Blood Analyzer Research Articles

A PRACTICAL ATTEMPT FOR INTERPRETATION OF SYSMEX KX-21 BLOOD ANALYZER HISTOGRAMS AND FLAGS RESOLVING

The main principle of the automated blood analyzers is to get the quantity (count) of different blood components (parameters) in the peripheral blood samples. Additionally, in case of Sysmex KX-21 blood analyzer, the work performance includes also 3-part differential white blood cells (WBC) count represents eight parameters of the complete blood count (CBC). Extremely important to mention here that many of the analyzed information about the main blood corpuscular are provided in graphical forms called histograms. Remarkably, any abnormal results in the investigated blood parameters due to multi different factors such as red blood cell fragments, platelets clumps, cold agglutinins, giant platelets and many other factors will appear in an abnormal histograms and flags. These abnormalities in values and histograms or flags appeared are due to be interpreted and adjusted depending on extensive knowledge of the analytic performance of the analyser and the clinical significance of the results they provide.As the KX-21 is a fully automated haematology analyser, easily fitting into a lot of medical laboratories in our country and ideal as a backup analyser to the Sysmex full differential analyser system, we tried to create a scientific method (it can be in a hard or soft copy) to avoid automating bad work processes. This is carried out in order to get accurate results, to interpret different histograms in a good way and to discover the reasons lead to appearance of the flags during analysing.

Evaluation of Hematocrit Level, Red Blood Cells and White Blood Cells Counts in Blood from Patients with Different Severities of Periodontal Diseases

Background: Anemia of chronic disease (ACD) occurs in the presence of chronic infection, inflammatory conditions or neoplastic conditions despite of adequate iron and vitamins storage. Gingivitis is the inflammation of the gingiva, periodontitis is the inflammation in the periodontium that extend deeper with loss of connective tissue attachment and supporting bone. The main pathogenesis of periodontal diseases and ACD is immune activation. Aims of study: Determine and compare the clinical periodontal parameters (plaque index (PLI), gingival index (GI), bleeding on probing (BOP), probing pocket depth (PPD) and clinical attachment level (CAL)). Evaluate the hematocrit (Hct) level, red blood cells (RBCs) count and white blood cells (WBCs) count. Assess the correlations between the clinical periodontal parameters and hematological parameters at patients had gingivitis, chronic periodontitis (CP) with different severities (mild, moderate and severe) with healthy periodontium subjects. Materials and Methods: 35-50 years old, 150 male subjects were included in this study. They were divided into three study groups: group of 30 patients with gingivitis, group of 90 patients with CP which subdivided into (Mild CP=30 patients, Moderate CP =30 patients, Severe CP =30 patients) and control group 30 subjects with clinically healthy periodontium. Blood samples were collected then by automated blood analyzer the Hct, RBCs and WBCs were evaluated. Results: Comparisons among groups and subgroups revealed significant differences in Hct and WBCs, while RBCs was non-significant. Means values of RBCs count showed reduction in mild and severe CP subgroups. while, the Hct and WBCs mean values increased in patients with periodontal disease. The correlations between the clinical periodontal parameters with WBCs and RBCs were almost non-significant but, with Hct was mostly significant negative correlations. Conclusion: Inflammatory and immune responses in periodontal diseases caused change in different hematologic parameters which could contribute to the development of anemia of chronic disease.

Molecular Fingerprints of Hemoglobin on a Nanofilm Chip.

