BACKGROUND: Fibrin-related markers (FRM) such as fibrin monomer (FM) and D-dimer (DD) are considered useful biological markers for the diagnosis of disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC). However, no studies on the diagnostic performance of different FRMs have been published in Korea. The aim of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic performance of FM for DIC in comparison with DD. METHODS: The reference limit of FM was determined based on plasma sample data obtained from 210 control individuals. To evaluate diagnostic performance, FM data from the plasma samples of 139 patients with DIC-associated diseases were obtained for DIC scoring. FM was measured by immunoturbidimetry using STA-LIATEST FM (Diagnostica Stago, France). Patients were classified according to the DIC score as non-DIC, non-overt DIC, or overt DIC. ROC curve analyses were performed. RESULTS: The reference limit in the control individuals was determined to be 7.80 microg/mL. Patients with DIC-associated diseases were categorized as non-DIC (N=43), non-overt DIC (N=80), and overt DIC (N=16). ROC curve analyses showed that the diagnostic performance of FM was comparable to DD in both non-overt DIC and overt DIC (P=0.596 and 0.553, respectively). In addition, FM had higher sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value than DD for differentiating overt DIC from non-DIC. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated that the diagnostic performance of FM for DIC was comparable to DD. FM might be more sensitive and more specific than DD in the diagnosis of overt DIC, but not non-overt DIC.
Area Under Curve ; Biological Markers/blood ; Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation/blood/*diagnosis ; Fibrin Fibrinogen Degradation Products/*analysis/immunology/standards ; Humans ; Immunoassay/*methods/standards ; Nephelometry and Turbidimetry/*methods/standards ; ROC Curve ; Reagent Kits, Diagnostic ; Reference Values

BACKGROUND: Fibrin-related markers (FRM) such as fibrin monomer (FM) and D-dimer (DD) are considered useful biological markers for the diagnosis of disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC). However, no studies on the diagnostic performance of different FRMs have been published in Korea. The aim of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic performance of FM for DIC in comparison with DD. METHODS: The reference limit of FM was determined based on plasma sample data obtained from 210 control individuals. To evaluate diagnostic performance, FM data from the plasma samples of 139 patients with DIC-associated diseases were obtained for DIC scoring. FM was measured by immunoturbidimetry using STA-LIATEST FM (Diagnostica Stago, France). Patients were classified according to the DIC score as non-DIC, non-overt DIC, or overt DIC. ROC curve analyses were performed. RESULTS: The reference limit in the control individuals was determined to be 7.80 microg/mL. Patients with DIC-associated diseases were categorized as non-DIC (N=43), non-overt DIC (N=80), and overt DIC (N=16). ROC curve analyses showed that the diagnostic performance of FM was comparable to DD in both non-overt DIC and overt DIC (P=0.596 and 0.553, respectively). In addition, FM had higher sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value than DD for differentiating overt DIC from non-DIC. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated that the diagnostic performance of FM for DIC was comparable to DD. FM might be more sensitive and more specific than DD in the diagnosis of overt DIC, but not non-overt DIC.
Area Under Curve ; Biological Markers/blood ; Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation/blood/*diagnosis ; Fibrin Fibrinogen Degradation Products/*analysis/immunology/standards ; Humans ; Immunoassay/*methods/standards ; Nephelometry and Turbidimetry/*methods/standards ; ROC Curve ; Reagent Kits, Diagnostic ; Reference Values

