Clinical utility of cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers measured by LUMIPULSE® system.

OBJECTIVES: Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers of Alzheimer's disease (AD) are well-established in research settings, but their use in routine clinical practice remains a largely unexploited potential. Here, we examined the relationship between CSF biomarkers, measured by a fully automated immunoassay platform, and brain ß-amyloid (Aß) deposition status confirmed by amyloid positron emission tomography (PET). METHODS: One hundred ninety-nine CSF samples from clinically diagnosed AD patients enrolled in a clinical study and who underwent amyloid PET were used for the measurement of CSF biomarkers Aß 1-40 (Aß40), Aß 1-42 (Aß42), total tau (t-Tau), and phosphorylated tau-181 (p-Tau181) using the LUMIPULSE system. These biomarkers and their combinations were compared to amyloid PET classification (negative or positive) using visual read assessments. Several combinations were also analyzed with a multivariable logistic regression model. RESULTS: Aß42, t-Tau, and p-Tau181, and the ratios of Aß42 with other biomarkers had a good diagnostic agreement with amyloid PET imaging. The multivariable logistic regression analysis showed that amyloid PET status was associated with Aß40 and Aß42, but other factors, such as MMSE, sex, t-Tau, and p-Tau181, did not significantly add information to the model. CONCLUSIONS: CSF biomarkers measured with the LUMIPULSE system showed good agreement with amyloid PET imaging. The ratio of Aß42 with the other analyzed biomarkers showed a higher correlation with amyloid PET than Aß42 alone, suggesting that the combinations of biomarkers could be useful in the diagnostic assessment in clinical research and potentially in routine clinical practice.

[Correlation of quantification of major bcr-abl mRNA between TMA (transcription mediated amplification) method and real-time quantitative PCR].

Imatinib mesylate has significantly improved the outcome of patients with CML. In the IRIS trial, major molecular response (MMR), which is defined as the achievement of > or =3 log reduction in bcr-abl mRNA from the standardized baseline, was observed in 40% of CML patients by 12 months. Achievement of an MMR at 18 months is associated with 100% probability of transformation-free survival at 60 months, and MMR is an important goal of therapy. The nucleic acid quantitative "DNA probe FR Amp-CML" kit based on the transcription-mediated amplification method, can measure major bcr-abl mRNA in peripheral blood leukocytes. In this study, we studied the clinical usefulness of Amp-CML for monitoring minimum residual disease by comparison with the European standard nucleic acid quantitative method and real-time quantitative PCR (RQ-PCR) with GAPDH as an internal control, using peripheral leukocytes obtained from patients receiving imatinib treatment. The results indicated that Amp-CML had a significant correlation with Fusion Quant M-BCR (R>0.971, P<0.01), a standard nucleic acid quantitative method used in Europe and RQ-PCR (R>0.974, P<0.01), especially in samples with more than 100 copies/microg RNA of major bcr-abl mRNA. These data suggest that Amp-CML is reliable for monitoring major bcr-abl mRNA in patients having achieved an MMR.

Novel crown ether and salen metal chelation driven molecular pincers.

The synthesis of novel metal chelation driven molecular pincers based on crown ether and salen ligand substructures are described. Their functionality was monitored by fluorescence spectroscopy using pyrene groups as fluorescence probes. The pincer was shown to function reversibly with respect to metal chelation with Zn2+ and also to chelate ditopically with 100 mol % of Zn2+ and 100 mol % Li+ or 200 mol % of Li+ ion.

Highly enantioselective conjugate addition of thiols using mild scandium triflate catalysis.

A Sc complex of (4S,5S)-diphenyl PYBOX 1 was found to serve as a catalyst for the asymmetric conjugate addition reactions between various thiols and 3-crotonoyl-2-oxazolidinone, affording the corresponding adducts in good yields and high enantioselectivies (up to 92% ee). A new improved method for making (4S,5S)-diphenyl PYBOX is presented.