Hemoglobin is an iron carrying protein in erythrocytes and also an essential element to transfer oxygen from the lungs to the tissues. Abnormalities in hemoglobin concentration are closely correlated with health status and many diseases, including thalassemia, anemia, leukemia, heart disease, and excessive loss of blood. Particularly in resource-constrained settings existing blood analyzers are not readily applicable due to the need for high-level instrumentation and skilled personnel, thereby inexpensive, easy-to-use, and reliable detection methods are needed. Herein, a molecular fingerprints of hemoglobin on a nanofilm chip was obtained for real-time, sensitive, and selective hemoglobin detection using a surface plasmon resonance system. Briefly, through the photopolymerization technique, a template (hemoglobin) was imprinted on a monomeric (acrylamide) nanofilm on-chip using a cross-linker (methylenebisacrylamide) and an initiator-activator pair (ammonium persulfate-tetramethylethylenediamine). The molecularly imprinted nanofilm on-chip was characterized by atomic force microscopy and ellipsometry, followed by benchmarking detection performance of hemoglobin concentrations from 0.0005 mg mL−1 to 1.0 mg mL−1. Theoretical calculations and real-time detection implied that the molecularly imprinted nanofilm on-chip was able to detect as little as 0.00035 mg mL−1 of hemoglobin. In addition, the experimental results of hemoglobin detection on the chip well-fitted with the Langmuir adsorption isotherm model with high correlation coefficient (0.99) and association and dissociation coefficients (39.1 mL mg−1 and 0.03 mg mL−1) suggesting a monolayer binding characteristic. Assessments on selectivity, reusability and storage stability indicated that the presented chip is an alternative approach to current hemoglobin-targeted assays in low-resource regions, as well as antibody-based detection procedures in the field. In the future, this molecularly imprinted nanofilm on-chip can easily be integrated with portable plasmonic detectors, improving its access to these regions, as well as it can be tailored to detect other proteins and biomarkers.

A study to assess the critical result reporting at B &C Medical College and teaching hospital

Background: The critical value can occur while performing panels of tests at laboratory by different chemistry or blood analysers with varieties of principles. The main objective of the study was to study the process of critical result reporting and to know the way of communication and documentation done for critical value in the laboratory, ICUs and the wards.Materials and Methods: This study was prospective and non-experimental was conducted at B&C Medical College and Teaching Hospital from 14.04.2018 to 14.05.2018. Total 60 critical values samples were included. The data was collected by means of observing the critical values of inpatient and the process of reporting from the laboratory to the respective wards and ICUs.Results: Out of 60 samples included in our study, there was 100% communication to concerned treating units. For the confirmation of critical value repeat test was done in 68% of cases. In 75% of cases clinicians did follow up. Recording of a critical report in lab was done in 96% of cases and almost all of the critical values 98% were immediately reported to the respective wards by technical staffs. There was no communication in 1.6% of cases to treating units by technical staff. Majority 78% of critical values were communicated by respective wards and ICUs nurses to concerned doctors.Conclusion: Critical value can occur while performing panels of tests at laboratory and reporting such values to treating clinicians or respective wards or ICUs could help heath care providers for effective treatment of the patients and their adequate care.

ВОЗМОЖНОСТИ РЕГУЛИРОВАНИЯ ПРОЦЕССОВ ГОМЕОСТАЗА ПРИ ВКЛЮЧЕНИИ В РАЦИОНЫ ПИТАНИЯ ЛЮДЕЙ, ЗАНИМАЮЩИХСЯ СПОРТОМ МАЛОЙ ИНТЕНСИВНОСТИ, ПРОДУКТОВ, ОБОГАЩЕННЫХ АНТИОКСИДАНТАМИ

Aim. The article deals with establishing the effect of food, enriched with antioxidants, on people, practicing low-intensity sports, to forecast changes in homeostasis. Materials and methods. We used the data obtained from participants aged 25–35 (40 persons), practicing low intensity sports on a regular basis twice a week. As antioxidants, we used micronized taxifolin (0.58 % to product mass), chaga extract (5.76 % to product mass), and fucoidan (0.5 % to product mass). To assess the effect of enriched products on homeostasis, we performed the study of hematological and biochemical indicators with the help of non-contact blood analyzer. Results. We performed the analysis of metabolism after adding in a person’s diet the products, enriched with biologically active substances. We also wanted to study the metabolic effect of changing a person’s diet. We established that, in general, the inclusion into a person’s diet of antioxidant enriched products do not result in a decrease of lipid and carbohydrate metabolism. However, antioxidant enriched products have a multidirectional influence on carbohydrate and lipid metabolism and enzymatic activity. From the prognostic point of view, there is a minimization of the risks of oxidative stress after the inclusion of food products, enriched with micronized taxifolin, into the diet of athletes from low-intensity sports. In comparison with other groups, there are no changes in the concentration of acetylcholinesterase (248.70 ± 2.4 umol/l; reference values 220–278 umol/l) after the decrease of amylase concentration. Conclusion. Homeostatic regulation is provided by the inclusion of specialized foods, which minimize the risks of oxidative stress, into a diet of athletes, involved in low-intensity sports.

