 199 patients were diagnosed with MPS in Tunisia...

BACKGROUND: Due to its unique fingerprinting properties, Confocal Raman microscopy (CRM) can be used to examine the biomolecular changes of viruses invading and manipulating host cells. Recently, the biochemical changes due to the invasion and infection of B lymphocyte cells, nerve cells, and epithelial cells by Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) have been reported. However, biomolecular changes in nasopharyngeal epithelial cells that result from EBV infection are still poorly understood. METHODS: In continuation of our prior investigation of EBV infection in nasopharyngeal epithelial cells, we tried to expound on biomolecular changes in EBV-infected nasopharyngeal epithelial cells using Raman microspectroscopy...

BACKGROUND: Brain injury triggers neuroaxonal injury and neural death, that leads to the development of secondary sequelae. Throughout this process, brain injury factors released into circulation via the injured neurovascular unit are important prognostic parameters. Plasma NfL, NfH, MCP-1, and MMP-9 have been identified as potential indicators in this regard. METHODS: Using a microfluidic ELISA platform, we measured plasma from 273 healthy subjects that underwent quantifications of NfL, NfH, MCP-1, and MMP-9 levels...

BACKGROUND: Severe SARS-CoV-2 infection is significantly associated with over-expression of some immune-related molecules and inflammation. MicroRNAs are known to regulate the expression of various molecules, including those related to immune function. However, the specific roles played by miR-2113 and miR-568 in the pathogenesis of severe COVID-19 remain unclear. METHODS: In this project, levels of miR-2113 and miR-568 were explored in 70 severe COVID-19 patients in parallel with 70 healthy subjects using real-time PCR technique...

BACKGROUND: Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) is a polysaccharide complex present in the human respiratory system, which can reflect the presence of tumors in the human body and has important value in the monitoring of lung cancer [1], but sometimes serum CEA provides limited help. We reported a case of multiple consolidation of the lungs with elevated serum CEA, initially misdiagnosed as lung cancer and eventually confirmed by bronchoscopic lung biopsy as pulmonary cryptococcosis (PC). METHODS: Appropriate laboratory examination, chest computed tomography (CT) scan, and bronchoscopy lung biopsy were used to explore the latent etiology...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

BACKGROUND: Detection of serum neuron specific enolase (NSE) has high sensitivity and specificity in the diagnosis of lung cancer, especially small cell lung cancer, but sometimes serum NSE provides limited help. We report a case of high-density shadow of the left lung and elevated serum NSE which mimicked lung cancer. It was ultimately confirmed to be pulmonary aspergillosis (PA) by bronchoscopic alveolar lavage fluid (BALF) and next-generation sequencing (NGS). METHODS: Appropriate laboratory tests, chest computed tomography (CT) scan, bronchoscopic alveolar lavage fluid, and next-generation sequencing were used to explore latent causes...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

BACKGROUND: Nucleophosmin 1 (NPM1) mutations, which occur in 25 - 30% of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and 50 - 60% of AML with normal karyotype, have been identified as an important marker for stratification of prog-nosis in AML. This study aimed to establish a new quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique, the drop-off droplet digital PCR (ddPCR), for rapid and sensitive detection of NPM1 mutations in AML. METHODS: We established the drop-off ddPCR system and verified its performance...

BACKGROUND: Rapid screening for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was important in the emergency department during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) is the standard method for detecting SARS-CoV-2, but it requires several hours to provide results. Instead, the rapid antigen test (RAT) has a short turnaround time and can be used at the bedside but shows low sensitivity. To overcome these shortcomings, the clinical utility of stepwise testing of RAT with RT-PCR in the emergency department was analyzed...

BACKGROUND: Lipocalin-2 (LCN2) level in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) subgroups has not been investigated. The aim of this study was to investigate LCN2 levels, insulin resistance, urinary albumin excretion, and inflammation status in T2DM subgroups. METHODS: A total of 251 patients with newly diagnosed T2DM were evaluated. LCN2, glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), FPG, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) levels were measured...

BACKGROUND: Cell population data (CPD) are parameters of cell size, shape, and content that can be used in the differential diagnosis of diseases such as leukemia, bacterial or viral infection, and dengue fever. The aim of this study was to screen for CPD parameters that can be used to differentiate active pulmonary tuberculosis (APTB) from lung cancer (LC) and to assess their efficacy. METHODS: Whole blood samples from 84 APTB patients, 109 LC patients, and 95 healthy volunteers were collected from January 2019 to November 2019...

BACKGROUND: Pulmonary embolism (PE) is a common complication of deep vein thrombosis that causes high mortality and morbidity. This study aimed to determine the relationship between clinical risk scoring for early mortality and fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) in PE patients. METHODS: The study included a total of 98 subjects, 68 patients diagnosed with PE in the emergency department, and 30 healthy controls. Patients with PE were grouped according to clinical scoring of early mortality risk as low (n = 20), moderate-low (n = 24), and moderate-high (n = 24) risk...