Analysis Of Blood Plasma Research Articles

Noninvasive prenatal testing for early sex identification: a few benefits and many concerns.

A new technology, noninvasive prenatal testing (NIPT), can identify fetal sex early in pregnancy, five weeks after conception, with a high degree of accuracy through analysis of maternal blood plasma. This article considers the possibility that NIPT will encourage greater sex selection in developed countries and discusses the implications. Sex selection raises serious social and ethical issues unless it is done for medical reasons. The article also assesses options to discourage sex-selective abortions, including the effectiveness of potential legal measures.

Spectral detection of sickle cell anemia and thalassemia

Sickle cell disease (SCD) and thalassemia (Thal) are the most common inherited, autosomal, recessive blood disorders which lead to complications such as vasoocclusion and splenomegaly. Patients who suffer from these diseases have poor quality of life and shorter life span. The most common techniques for detection of these diseases are complete blood cell count, followed by electrophoresis and high performance liquid chromatography. In this connection, the results of this paper indicate the potential of a new technique, based on spectral analysis of blood plasma and cellular components, to detect SCD and Thal with accuracy of 90% and above. To the best of our knowledge this would be the first report on spectral pathology of hemoglobinopathy.

Calorimetric analysis of the plasma proteome: Identification of type 1 diabetes patients with early renal function decline

BackgroundMicroalbuminuria (MA) has been questioned as a predictor of progressive renal dysfunction in patients with type 1 diabetes (T1D). Consequently, new clinical end points are needed that identify or predict patients that are at risk for early renal function decline (ERFD). The potential clinical utility of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) analysis of blood plasma and other biofluids has recently been reported. This method provides an alternate physical basis with which to study disease-associated changes in the bulk plasma proteome. MethodsDSC analysis of blood plasma was applied to identify unique signatures of ERFD in subjects enrolled in the 1st Joslin Study of the Natural History of Microalbuminuria in Type 1 Diabetes, a prospective cohort study of T1D patients. Recent data suggests that differences in the plasma peptidome of these patients correlate with longitudinal measures of renal function. Differences in DSC profile (thermogram) features were evaluated between T1D MA individuals exhibiting ERFD (n=15) and matched control subjects (n=14). ResultsThe average control group thermogram resembled a previously defined healthy thermogram. Differences were evident between ERFD and control individuals. Heat capacity values of the main two transitions were found to be significant discriminators of patient status. ConclusionsResults from this pilot study suggest the potential utility of DSC proteome analysis to prognostic indicators of renal disease in T1D. General significanceDSC shows sensitivity to changes in the bulk plasma proteome that correlate with clinical status in T1D providing additional support for the utility of DSC profiling in clinical diagnostics.

Analysis of human blood plasma and hen egg white by chiroptical spectroscopic methods (ECD, VCD, ROA)

Chiroptical methods are widely used in structural and conformational analyses of biopolymers. The application of these methods to investigations of biofluids would provide new avenues for the molecular diagnosis of protein-misfolding diseases. In this work, samples of human blood plasma and hen egg white were analyzed using a combination of conventional and chiroptical methods: ultraviolet absorption/electronic circular dichroism (UV/ECD), Fourier transform infrared absorption/vibrational circular dichroism (FTIR/VCD), and Raman scattering/Raman optical activity (Raman/ROA). For comparison, the main components of these substances--human serum albumin (HSA) and ovalbumin (Ova)--were also analyzed by these methods. The ultraviolet region of the ECD spectrum was analyzed using the CDNN CD software package to evaluate the secondary structures of the proteins. The UV/ECD, FTIR/VCD, and Raman/ROA spectra of the substances were quite similar to those of the corresponding major proteins, while some differences were also detected and explained. The conclusions drawn from the FTIR/VCD and Raman/ROA data were in good agreement with the secondary structures calculated from ECD. The results obtained in this work demonstrate that the chiroptical methods used here can be applied to analyze not only pure protein solutions but also more complex systems, such as biological fluids.