Reengineering Critical Laboratory Testing for Timely Chemotherapeutic Management.

Delivery of cytotoxic therapy is a complex multifaceted process that involves harmonized collaboration between all systems involved. Optimizing laboratory turnaround time (TAT) ensures timely delivery of chemotherapy, which potentially translates into improved patient outcomes and satisfaction. In this study, we aimed to reduce the laboratory TAT for key laboratory tests to optimize the timely administration of chemotherapy. TAT data for complete blood count (CBC) and comprehensive metabolic panel (CMP) included specimen collection to receipt (Col-Rcv), specimen receipt to result release (Rcv-Res), and the overall TAT from specimen collection to result release (Col-Res). Work flows were reconfigured to transport CBC specimens directly to the hematology laboratory after collection and to treat all CMP samples from chemotherapy clinics as urgent [i.e., shortest turnaround time (STAT)]. From the CMP, total bilirubin and creatinine-the 2 key analytes for liver and renal toxicity assessment before chemotherapy drug administration-were analyzed on ABL 800 whole blood analyzers to further improve the laboratory TAT. CBC showed a significant reduction in the median (Col-Res) TAT to 16 min (P < 0.0001). For CMP, by processing all specimens as STAT samples, the median (Col-Res) TAT was reduced from 74 min to 54 min (P < 0.0001), and it was further reduced to 9 min (P < 0.0001) for total bilirubin and creatinine. Careful work flow analysis and reengineering of preanalytical and analytical process for key laboratory tests significantly reduced median overall TAT to <20 min, which helped facilitate more timely delivery of chemotherapy, without necessitating the construction of a satellite laboratory.

PECULIARITIES OF CENTRAL HEMODYNAMICS AND PARAMETERS OF ERYTHROCYTES UNDER EXPOSURE TO EXTREME PROFESSIONAL FACTORS

The aim: to study the peculiarities of central hemodynamics and erythrocyte parameters under the influence of extreme occupational factors in firefighters with different lifetimes in the Federal Fire Service (FPS) of the Ministry of Emergency Measures for the Tver Region. Methods: 240 firefighters (age 25-47 years) were divided into three groups depending on the length of service: 1-6, 7-15, 16-25 years. Parameters of central hemodynamics were determined at the beginning of the working day shift according to the method of tetrapolar thoracic rheography. The absolute content of red blood cells in capillary blood was counted using a blood analyzer. Special techniques were used to determine deformability of their membrane. Results: most hemodynamic parameters deviated from the statutory values in the first group in comparison with other groups. This was regarded as an imbalance between the volume-time indeces of the blood circulation and the organism's needs under conditions of extreme occupational stress. Gradual formation of an adequate hemodynamic profile was detected with an increase in the length of service. This allows us to conclude about the mobile and reactive nature of hemodynamic changes in the body. Expressed hematologic changes, manifested in a decrease in the erythrocyte membrane deformability and increase in its rigidity, were found in the third group. The observed patterns at the last stage of the service probably reflect the conservative nature of negative shifts development. Conclusion: comparison of the dynamics of physiological changes in firefighters-rescuers of three groups with different service life in the Ministry of Emergency Measures revealed the reactive nature of hemodynamic changes and the conservative nature of hematological manifestations.

Effects of aerosol inhalation of recombinant human keratinocyte growth factor 2 on the lung tissue of rabbits with severe smoke inhalation injury

