Determination of lipemia acceptance thresholds for 31 immunoassay analytes.

BACKGROUND: Lipemia is one of common endogenous interferences that can compromises sample quality and potentially influence results of various laboratory methods. Determination of the lipemic index or triglyceride concentrations are used to define the degree of lipemia. This study was aimed to establish lipemic index (LI) and triglyceride thresholds above where significant interference exists for 31 immunoassay analytes measured on Roche Cobas 6000. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was carried out following CLSI C56-A and EP07-ED3:2018 guidelines using sample pools spiked with increasing concentrations of lipid emulsion solution, reaching 70 mmol/L. To define the LI and triglyceride thresholds, the bias from concentration in the native sample was calculated at different lipemia degree and compared with allowable error limits based on biological variation or state-of-the-art technology. RESULTS: No lipemia interference was observed for 27 out of 31 analytes even at the highest concentrations of lipid emulsion (LI ranging from 1737 to 2086 mg/dL, triglyceride concentration 60.34-73.99 mmol/L). However, progesterone, 25-OH vitamin D, testosterone, and estradiol were negatively affected by lipemia at 217 mg/dL (9.58 mmol/L), 222 mg/dL (10.66 mmol/L), 478 mg/dL (18.81 mmol/L), and 941 mg/dL (35.82 mmol/L) of the LI (triglyceride concentration), respectively. CONCLUSION: Most immunoassays evaluated in this study were found to be robust to lipemia interference. By using these thresholds, laboratories can report the immunoassay results from analyzing a lipemic patient sample in many cases.

Blood levels of interleukin-1 beta, interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor-alpha and cognitive functions in patients with obsessive compulsive disorder.

BACKGROUND: Cognitive dysfunction and immune system disorders are two actual issues for the patients with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). The cognitive dysfunctions have been considered to substantial part of clinical phenomenon of OCD but exploration of various etiopathogenesis of cognitive dysfunction is needed. Immune dysfuncion has been implicated to be important part of pathopysiology of OCD and different lines of evidence suggests immune abnormalities in OCD. But whether these immune changes are traits of disease or secondary to clinical burden of the disease such as cognitive dysfunctions has not been determined. Data regarding relation between the cognitive dysfunctions and immune system disorders in OCD is unsatisfied. In this study we aimed to investigate the relation of blood levels of interleukin 1-beta (IL-1ß), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and Tumor Necrosis Factor-α (TNF-α) with various neurocognitive functions in patients with OCD in comparison with its autogenous/reactive subtypes and healthy controls. Further exploration of the effects of various clinical variables on cognitive functioning in patients with OCD and additional investigation of whether the cognitive dysfunction associated with this disorder differs from or overlap with that in other anxiety disorders are needed. METHODS: Forty-two patient with OCD and 45 age, sex and educational level matched healthy control were enrolled in the study. The diagnosis of OCD was made with Structured Clinical Interview for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV). Yale- Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale, Beck Anxiety and Depression Inventory Scales were administered. Neuropsychological test battery including Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST), Trail Making Test A and B (TMT-A, TMT-B) were used for evaluation of the patients and healthy control. The plasma of interleukin-1beta (IL-1ß), interleukin-6 (IL-6), Tumor Necrosis Factor-Alpha (TNF-α) of both groups were measured with ELISA kits. RESULTS: Blood levels of IL-1ß, IL-6 and TNF-α were significantly higher in patients with OCD than the healthy control. There was significant difference in IL-1ß, IL-6 but not in TNF-α between autogenous/reactive subtypes and healthy controls. TNF-α is positively correlated with TMT-A, TMT-B and Stroop Test Part 5, negatively correlated with immediate memory, verbal learning, interference effect, immediate recall, delayed recall and recognition in RAVLT. IL-1ß was positively correlated with TMT-A score. IL-6 was positively correlated with scores of TMT-A, TMT-B. IL-6 was negatively correlated with immediate memory, verbal learning, interference effect, immediate recall and delayed recall in RAVLT, positively correlated with number of perseverative error and negatively correlated with the number of categories completed in WCST. CONCLUSION: This is the first study that investigates the relation of IL- 1ß, IL-6 and TNF-α levels with cognitive functions in OCD. There may be a contribution to pathogenesis of OCD and subtypes then new choices for treatment might be developed. Moreover, uncovering the effect of cytokine blood levels on cognitive function of OCD, new data concerning etiopathogenesis and further treatment choices can be gained.

A high-oleic-acid and low-palmitic-acid soybean: agronomic performance and evaluation as a feedstock for biodiesel.

Phenotypic characterization of soybean event 335-13, which possesses oil with an increased oleic acid content (> 85%) and reduced palmitic acid content (< 5%), was conducted across multiple environments during 2004 and 2005. Under these conditions, the stability of the novel fatty acid profile of the oil was not influenced by environment. Importantly, the novel soybean event 335-13 was not compromised in yield in both irrigated and non-irrigated production schemes. Moreover, seed characteristics, including total oil and protein, as well as amino acid profile, were not altered as a result of the large shift in the fatty acid profile. The novel oil trait was inherited in a simple Mendelian fashion. The event 335-13 was also evaluated as a feedstock for biodiesel. Extruded oil from event 335-13 produced a biodiesel with improved cold flow and enhanced oxidative stability, two critical fuel parameters that can limit the utility of this renewable transportation fuel.