Cardiac function and lipid distribution in rats fed a high-fat diet: in vivo magnetic resonance imaging and spectroscopy

Obesity is a major risk factor in the development of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and its pathophysiological precondition insulin resistance. Very little is known about the metabolic changes that occur in the myocardium and consequent changes in cardiac function that are associated with high-fat accumulation. Therefore, cardiac function and metabolism were evaluated in control rats and those fed a high-fat diet, using magnetic resonance imaging, magnetic resonance spectroscopy, mRNA analysis, histology, and plasma biochemistry. Analysis of blood plasma from rats fed the high-fat diet showed that they were insulin resistant (P < 0.001). Our high-fat diet model had higher heart weight (P = 0.005) and also increasing trend in septal wall thickness (P = 0.07) compared with control diet rats. Our results from biochemistry, magnetic resonance imaging, and mRNA analysis confirmed that rats on the high-fat diet had moderate diabetes along with mild cardiac hypertrophy. The magnetic resonance spectroscopy results showed the extramyocellular lipid signal only in the spectra from high-fat diet rats, which was absent in the control diet rats. The intramyocellular lipids in high-fat diet rats was higher (8.7%) compared with rats on the control diet (6.1%). This was confirmed by electron microscope and light microscopy studies. Our results indicate that lipid accumulation in the myocardium might be an early indication of the cardiovascular pathophysiology associated with type 2 diabetes.

Discrimination Analysis of Blood Plasma Associated with Alzheimer's Disease Using Vibrational Spectroscopy

In this study we have determined whether Raman and infrared spectroscopy of blood plasma differentiates Alzheimer's disease (AD) from normal aging of healthy controls. Spectroscopic analysis was conducted on blood plasma samples from 8 mild AD, 16 moderate AD, 11 severe AD, and 12 normal elderly control persons using Fourier transform spectrometers and a near-infrared laser beam as excitation source for Raman spectroscopy. Spectra were processed employing discriminant analysis to determine whether band areas and frequency-intensity relationships might reveal biochemical differences associated with AD. Seven spectral biomarkers were identified in the Raman regions of 1700-1600 cm-1 (protein secondary structure), 980-910 cm-1 (protein α-helices), 790-730 cm-1 (protein tertiary structure), and 440-390 cm-1 (protein backbone) and in the infrared regions of 1700-1600 cm-1 (protein secondary structure) and 1150-1000 cm-1 (oxidative stress). This discriminant analysis model differentiated AD from normal aging of elderly control persons with a sensitivity of 89% and specificity of 92%. Moreover, specificity increases to 100% for the detection of mild AD. In summary, our results open the possibility of using this spectroscopic approach as a non-invasive, rapid, and relatively inexpensive procedure for early accurate diagnosis of AD.

Comparative proteomics analysis of carp seminal and blood plasma

Comparative proteomics analysis of carp seminal and blood plasma

Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy coupled with a classification machine for the analysis of blood plasma or serum: a novel diagnostic approach for ovarian cancer

Currently available screening tests do not deliver the required sensitivity and specificity for accurate diagnosis of ovarian or endometrial cancer. Infrared (IR) spectroscopy of blood plasma or serum is a rapid, versatile, and relatively non-invasive approach which could characterize biomolecular alterations due to cancer and has potential to be utilized as a screening or diagnostic tool. In the past, no such approach has been investigated for its applicability in screening and/or diagnosis of gynaecological cancers. We set out to determine whether attenuated total reflection Fourier-transform IR (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy coupled with a proposed classification machine could be applied to IR spectra obtained from plasma and serum for accurate class prediction (cancer vs. normal). Plasma and serum samples were obtained from ovarian cancer cases (n = 30), endometrial cancer cases (n = 30) and non-cancer controls (n = 30), and subjected to ATR-FTIR spectroscopy. Four derived datasets were processed to estimate the real-world diagnosis of ovarian and endometrial cancer. Classification results for ovarian cancer were remarkable (up to 96.7%), whereas endometrial cancer was classified with a relatively high accuracy (up to 81.7%). The results from different combinations of feature extraction and classification methods, and also classifier ensembles, were compared. No single classification system performed best for all different datasets. This demonstrates the need for a framework that can accommodate a diverse set of analytical methods in order to be adaptable to different datasets. This pilot study suggests that ATR-FTIR spectroscopy of blood is a robust tool for accurate diagnosis, and carries the potential to be utilized as a screening test for ovarian cancer in primary care settings. The proposed classification machine is a powerful tool which could be applied to classify the vibrational spectroscopy data of different biological systems (e.g., tissue, urine, saliva), with their potential application in clinical practice.