Objective: To investigate the effect of recombinant human keratinocyte growth factor 2 (rhKGF-2) on lung tissue of rabbits with severe smoke inhalation injury. Methods: A total of 120 New Zealand rabbits were divided into 5 groups by random number table after being inflicted with severe smoke inhalation injury, with 24 rats in each group. Rabbits in the simple injury group inhaled air, while rabbits in the injury+phosphate buffer solution (PBS) group inhaled 5 mL PBS once daily for 7 d. Rabbits in injury+1 mg/kg rhKGF-2 group, injury+2 mg/kg rhKGF-2 group, and injury+5 mg/kg rhKGF-2 group received aerosol inhalation of 1 mg/kg, 2 mg/kg, and 5 mg/kg rhKGF-2 (all dissolved in 5 mL PBS) once daily for 7 d, respectively. On treatment day 1, 3, 5, and 7, blood samples were taken from the ear central artery of 6 rabbits in each group. After the blood was taken, the rabbits were sacrificed, and the tracheal carina tissue and lung were collected. Blood pH value, arterial oxygen partial pressure (PaO(2)), arterial blood carbon dioxide pressure (PaCO(2)), and bicarbonate ion were detected by handheld blood analyzer. The expressions of pulmonary surfactant-associated protein A (SP-A) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in lung tissue were detected by Western blotting. Pathomorphology of lung tissue and trachea was observed by hematoxylin-eosin staining. Data were processed with analysis of variance of two-way factorial design and Tukey test. Results: (1) Compared with those in simple injury group, the blood pH values of rabbits in the latter groups on treatment day 1-7 had no obvious change (P>0.05). The PaO(2) of rabbits in injury+2 mg/kg rhKGF-2 group on treatment day 5 and 7 were (75.0±2.4) and (71.0±4.5) mmHg (1 mmHg=0.133 kPa), respectively, which were significantly higher than (62.0±6.8) and (63.0±3.0) mmHg in simple injury group (q=4.265, 8.202, P 0.05). The expressions of SP-A in lung tissue of rabbits in injury+2 mg/kg rhKGF-2 group and injury+5 mg/kg rhKGF-2 group on treatment day 3 were 0.091±0.007 and 0.101±0.009, respectively, significantly higher than 0.069±0.009 in simple injury group (q=10.800, 13.580, P 0.05). Compared with those in simple injury group, the expressions of VEGF in lung tissue of rabbits in injury+2 mg/kg rhKGF-2 group on treatment day 3 and 7 were significantly increased (q=4.243, 8.000, P<0.05 or P<0.01), and the expression of VEGF in lung tissue of rabbits in injury+5 mg/kg rhKGF-2 group on treatment day 7 was significantly increased (q=20.720, P<0.01). (4) On treatment day 1, the injury of rabbits in each group was similar, with a large number of neutrophils infiltrated and abscess formed in the alveolar and interstitial tissue, thickened alveolar septum, some collapsed alveolar and atelectasis; large area of tracheal mucosa was degenerated and necrotic, with a large amount of inflammatory exudates blocking in the cavity. On treatment day 3, the inflammation of lung tissue and trachea in each group were improved, but the inflammation in simple injury group and injury+PBS group was also serious. On treatment day 5, the inflammation in lung tissue and trachea of rabbits in injury+2 mg/kg rhKGF-2 group and injury+5 mg/kg rhKGF-2 group were improved much obviously than those in the other groups. On treatment day 7, the inflammation in lung tissue of rabbits in injury+5 mg/kg rhKGF-2 group alleviated obviously than those in the other groups, most alveoli had no obvious exudative fluid, the alveolar cavity was intact and clear, the local alveolar dilated like a cyst, and the alveolar septum thinning; the improvement of inflammation of trachea was more obvious than the other groups, the tracheal mucosa tended to be more complete, and few neutrophils were infiltrated in the endotracheal cavity. Conclusions: Atomization inhalation of rhKGF-2 can improve the PaO(2) level of rabbits with severe smoke inhalation injury, reduce airway inflammation, increase the expression of SP-A and VEGF in lung tissue, thus promoting the repair of lung tissue.

Design and Utility of a Point-of-Care Microfluidic Platform to Assess Hematocrit and Blood Coagulation.