Pretreatment prediction of interferon-alfa efficacy in chronic hepatitis C patients.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Interferon has been used widely to treat patients with chronic hepatitis C infections. Prediction of interferon efficacy before treatment has been performed mainly by using viral information, such as viral load and genotype. This information has allowed the successful prediction of sustained responders (SR) and non-SRs, which includes transient responders (TR) and nonresponders (NR). In the current study we examined whether liver messenger RNA expression profiles also can be used to predict interferon efficacy. METHODS: RNA was isolated from 69 liver biopsy samples from patients receiving interferon monotherapy and was analyzed on a complementary DNA microarray. Of these 69 samples, 31 were used to develop an algorithm for predicting interferon efficacy, and 38 were used to validate the precision of the algorithm. We also applied our methodology to the prediction of the efficacy of interferon/ribavirin combination therapy using an additional 56 biopsy samples. RESULTS: Our microarray analysis combined with the algorithm was 94% successful at predicting SR/TR and NR patients. A validation study confirmed that this algorithm can predict interferon efficacy with 95% accuracy and a P value of less than .00001. Similarly, we obtained a 93% prediction efficacy and a P value of less than .0001 for patients receiving combination therapy. CONCLUSIONS: By using only host data from the complementary DNA microarray we are able to successfully predict SR/TR and NR patients for interferon therapy. Therefore, this technique can help determine the appropriate treatment for hepatitis C patients.

A low-density cDNA microarray with a unique reference RNA: pattern recognition analysis for IFN efficacy prediction to HCV as a model.

We have designed and established a low-density (295 genes) cDNA microarray for the prediction of IFN efficacy in hepatitis C patients. To obtain a precise and consistent microarray data, we collected a data set from three spots for each gene (mRNA) and using three different scanning conditions. We also established an artificial reference RNA representing pseudo-inflammatory conditions from established hepatocyte cell lines supplemented with synthetic RNAs to 48 inflammatory genes. We also developed a novel algorithm that replaces the standard hierarchical-clustering method and allows handling of the large data set with ease. This algorithm utilizes a standard space database (SSDB) as a key scale to calculate the Mahalanobis distance (MD) from the center of gravity in the SSDB. We further utilized sMD (divided by parameter k: MD/k) to reduce MD number as a predictive value. The efficacy prediction of conventional IFN mono-therapy was 100% for non-responder (NR) vs. transient responder (TR)/sustained responder (SR) (P < 0.0005). Finally, we show that this method is acceptable for clinical application.

Virological significance of low-level hepatitis B virus infection in patients with hepatitis C virus associated liver disease.

The clinical and virological significance of low-level viremia by hepatitis B virus (HBV) in hepatitis C virus (HCV)-infected patients remains unclear. HBV-DNA and HCV-RNA were, therefore, quantitatively analyzed in livers and sera from co-infected patients. HBV-DNA and HCV-RNA were quantitated using real-time detection of polymerase chain reaction (RTD-PCR), based on Taq-Man chemistry, in 220 non-HCV-infected healthy volunteers and 93 HCV-infected patients without detectable HBsAg. Serum HBV-DNA was detected in 4 (1.8%) of 220 non-HCV-infected healthy volunteers and 32 (34.4%) of 93 HCV-infected patients without detectable HBsAg. HCV-infected patients displayed higher frequency of HBV infection than healthy volunteers (P < 0.0001). Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) was more frequent among co-infected patients than among HCV mono-infected patients (P < 0.001). However, quantities of HBV-DNA in sera from co-infected patients were very low (8-19,000 copies/ml). HBV-DNA was detected in liver tissue from co-infected patients at 2-20 copies per 100 hepatocytes, accounting for 1/1,000 to 1/10,000 of HBsAg positive patients. In livers of patients with HCC and HCV or HBV mono-infection, the viruses existed predominantly in non-cancerous tissue, with levels 10- to 1,000-fold and 1- to 100-fold higher than in cancerous tissue, respectively. In contrast, patients co-infected with HCV and HBV displayed decreased HBV levels in non-cancerous tissue, but no change in cancerous tissue. These results indicate that low-level HBV infection exists in HCV-infected patients. HCC was more common among HCV/HBV co-infected patients than among HCV mono-infected patients. HCV might initiate hepatocarcinogenesis, but does not necessarily determine progression to HCC.