Detection of Cancer Using Advanced Computerized Analysis of Infrared Spectra of Peripheral Blood

We have developed a novel approach for detection of cancer based on biochemical analysis of peripheral blood plasma using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. This approach has proven to be quick, safe, minimal invasive, and effective. Our approach recognizes any signs of solid tumor presence, regardless of location in the body or cancer type by measuring a spectrum that gives information regarding the total molecular composition and structure of the peripheral blood samples. The analysis includes clinically relevant preprocessing and feature extraction with principal component analysis, and uses Fisher's linear discriminant analysis to classify between cancer patients and healthy controls. We evaluated our method with leave-one-out cross validation and were able to establish sensitivity of 93.33%, specificity of 87.8%, and overall accuracy of 90.7%. Using our method for cancer detection should result in fewer unnecessary invasive procedures and yield fast detection of solid tumors.

Evaluation of dried blood spot (DBS) technology versus plasma analysis for the determination of MK-1775 by HILIC-MS/MS in support of clinical studies

The collection of human blood samples as dried blood spots (DBS) for the pharmacokinetic assessment of investigational drugs in clinical trials offers a number of advantages over conventional plasma sampling, namely, small sample volume, simplified sample handling, and cost-effective shipping and storage. The use of DBS coupled with liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry analysis was evaluated for the quantification of MK-1775, a Wee-1 inhibitor under development as a chemo/radio-sensitizer for the treatment of cancer. The DBS method exhibited an assay performance comparable to that of the existing plasma assay, which is currently used in support of clinical studies. Both assays used the same linear dynamic range of 2-1,000 ng/mL, with a lower limit of quantification of 2 ng/mL. Based on the intra-day assay validation results, the accuracy of the DBS method ranged from 94.0 to 105.0%, with a coefficient of variation of <4.8%. The blood-to-plasma ratio calculated from the DBS data (blood concentrations) and the plasma data (plasma concentrations) was in good agreement with the one obtained from the in vitro assessment using conventional methodology. No significant hematocrit impact on the assay was observed as hematocrit ranged from 16 to 85%. The correlation between the measured MK-1775 concentrations in plasma and that determined in dried blood spots from oncology patients during the ongoing clinical study was discussed.

The effect of replacing soybean oil with glycerol in feeding mixtures designed for utility layers on their production and state of health

Abstract. The objective of this experiment was to replace soybean oil with glycerol in feeding mixtures for layers and assess its effect on performance, selected parameters of egg quality and health. Layers were divided into control (C) and experimental (E1, E2) groups of 24 layers each. The experiment was performed from week 20 until week 44 of layers’ age. Soybean oil replacement with glycerol reached 50 and 100 % in experimental feeding mixtures E1 and E2, as compared to the control. Oil replacement with glycerol in experimental groups resulted in a significant decrease (P≤0.01) in weight of eggs, as compared to the control group – C (65.5±5.780 g), E1 (64.53±4.640 g) and E2 (63.66±5.610 g), and egg shell stability (N/cm2) – C 33.79±6.557, E1 31.96±6.995 and E2 31.8±6.621. The difference in the weight of egg shell between groups C (7.13±0.687 g) and E2 (6.85±0.670 g) was highly significant (P≤0.01), the difference between E1 (7.00±0.820 g) and E2 groups for the same parameter was significant (P≤0.05). No significant differences were found between mean values of the weight of egg yolk and white. With regard to feed consumption, 50 % replacement of oil with glycerol did not increase significantly the daily consumption of a feeding mixture per layer (1 egg) – C 122 g (132 g) and E1 123g (136 g), as compared to 100 % replacement in E2 131 g (150 g). The analysis of blood plasma after the prolonged continuous administration of glycerol in a feed did not show any negative effect on layers’ health.