To develop a small volume whole blood analyzer capable of measuring the hematocrit and coagulation kinetics of whole blood. A co-planar microfluidic chamber designed to facilitate self-driven capillary action across an internal electrical chip was developed and used to measure the electric parameters of whole human blood that had been anticoagulated or allowed to clot. To promote blood clotting, select chip surfaces were coated with a prothrombin time (PT) reagent containing lipidated tissue factor (TF), which activates the extrinsic pathway of coagulation to promote thrombin generation and fibrin formation. Whole human blood was added to the microfluidic device, and voltage changes within the platform were measured and interpreted using basic resistor-capacitor (RC) circuit and fluid dynamics theory. Upon wetting of the sensing zone, a circuit between two co-planar electrodes within the sensing zone was closed to generate a rapid voltage drop from baseline. The voltage then rose due to sedimentation of red blood cells (RBC) in the sensing zone. For anticoagulated blood samples, the time for the voltage to return to baseline was dependent on hematocrit. In the presence of coagulation, the initiation of fibrin formation in the presence of the PT reagent prevented the return of voltage to baseline due to the reduced packing of RBCs in the sensing zone. The technology presented in this study has potential for monitoring the hematocrit and coagulation parameters of patient samples using a small volume of whole blood, suggesting it may hold clinical utility as a point-of-care test.

Automated end-to-end blood testing at the point-of-care: Integration of robotic phlebotomy with downstream sample processing.

Diagnostic blood testing is the most commonly performed clinical procedure in the world, and influences the majority of medical decisions made in hospital and laboratory settings. However, manual blood draw success rates are dependent on clinician skill and patient physiology, and results are generated almost exclusively in centralized labs from large-volume samples using labor-intensive analytical techniques. This paper presents a medical device that enables end-to-end blood testing by performing blood draws and providing diagnostic results in a fully automated fashion at the point-of-care. The system couples an image-guided venipuncture robot, developed to address the challenges of routine venous access, with a centrifuge-based blood analyzer to obtain quantitative measurements of hematology. We first demonstrate a white blood cell assay on the analyzer, using a blood mimicking fluid spiked with fluorescent microbeads, where the area of the packed bead layer is correlated with the bead concentration. Next we perform experiments to evaluate the pumping efficiency of the sample handling module. Finally, studies are conducted on the integrated device - from blood draw to analysis - using blood vessel phantoms to assess the accuracy and repeatability of the resulting white blood cell assay.

Effects of feeding varying levels of fufu sieviate meal based diets with Panicum maximum basal on the blood characteristics of West African dwarf goats

The effects of fufu sieviate meal based diets at 0%, 20%, 40% and 60% levels using Panicum maximum as the basal on the haematological and serum biochemical parameters of West African dwarf (WAD) goats were studied for 87 days. Thirty six blood samples were collected from the WAD goats and their haematological and serum biochemical indices were determined using Beckman Coulter Ac-T10 Laboratory Haematology Blood Analyzer and Bayer DCA 2000+ HbA1c analyzer, respectively using a completely randomized design. Packed cell volume (PCV) was better (p&lt;0.05) at T1 than the other treatments. Red Blood Cell (RBC) and mean corpuscular haemoglobin (MCH) were numerically improved at T2, T3 and T4 than in the control group while lymphocyte increased significantly (P&lt;0.05) with increasing levels of the test ingredient. Results on serum biochemical indices showed that serum urea, creatinine, glucose and ALP differed significantly (P&lt;0.05) and tended to be higher in the treatment (T2, T3 and T4)groups than the control group. The study therefore revealed that inclusion of fufu sieviate in the diets of West African Dwarf goats had no deleterious effects on the haematological and serum biochemical parameters of WAD goats and could be included up to 60% in goat diets.

Identifying β-thalassemia carriers using a data mining approach: The case of the Gaza Strip, Palestine.

