Protein S100ß in Late-Pregnancy Fetuses with Low Birth Weight and Abnormal Cerebroplacental Ratio.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the umbilical cord venous S100ß levels in late-pregnancy fetuses with abnormal growth and cerebral redistribution. METHODS: The pulsatility index of the umbilical and middle cerebral arteries and the cerebroplacental ratio (CPR) were measured in 132 fetuses at ≥34 weeks, and the CPR was converted into multiples of the median (MoM). A blood sample from the umbilical vein was collected at birth, and the umbilical venous S100ß levels were evaluated in small and non-small for gestational age (SGA) fetuses, with and without abnormal Doppler indices. The levels of S100ß were correlated with birth weight (BW) centile, CPR MoM and cord venous pH. RESULTS: While CPR MoM correlated with BW centile, S100ß showed no correlation with any of the studied fetal parameters. In addition, no differences were observed in S100ß level according to BW centile or Doppler parameters, neither was there any difference between SGA with low CPR MoM and non-SGA with normal CPR MoM. CONCLUSION: Late-pregnancy fetuses with abnormal growth or cerebral redistribution have normal cord blood levels of S100ß at birth. In these fetuses, the potential consequences of chronic hypoxemia on the fetal brain might not be detectable using tissue necrosis markers.

Evaluating the diagnostic performance of Liaison® chemiluminescence assay as screening tool for detection of acute Epstein-Barr infection: A comparative study.

The present investigation assessed the Liaison® diagnostic performance in detecting Epstein-Barr (EBV) IgM-VCA in a large patient cohort, considering age and symptomatology. VIDAS® were employed as a benchmark for acute EBV infection. The study also probed other coexisting conditions and potential cross-reactivity for error sources. A total of 1311 samples were analyzed, with notable associations found only among paediatric (kappa=0.75) and young adult (kappa=0.58) populations with compatible symptoms. ROC analysis revealed varying optimal cutoff values based on age and symptom categorizations. Logistic regression models identified age and patients from Oncology or Infectious Disease as significant factors for false positives. Potential interferences emerged with RF, ANCA, cytomegalovirus-IgM and VHS-IgM. Notably, Liaison® couldn´t distinguish EBV patients from Oncology, Haemathology or Internal Medicine. This study provides valuable insights, such as implementing ageand symptom-specific thresholds or reviewing test requests, for optimizing EBV serology in microbiology laboratories, leading to faster and more reliable responses.