Variation in diet of Semipalmated Sandpipers (Calidris pusilla) during stopover in the upper Bay of Fundy, Canada

Semipalmated Sandpipers ( Calidris pusilla (L., 1766)) use the upper Bay of Fundy, Canada, as a critical stopover site during their annual fall migration to wintering grounds in South America. While in the area, they feed extensively on mudflat invertebrates. Historically the amphipod Corophium volutator (Pallas, 1766) has been thought to make up the majority of their diet. However, we have recently observed flexibility in foraging behaviour and prey selection by sandpipers. The extent of this flexibility and the current diet composition is unknown. To address these knowledge gaps, we assessed Semipalmated Sandpiper diets using stable isotope analyses of blood plasma and available prey items. Data were collected in two arms of the Bay of Fundy during summer 2009 and 2010. Diets fluctuated between years and sites, but in all cases the diet was much more diverse than previously thought. Polychaetes and biofilm made substantial contributions, and C. volutator was still present in the diet, but at much reduced levels than previously noted. This previously unrecognized inclusion of biofilm in the diet is consistent with recent observations of other calidrid shorebirds. Based on measures of prey availability, there is little evidence of preference for C. volutator.

Metabolomic Analyses of Blood Plasma after Oral Administration of D-Glucosamine Hydrochloride to Dogs

D-Glucosamine hydrochloride (GlcN∙HCl) is an endogenous amino monosaccharide synthesized from glucose that is useful in the treatment of joint diseases in both humans and animals. The aim of this study was to examine amino acid metabolism in dogs after oral administration of GlcN∙HCl. Accelerated fumarate respiration and elevated plasma levels of lactic acid and alanine were observed after administration. These results suggest that oral administration of GlcN∙HCl induces anaerobic respiration and starvation in cells, and we hypothesize that these conditions promote cartilage regeneration. Further studies are required to evaluate the expression of transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β).

LASER FLUORESCENCE ANALYSIS METHOD USE FOR EXPRESS-DIAGNOSIS OF ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE AMONG ABDOMINAL SEPSIS PATIENTS POST-OPERATION

The adequate method of antibiotic choice is reported using the laser fluorescence analysis of blood plasma with the laboratory diagnostic device "Spectrolux-MB". The method is based on the ability of micro-organisms and products of their vital functions (metabolism) to fluoresce under laser radiation. The method of fluorescence analysis has great prospects in urgent surgery and other medicine brunches due to its high information content, low cost (compared to other methods of express-diagnostics) and high speed of information acquisition.

A chronoamperometric method for determining total antioxidant activity

A novel version of a chronoamperometric method of antioxidant determination is described. It is based on the use of the oxidation current of ferrocyanide formed in the reaction of antioxidants to be determined with potassium ferricyanide as an analytical signal. So the total concentration of all antioxidants present in the analyzed solution, i.e., total antioxidant capacity, is measured. The results of blood plasma analysis by the newly presented and certified potentiometry method are in good agreement with each other, R2 = 0.9980. The detection limit makes 2 × 10−6 M for uric and ascorbic acids and 5 × 10−6 M for cysteine and glutathione.