Thalassemia is considered one of the most common genetic blood disorders that has received excessive attention in the medical research fields worldwide. Under this context, one of the greatest challenges for healthcare professionals is to correctly differentiate normal individuals from asymptomatic thalassemia carriers. Usually, thalassemia diagnosis is based on certain measurable characteristic changes to blood cell counts and related indices. These characteristic changes can be derived easily when performing a complete blood count test (CBC) using a special fully automated blood analyzer or counter. However, the reliability of the CBC test alone is questionable with possible candidate characteristics that could be seen in other disorders, leading to misdiagnosis of thalassemia. Therefore, other costly and time-consuming tests should be performed that may cause serious consequences due to the delay in the correct diagnosis. To help overcoming these challenging diagnostic issues, this work presents a new novel dataset collected from Palestine Avenir Foundation for persons tested for thalassemia. We aim to compile a gold standard dataset for thalassemia and make it available for researchers in this field. Moreover, we use this dataset to predict the specific type of thalassemia known as beta thalassemia (β-thalassemia) based on hybrid data mining model. The proposed model consists of two main steps. First, to overcome the problem of the highly imbalanced class distribution in the dataset, a balancing technique called SMOTE is proposed and applied to handle this problem. In the second step, four classification models, namely k-nearest neighbors (k-NN), naïve Bayesian (NB), decision tree (DT) and the multilayer perceptron (MLP) neural network are used to differentiate between normal persons and those patients carrying β-thalassemia. Different evaluation metrics are used to assess the performance of the proposed model. The experimental results show that the SMOTE oversampling method can effectively improve the identification ratio of β-thalassemia carriers in a highly imbalanced class distribution. The results reveal also that the NB classifier achieved the best performance in differentiating between normal and β-thalassemia carriers at oversampling SMOTE ratio of 400%. This combination shows a specificity of 99.47% and a sensitivity of 98.81%.

Carbamazepine Verses Valproic Acid as Monotherapy in Epileptic Patients.

To evaluate the effectiveness of carbamazepine and valproic acid as monotherapy in epileptic patients of Pakhtun population. An experimental study. The outpatient Neurology Department, Lady Reading Hospital, Peshawar, from August 2014 to April 2016. Epileptic patients placed on carbamazepine and volproic acid were inducted. Carbamazepine and valproic acid plasma levels were determined using reverse phase high performance liquid chromatography. Plasma levels of vitamin B6 and homocysteine were determined at baseline before the switching to carbamazepine and valproic acid therapy, and on the sixth month of the therapy. Hemoglobin (Hb) level were also determined through blood analyser. Clinical response (number of seizures per week) was evaluated on third and sixth month of the therapy. There were 79 patients in carbamazepine group and 82 in the valproic acid group. Mean age of patients was 18.08 ±8.6 years in carbamazepine group and 17.5 ±7.04 years in the valproic acid group. Median dose of carbamazepine was 400 mg/day at baseline and at 6th month of therapy. Median dose of valproic acid was 500 mg/day and 750 mg/day of valproic acid at baseline and end study point. Difference in homocysteine, vitamin B6 and Hb levels were statistically significant (p<0.05) in carbamazepine cohort compared to valproic acid cohort. The frequency of seizures in the carbamazepine was 0.85 times more compared to valproic acid at the end study point. Hyperhomocysteinaemia and lower vitamin B6 and Hb levels was found in the carbamazepine cohort. The frequency of number of seizures/week was higher in the carbamazepine cohort compared to valproic acid cohort.

Physiological responses to heat stress in two genetically distinct chicken inbred lines

High ambient temperature is one of the most important environmental factors negatively impacting poultry production and health. Genetics is an important contributor in mitigating the stress response to heat. Two genetically distinct highly inbred lines of similar body size (Leghorn and Fayoumi) were characterized for phenotypic differences in response to heat. At 14 days of age, birds were exposed to 38°C with 50% humidity for 4 hours, then 35°C until the conclusion of the experiment. Non-treated individuals were kept at 29.4°C for the first week and then 25°C throughout the experiment. Birds in the heat-stress group were inoculated at day (d) 21 with Newcastle disease virus (NDV) La Sota strain to investigate the effects of heat stress and NDV infection. Thirteen blood parameters were measured using the iSTAT blood analyzer at three stages: 4h, 6 d, and 9 d post heat-stress treatment, representing acute heat (AH) exposure, chronic heat (CH1) exposure, and chronic heat exposure after virus infection (CH2), respectively. Most blood parameters were significantly changed with heat stress in Leghorns at AH and in Fayoumis at CH1 and CH2. The Leghorn line had significant acute responses with disrupted acid-base balance and metabolic disorders. The heat-resilient Fayoumis maintained a relatively well-balanced acid-base balance. The current study provides the comprehensive profile of biomarker signatures in blood associated with heat tolerance and suggests that PO2, TCO2, HCO3, and base excess can be served as potential biomarkers that can be used to genetically improve heat tolerance in poultry.

