BACKGROUND: The conventional indocyanine green retention rate at 15 minutes (ICG R15) test is inefficient and inconvenient because it requires the use of a manual spectrophotometer and several samples per patient. This study aimed to establish the automation of the ICG R15 test using an automated clinical chemistry analyzer, and to evaluate the calculation of R15 with a small number of samples. METHODS: The performance of the AU5832 (Beckman Coulter, USA) for determining ICG concentration was evaluated in accordance with the Clinical Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) guidelines. The R15 results for 77 patients determined by spectrophotometry and AU5832 were compared. We evaluated the calculation of R15 with three samples, except for one sample in which the results had been obtained previously, at 5, 10, and 15 minutes after injection of ICG into the patients, and compared the results with those obtained with four samples. RESULTS: The automated ICG test using the AU5832 system showed proper performances according to CLSI. Although the difference in the R15 results between the two methods was within the 95% confidence interval, the R15 was adjusted by the regression equation because it was slightly lower according to the automated method compared with the manual method. The R15 with three samples (0, 5, and 15 minutes) showed the best correlation with conventional R15 with four samples (r2=0.996). Compared with the manual method, the R15 result using the AU5832 showed excellent agreement with four samples (kappa value 0.904) and with three samples (kappa value 0.880). CONCLUSIONS: The ICG R15 test using the AU5832 system is comparable with the conventional method in clinical use.
Automation ; Chemistry, Clinical* ; Humans ; Indocyanine Green* ; Methods ; Spectrophotometry

OBJECTIVETo observe the influence of electroacupuncture (EA) on indocyanine green (ICG) metabolism in the liver and the action mechanism of acupuncture for hepatic regulation.

METHODSForty Kunming mice were randomly divided into an EA group and a control group, 20 cases in each one. Combined with classical hepatic metabolism test of ICG, after tail vein injection of ICG, twenty mice were treated with EA at "Zusanli" (ST 36) for 20 min. The ICG fluorescence intensity and distribution in the liver were observed with animal in vivo fluorescence imaging apparatus during 20 min of EA and 60 min of needle withdrawal. Twenty mice, taken as control group, were treated with ICG injection and no EA. The differences of fluorescence intensity and distribution in both groups were compared.

RESULTS(1) There was blocking and gathered fluorescent sign in both groups when ICG was injected immediately. With the extension of observation time, the fluorescence brightness and area were increased until 30 min of injection. This was in accordance with known metabolism activities of ICG in the liver. (2) At 10 min and 20 min of EA and after needle withdrawal, compared with the control group, the fluorescence intensity in the liver of the EA group was weaker and the distribution area was smaller. (3) According to quantitative statistics of fluorescence intensity, at each time point of treatment, the value in the control group was higher than that in the EA group, which appeared regularly all along. As for the total mean difference of ICG fluorescence intensity at all time points, there was statistical difference between the two groups (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONEA could reduce fluorescence intensity and lasting time of ICG, indicating that EA accelerates metabolic process of ICG in the liver. Also it is feasible to apply animal in vivo fluorescence imaging technology to the principle research of acupuncture effect.

Animals ; Electroacupuncture ; Female ; Fluorescent Dyes ; chemistry ; metabolism ; Indocyanine Green ; chemistry ; metabolism ; Liver ; chemistry ; metabolism ; Male ; Mice ; Whole Body Imaging

Hepatitis B virus core protein (HBc) has become a hot spot in drug carrier protein research due to its natural particle self-assembly ability and ease of modification. The truncation of the C-terminal polyarginine domain (CTD, aa 151-183) of HBc does not affect the self-assembly of the particles. However, it does affect the internal and external charges of the particles, which may subsequently affect drug encapsulation. Thus, the truncated C-terminal polyarginine domain (CTD) of HBc and the inserted RGD peptide were selected to construct and express three HBc variants (RH) encapsulated with ICG (RH/ICG) with different C-terminal lengths to compare the stability and drug activity of their nanoformulations. RH160/ICG was found to have a great advantages in encapsulation efficiency and biological imaging. Compared with other HBc variants, RH160/ICG significantly improved encapsulation efficiency, up to 32.77%±1.23%. Cytotoxicity and hemolysis assays further demonstrated the good biocompatibility of RH160/ICG. Cell uptake and in vivo imaging experiments in mice showed that RH160/ICG could efficiently deliver ICG in tumor cells and tumor sites with good imaging effect. This research provides a new direction for further expanding the diagnosis and treatment application of ICG and development of HBc-based nanoparticle drug carrier platform.
Animals ; Hepatitis B/drug therapy* ; Hepatitis B Core Antigens ; Indocyanine Green/chemistry* ; Mice ; Nanoparticles/chemistry* ; Viral Core Proteins