Effect of Sutherlandia frutescens on the Lipid Metabolism in an Insulin Resistant Rat Model and 3T3‐L1 Adipocytes

High fat diet induced insulin resistance correlates with dyslipidaemia and ectopic fat deposits in skeletal muscle and liver. The effects of Sutherlandia frutescens, an antidiabetic medicinal plant, on lipid metabolism were evaluated in an insulin resistant (IR) rat model and in 3 T3-preadipocytes. Wistar rats received normal diet (ND) or high fat diet (HFD). After the onset of IR in the HFD group, the rats were subdivided into two subgroups, which either continued with HFD or were treated with 50 mg S. frutescens/kg BW/day and HFD (HFD + SF). After 4 weeks, the HFD + SF rats had a significantly lower body weight than the HFD rats (p < 0.05). Blood plasma analysis showed a decrease in insulin, free fatty acids and triglycerides. Related changes in lipid parameters were observed in the liver, skeletal muscle and adipose tissue. To investigate the effects of S. frutescens on adipose tissue, 3 T3-L1 cells were used as a model. Treatment with S. frutescens led to a decrease in triglyceride accumulation, whilst glucose consumption and lactate production were increased (p < 0.05). These results indicate that S. frutescens directly affects mitochondrial activity and lipid biosynthesis in adipose tissue and provide a mechanism by which S. frutescens can restore insulin sensitivity by modulating fatty acid biosynthesis.

Interactive effects of feed form and dietary lysine on growth responses of commercial broiler chicks

SUMMARY It has been shown in previous studies that older broilers can be affected by feed form, particularly as it relates to the pellet quality not allowing these birds to express their full growth potential. In this study, the interactive effects of dietary lys concentration and feed form were evaluated in broiler chicks. Broilers were given 1 of 3 possible feed forms [mash (Ma), mash exposed to conditioner steam (CM), and pellets in the form of crumbles (PC)] and 1 of 5 possible graded levels of true digestible lys (0.85, 0.95, 1.05, 1.15, and 1.25%) from hatch until 18 d of age. the study comprised a 3 × 5 factorial arrangement of treatments in which feed form and dietary lys were the factors evaluated, with 15 treatment combinations being represented by 8 replicate floor pens, for a total of 120 floor pens. lysine and feed form interacted for effects on BW gain and feed conversion, resulting in birds fed Ma attaining BW gain and feed conversion values similar to those in chicks fed CM and PC, but only when lys was fed at the highest level. Based on regression analysis, BW gain and feed consumption of chicks fed the PC diets responded much quicker to increasing dietary lys levels than did BW gain and feed consumption of chicks fed the Ma and CM diets, and chicks achieved greater BW gain and feed consumption at similar lys concentrations. Furthermore, chicks fed the PC diets achieved their optimal response with less dietary lys. In addition, chicks fed the PC diets quickly reached a maximum response for BW and feed consumption, and they obtained a greater accretion of projected BW gain and feed consumption. Blood plasma analysis of total protein and albumin further corroborated the response observed in chicks fed the Ma diets. overall, there is a need to achieve optimal pellet quality as a way to avoid excessive dietary lys concentration, in turn allowing broiler chicks to express their full growth potential.

Electrochemical approach for acute myocardial infarction diagnosis based on direct antibodies-free analysis of human blood plasma

A novel direct antibodies-free electrochemical approach for acute myocardial infarction (AMI) diagnosis has been developed. For this purpose, a combination of the electrochemical assay of plasma samples with chemometrics was proposed. Screen printed carbon electrodes modified with didodecyldimethylammonium bromide were used for plasma charactrerization by cyclic (CV) and square wave voltammetry and square wave (SWV) voltammetry. It was shown that the cathodic peak in voltammograms at about −250mV vs. Ag/AgCl can be associated with AMI. In parallel tests, cardiac myoglobin and troponin I, the AMI biomarkers, were determined in each sample by RAMP® immunoassay. The applicability of the electrochemical testing for AMI diagnostics was confirmed by statistical methods: generalized linear model (GLM), linear discriminant analysis (LDA) and quadratic discriminant analysis (QDA), artificial neural net (multi-layer perception, MLP), and support vector machine (SVM), all of which were created to obtain the “True–False” distribution prediction where “True” and “False” are, respectively, positive and negative decision about an illness event.