Zinc, copper, CD4 T-cell count and some hematological parameters of HIV-infected subjects in Southern Nigeria

BackgroundLow concentration of trace elements has been associated with poor prognosis and mortality in HIV infection. MethodsA cross sectional study was conducted among 100 HIV-infected subjects (70 were on ART treatment, while 30 were ART naïve). Fifty (50) apparently healthy controls were enrolled. Concentration of serum levels of zinc and copper was done using atomic absorption spectrometric method, while complete blood count was determined using automated blood analyzer. CD4+ T-cell count was done using cyflow cytometer. Aim and settingThe aim of this study was to investigate the level of some trace elements and some hematological parameters of HIV-seropositive subjects attending University of Calabar Teaching Hospital Clinic as well as prevalence of trace elements deficiency and anemic status and compare same with HIV-seronegative control. ResultsMean serum zinc, CD4+ T-cell count, Hb, PCV, RBC, MXD, were significantly (p<0.05) reduced in the HIV-infected subjects, while copper/zinc ratio, MCV, MCH and platelet count were significantly (p<0.05) raised in the HIV-infected subjects. The serum Cu level was comparable (p>0.05) with the control. ART treatment had no effect on all the parameters assessed except CD4+ T-cell count. Twenty five percent (25%), 3% and 56% of the HIV-infected subjects were zinc deficient, copper deficient and anemic, respectively. Gender was found as a predictor of zinc deficiency. Copper and zinc showed weak positive correlation with CD4+ T-cell count. ConclusionART treatment did not complement zinc status in HIV infection while improving CD4+ T-cell count, hence the need to consider supplementation.

Comparison of i-STAT® with Traditional Laboratory Analysers in the Measurement of Blood Analytes from Field Captured Dugongs (Dugong dugon)

Point-of-care (POC) testing is useful in field health assessments of wildlife when the condition of the captured animal must be immediately assessed and/or the location is remote from analytical laboratories. However, prior to their incorporation into clinical health assessment, POC devices must be assessed for potential measurement biases. In this study, the i-STAT (R) portable blood analyser was used to evaluate electrolytes (Na, K, and Cl), glucose, creatinine, lactate, urea, and haematocrit (Hct) of 85 apparently healthy dugongs (Dugong dugon) during field health assessments off the coast of southern Queensland, Australia. Blood levels of analytes measured by i-STAT (R) were compared to values reported by the Beckman Coulter AU400 (R) and AU680 (R) automated chemistry analysers, and the Sysmex XT-2000i (TM) (for Het). Lactate and urea values were outside i-STAT (R)'s detectable limits. Bland-Altman plots identified constant biases for all measurable analytes except Het. For most analytes, i-STAT (R) measurements did not show strong agreement with laboratory analysers; differences between paired measurements fell within calculated precision-based acceptance limits less than 75% of the time. Reference intervals for electrolytes, glucose, creatinine, and haematocrit as measured by i-STAT (R) are reported; however, these must be interpreted in light of measurement biases detected when compared with reference analysers.

Health Status of Great Frigatebirds (Fregata minor) Determined by Haematology, Biochemistry, Blood Gases, and Physical Examination.

The great frigatebird, Fregata minor, is a widely distributed seabird native to the Galápagos archipelago. Haematology and blood chemistry parameters have been published for this species but not from the San Cristóbal and North Seymour great frigatebird breeding colonies. Analyses were run on blood samples drawn from 25 great frigatebirds captured by hand at their nests at Punta Pitt on San Cristóbal Island and 30 birds on North Seymour Island, Galápagos Islands. A portable blood analyser (iSTAT) was used to obtain near immediate field results for pH, pO2, pCO2, TCO2, HCO3- , haematocrit (Hct), haemoglobin (Hb), sodium (Na), potassium (K), chloride (Cl), ionized calcium (iCa), creatinine, urea nitrogen, anion gap and glucose. Blood lactate was measured using a portable Lactate Plus™ analyser. Average heart rate, respiratory rate, body weight, body temperature, biochemistry and haematology parameters were comparable to healthy individuals of other Fregatidae. The reported results provide baseline data that can be used for comparisons among populations and in detecting changes in health status among Galápagos great frigatebirds.

