Tissue zinc levels in a child with hypercalprotectinaemia and hyperzincaemia: A case report and a review of the literature.

BACKGROUND: A girl suffering from a rare syndrome of unknown aetiology, termed hypercalprotectinaemia, was evaluated for tissue zinc status, because calprotectin is a protein which chelates Zn at multiple binding-sites, which might have affected the distribution of Zn in her body. METHODS: Measurement of serum, urine, hair and nail zinc (Zn) concentration, complemented with measurement of total Zn in ultrafiltrates of plasma. RESULTS: Her serum Zn concentration was 105-133 µmol/L. Zn levels in her hair (102 µg/g), nail (90 µg/g) and urine (3-12 µmol/L; 20-80 µg/dL) were all at the lower end of the reference intervals described in the sparse literature. Zn concentrations in ultrafiltrates of plasma were below the detection limit (<100 nmol/L). Thus, the elevated serum Zn did not translate into a similarly increased level of Zn in any of the tissues tested, nor in free Zn concentrations. Instead it appeared to be a result of Zn being chelated to binder proteins, most probably calprotectin. CONCLUSION: Her grossly elevated serum calprotectin concentration is probably able to raise circulating total Zn concentrations without raising ionized concentrations, but this Zn remains confined to the circulating blood as well as to excreted body fluids, particularly faeces.

The Accu-Chek Mobile blood glucose monitoring system used under controlled conditions meets ISO 15197 standards in the hands of diabetes patients.

BACKGROUND: Self-monitoring of blood glucose is a cornerstone of diabetes management. The aim of this study was to evaluate the analytical quality and the ease of use of the Accu-Chek Mobile, a new glucose monitoring system designed for capillary blood testing by diabetic patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The performance of the Accu-Chek Mobile was evaluated both in the hands of a scientist and of diabetes patients. The designated comparative method was a hexokinase-based laboratory method (Architect ci8200). Diabetics (N = 88) with previous experience of self-testing were recruited for the study. Patient samples, containing glucose in concentrations mainly between ˜4 and ˜20 mmol/L, were analyzed in duplicates both on the Accu-Chek Mobile and with the comparative method. The patients answered a questionnaire about the ease of use of the meter. RESULTS: The meter yields reproducible readings, with an imprecision CV <5% as required by the American Diabetes Association (ADA). Of the glucose concentrations obtained by both the scientist and the patients, more than 95% of the individual results were within ± 20% of the comparative method, meeting the ISO 15197 accuracy goal, but not the stricter ± 10% ADA goal. CONCLUSION: Accu-Chek Mobile is a user-friendly glucometer that in a normo- and hyperglycemic range fulfils the ISO 15197 accuracy requirement, also in the hands of diabetes patients.

Preanalytical aspects of quantitative TaqMan real-time RT-PCR: applications for TF and VEGF mRNA quantification.

OBJECTIVES: The present paper focuses on preanalytical aspects of tissue factor (TF) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) mRNA quantification: the choice of blood collection tubes and defining the time frame allowed before processing the sample. DESIGN AND METHODS: Blood was collected from healthy volunteers in K(3) EDTA tubes, CPT, endotoxin-free EndoTube tubes and in PAXgene tubes. Total RNA concentration was determined by absorbance readings at 260 nm with a GeneQuantII UV spectrophotometer. RNA quantity and quality were also determined by the Lab on a Chip technique (Agilent 2100 Bioanalyzer). Real-time RT-PCR assays were performed by the TaqMan technology. RESULTS: The more expensive PAXgene and CPT tubes and the Endo tubes did not give superior results from those obtained in inexpensive routine K(3) EDTA tubes. The PAXgene tubes preserved high molecular mass rRNA better than the other tubes. CONCLUSION: Both the PAXgene system and routine EDTA tubes are suitable for clinical purposes aimed at quantitation of mRNA for TF and VEGF. PAXgene yielded rRNA that was less degraded but had lower mRNA per microg extracted RNA. A time frame up to 24 h until sample processing is acceptable for TF and VEGF mRNA.