In vitro 및 in vivo에서 검은콩 추출물의 육모 효과

본 연구에서는 검은콩의 육모 촉진 효과를 평가하기 위하여 검은콩 추출물을 이용하여 모유두 세포의 성장 촉진과 모세혈관 확장에 미치는 효과를 평가하였으며, C57BL/6 마우스 모델을 이용하여 검은콩 추출물의 경구 섭취가 모발 성장에 미치는 효과를 2% minoxidil과 비교하여 평가하였다. 그 결과 검은콩 추출물이 모유두 세포의 증식을 촉진하고 모세혈관을 확장 시키는 효과가 있으며, 우수한 성장기 모낭 유도 촉진 효과를 통해 모발의 성장을 촉진하는 것을 확인하였다. 또한, 혈액의 항산화능을 증가시키고 혈중 중성 지질을 감소하는 효과를 가져 혈액을 맑게 하고 혈액 순환에 도움을 주어 육모 및 모발 건강 증진에 기여할 수 있음을 확인하였다. 검은콩 추출물의 우수한 육모 효과를 확신하기 위해서는 사람을 대상으로 6개월 이상의 인체 효능 평가와 검은콩 추출물 내의 유효 성분을 규명하는 연구가 후속으로 진행되어야 할 것이다. 그러나 본 연구는 민간에서 널리 알려진 검은콩의 육모 촉진 효과를 체계적으로 평가하였다는 것에 큰 의의가 있으며, 이를 통하여 검은콩 추출물이 혈액 순환 개선 및 모발 성장 주기 조절을 통해 모발 건강 개선 및 육모 촉진제로써 이용될 수 있다고 기대할 수 있다. It is commonly believed that black soybean (Glycine max: BB) prevents and alleviates hair loss. However, few studies have directly assessed the effect of BB on hair growth. We presently evaluated the mitosis induction on dermal papillae cell and mitogenic effect on NIH3T3 cells in vitro. To elucidate the hair growth promoting effect in vivo, anagen induction and hair restoration were examined in a shaving model of C57BL/6 mice. We also conducted biochemical analysis of blood plasma. Significant stimulation of dermal papillae and NIH3T3 cell proliferation were observed by treatment of BB in a dose-dependent manner. BB markedly promoted hair growth and significantly improved blood total antioxidant capacity and reduced lipid peroxidation and triglyceride level. These results suggest that BB has hair growth promoting effect and it is a potent candidate for the prevention of hair loss.

Improving Collision Induced Dissociation (CID), High Energy Collision Dissociation (HCD), and Electron Transfer Dissociation (ETD) Fourier Transform MS/MS Degradome–Peptidome Identifications Using High Accuracy Mass Information

MS dissociation methods, including collision induced dissociation (CID), high energy collision dissociation (HCD), and electron transfer dissociation (ETD), can each contribute distinct peptidome identifications using conventional peptide identification methods (Shen et al. J. Proteome Res. 2011), but such samples still pose significant informatics challenges. In this work, we explored utilization of high accuracy fragment ion mass measurements, in this case provided by Fourier transform MS/MS, to improve peptidome peptide data set size and consistency relative to conventional descriptive and probabilistic scoring methods. For example, we identified 20-40% more peptides than SEQUEST, Mascot, and MS_GF scoring methods using high accuracy fragment ion information and the same false discovery rate (FDR) from CID, HCD, and ETD spectra. Identified species covered >90% of the collective identifications obtained using various conventional peptide identification methods, which significantly addresses the common issue of different data analysis methods generating different peptide data sets. Choice of peptide dissociation and high-precision measurement-based identification methods presently available for degradomic-peptidomic analyses needs to be based on the coverage and confidence (or specificity) afforded by the method, as well as practical issues (e.g., throughput). By using accurate fragment information, >1000 peptidome components can be identified from a single human blood plasma analysis with low peptide-level FDRs (e.g., 0.6%), providing an improved basis for investigating potential disease-related peptidome components.