Acute Impact of Artificial Sweetener, Aspartame on Blood Parameter in Mice

Aspartame (APM) or L-aspartyl-L-phenylalanine methyl ester, a common artificial non-saccharide sweetener used as a sugar substitute in many foods and beverages, has shown some side effects on consumers. The objective of the present study is to study the acute impact of various doses of daily ingestion of APM on blood parameters of mice. Sixty healthy 3 months old male mice raised in the departmental animal house were divided into five groups i.e. the control were fed normal diet and tap water, while other 4 groups (12 each) were daily orally fed with 1 mL of either 40, 500, 1000 or 1500 mg/Kg b wt, dissolved in distilled water using gavages for consecutive 5 weeks. Fresh blood samples collected directly from the heart at dissection were subjected to complete blood counting (CBC) using automated blood analyzer (Cell DYN-1700) in addition to manual differential Leucocytes (WBC) counting. There has been a significant increase (p ≤ 0.01) in WBC counts starting from the lowest dose (40 mg/Kg·b·wt); significant decrease (p ≤ 0.01) in both Hemoglobin percentages (Hb%) and in Lymphocyte percentages (p ≤ 0.004) in comparison with control. It is concluded that the ingestion of aspartame using the above doses has acute impact and is not dose-dependent on blood parameters which could exert further, on the long run, health risks on to other tissues of consumers.

Prevalence and Molecular Study of G6PD Deficiency in the Dai and Jingpo Ethnic Groups in the Dehong Prefecture of the Yunnan Province

Objectives: To estimate the prevalence and mutation types of G6PD deficiency and evaluate the relationship between G6PD genotypes and erythrocyte phenotypes in the Dai and Jingpo ethnic groups in the Dehong prefecture of the Yunnan province, China. Methods: G6PD deficiency was screened in Dai (1,530 individuals) and Jingpo (372 individuals) populations using a modified G6PD/6PGD ratio assay. Red blood cell traits were analyzed using the Sysmex XE2100 fully automated blood analyzer. PCR-direct sequencing for G6PD genotyping analysis was performed, and then the linkage disequilibrium blocks of the target SNPs were constructed with Haploview 4.2 software. Results: The prevalence of G6PD deficiency was higher in the Dai ethnic group (8.63%) than in the Jingpo ethnic group (5.91%). The major mutations in descending order were rs137852314 G>A, rs72554664 G>A, rs72554665 G>T, and rs137852341 G>T. Hemoglobin concentration was significantly lower in the rs137852314 G>A group than in the normal group (p = 0.021). Mean corpuscular volume and mean corpuscular hemoglobin were substantially higher in the rs137852341 G>T group compared to the normal group (p = 0.049, p = 0.042). A linkage disequilibrium block of 13 SNPs was constructed for the G6PD deficiency group from the Dai sample. Conclusions: The Dai and Jingpo ethnic groups have distinctive incidence rates and gene frequencies of G6PD deficiency, and the genotypes of G6PD deficiency are associated with erythrocyte phenotypes.

Increased platelet volume indices is associated with the severity of coronary artery disease

Platelets play key roles both in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis and in the development of acute thrombotic events. Platelet size correlates with platelet activity and can be assessed by platelet volume indices, which are mean platelet volume (MPV), platelet distribution width (PDW), and Platelet-large cell ratio (P-LCR). We enrolled 101 patients with stable angina, unstable angina or myocardial infarction undergoing coronary angiography. Patients were divided into three groups according to their degree of stenosis and the number of stenotic vessels; Non-significant coronary artery disease (CAD) was defined as a stenosis 50% in at least 1 coronary vessel, while severe coronary artery disease was defined as left main and/or three-vessel disease >50%. Blood samples were run through the automated blood analyzer to obtain the platelet indices. As a result, a statistically significant increase in all three platelet volume indices was observed in patients with severe CAD compared to those with non-significant CAD. We concluded that platelet volume indices, MPV, PDW, and P-LCR, are useful markers for the diagnosis of severe coronary artery disease.