Whole genome expression profiling of blood cells in ovarian cancer patients -prognostic impact of the CYP1B1, MTSS1, NCALD, and NOP14.

Ovarian cancer patients with different tumor stages and cell differentiation might be distinguished from each other by gene expression profiles in whole blood cell mRNA by the Affymetrix Human Gene 1.0 ST Array. We also examined if there is any association with other clinical variables, response to therapy, and residual tumor burden after surgery. Patients were divided into two groups, one with poor prognosis, advanced stage and poorly differentiated tumors (n = 22), and one group with good prognosis, early stage and well- to medium differentiated tumors (n = 11). Six genes were found to be differentially expressed: the PDIA3, LYAR, NOP14, NCALD and MTSS1 genes were down-regulated and the CYP1B1 gene expression was up-regulated in the poor prognosis group, all with p value <0.05, adjusted for mass comparison. In survival analyses, CYP1B1, MTSS1, NCALD and NOP14 remained significantly different (p<0.05). Patient groups did not differ in any transcript related to acute phase or immune responses. This minimal gene expression signature of prognostic ovarian cancer-related genes opens up an avenue for more practicable monitoring of ovarian cancer patients by simple peripheral blood tests, which may evolve into a tool to guide selection of curative and postoperative supportive therapies.

Epigenetic alterations in folate transport genes in placental tissue from fetuses with neural tube defects and in leukocytes from subjects with hyperhomocysteinemia.

The objectives of this study were to identify tissue-specific differentially methylated regions (T-DMR's) in the folate transport genes in placental tissue compared with leukocytes, and from placental tissues obtained from normal infants or with neural tube defects (NTDs). Using pyrosequencing, we developed methylation assays for the CpG islands (CGIs) and the CGI shore regions of the folate receptor α (FOLR1), proton-coupled folate transporter (PCFT) and reduced folate carrier 1 (RFC1) genes. The T-DMRs differed in location for each gene and the difference in methylation ranged between 2 and 54%. A higher T-DMR methylated fraction was associated with a lower mRNA level of the FOLR1 and RFC1 genes. Methylation fractions differed according to RFC1 80G > A genotype in the NTD cases and in leukocytes from subjects with high total plasma homocysteine (tHcy). There were no differences in methylated fraction of folate transporter genes between NTD cases and controls. We suggest that T-DMRs participate in the regulation of expression of the FOLR1 and RFC1 genes, that the RFC1 80G > A polymorphism exerts a gene-nutrition interaction on DNA methylation in the RFC1 gene, and that this interaction appears to be most prominent in NTD-affected births and in subjects with high tHcy concentrations.

Whole blood RNA expression profiles in ovarian cancer patients with or without residual tumors after primary cytoreductive surgery.

Significant improvements in the treatment results of ovarian cancer have been achieved during the last decades, but further improvements require additional methods identifying signs of the disease and its biological behavior, preferably by a simple blood test. We hypothesized that peripheral blood leukocytes may express genes that carry such clinical information. Therefore, we studied the relative gene expressions of 168 cancer- and metastasis-specific genes in blood samples from ovarian cancer patients with different prognoses after primary cytoreductive surgery. Total RNA was extracted from whole blood and the relative gene expression profile of 168 genes were analyzed using real-time qPCR assays. Two groups of patients were analyzed; one group with residual tumor mass after primary surgery, and one group where the tumor was macroscopically radically resected, resulting in no visible tumor mass left behind. The group with the remaining tumor mass after surgery showed significantly different gene expression profiles compared to the group with no remaining tumor mass. Differences were noted for the metastasis associated 1 family, member 2 gene (MTA2), the TNF, α-catenin, interleukin 1ß, the KiSS-1 metastasis suppressor and the matrix metallo-proteinase 10 genes. All genes were downregulated with a fold-change between 1.15 to 1.57; there were no upregulated genes. Thus, a signature of genes involved in metastasis, invasion and inflammation was found to be significantly downregulated in native unstimulated blood leukocytes from ovarian cancer patients with a poor prognosis. Preoperatively it may serve as a guide to the biology of the tumor and postoperatively in the optimization of adjuvant treatment of ovarian cancer patients.