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Although high-flux (HF) dialyzers with enhanced membrane permeability are widely used in current hemodialysis (HD) practice, urea kinetic modeling is still being applied to indicate the adequacy of both low-flux (LF) and HF HD. In comparison with urea (molecular weight, 60 Da) and beta2-microglobulin (beta2MG, 12 kDa), cystatin C (CyC, 13 kDa) is a larger molecule that has attractive features as a marker for assessing solute clearance. We postulated that CyC might be an alternative for indicating the clearance of middle molecules (MMs), especially with HF HD. METHODS: Eighty-nine patients were divided into LF and HF groups. Using single pool urea kinetic modeling, the urea reduction ratio (URR) and equilibrated Kt/Vurea (eKt/Vurea) were calculated. The serum CyC concentrations were measured using particle-enhanced immunonephelometry. As indices of the middle molecular clearance, the reduction ratios of beta2MG and CyC were calculated. RESULTS: The beta2MG reduction ratio (beta2MGRR) and CyC reduction ratio (CyCRR) were higher in the HF group compared to the LF group. However, the URR and eKt/Vurea did not differ between the two groups. The CyCRR was significantly correlated with the eKt/Vurea and beta2MGRR (r = 0.47 and 0.69, respectively, both p < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: Compared to the LF dialyzer, the HF dialyzer removed CyC and beta2MG more efficiently. Unlike the beta2MGRR, the CyCRR was correlated with the eKt/Vurea and beta2MGRR. This study suggests a role for the CyCRR as an alternative indicator of the removal of MMs.
Adult ; Aged ; Biological Markers/blood ; Case-Control Studies ; Cystatin C/*blood ; Female ; Hemodialysis Solutions ; Humans ; Kidney Failure, Chronic/*blood/*therapy ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Models, Biological ; Nephelometry and Turbidimetry/*methods ; Renal Dialysis/*methods ; Urea/blood ; Uremia/blood/therapy ; beta 2-Microglobulin/blood

BACKGROUND: Carbohydrate-deficient transferrin (CDT) levels have rarely been determined in an Asian population. We evaluated the analytical performance of a test for measuring CDT levels by using capillary electrophoresis (EP). METHODS: We determined the precision of CDT measurement by using capillary EP and nephelometry and compared the CDT values obtained using both the methods. We included healthy control subjects, abstinent patients with liver disease, and individuals consuming varying amounts of alcohol. RESULTS: The CDT measurement by using capillary EP were correlated well with those CDT measurement by using nephelometry, N Latex CDT assay, Y=0.5706X+1.581, R=0.930. The results obtained from both methods showed good qualitative agreement with each other (kappa coefficient=0.61). Genetic variants of transferrin isoforms were detected in 4.1% of the tested population. Both the CDT and gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT) levels in the abstinent patients with liver disease were significantly higher than those in healthy abstinent individuals (0.9% vs. 0.5%, 109.5 mg/dL vs. 28.5 mg/dL, respectively), but the difference in CDT values in the 2 groups was less pronounced for the CDT values. Individuals who had a mean daily alcohol intake of more than 60 g/day showed significantly higher CDT levels than those who had a mean daily alcohol intake of less than 60 g/day (1.9% vs. 0.7%, P=0.03). CONCLUSIONS: The CDT test using capillary EP showed good performance, and this method has several advantages such as automation and detection of variant forms. Thus, CDT can be a more useful marker than GGT for monitoring alcohol abstinence, especially in patients with liver disease.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Automation ; Electrophoresis, Capillary/*methods ; Female ; Gene Frequency ; Humans ; Liver Diseases, Alcoholic/diagnosis ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Nephelometry and Turbidimetry/methods ; Protein Isoforms/analysis ; ROC Curve ; Republic of Korea ; Transferrin/*analogs & derivatives/analysis ; gamma-Glutamyltransferase/analysis

BACKGROUND: Recently developed full-range C-reactive protein (CRP) tests, which are based on the immunoturbidimetric method, have wider analytical measurement ranges (AMR) than previously used tests. We evaluated the AMR of 3 full-range CRP tests-2 new and 1 previously used test. METHODS: We analyzed the precision and AMR of 2 full-range CRP tests (Sekisui, Nanopia CRP, N-CRP and Iatron, IATRO CRP-EX, I-CRP) and compared the values obtained for these tests with those obtained for the conventional full-range CRP test (Sekisui, PureAuto S CRP, P-CRP). We evaluated the tests for the limit of quantification and for linearity. We also compared these results of these tests by using the comparative test (Dade Behring, cCRP) for cardiovascular risk assessment. RESULTS: Coefficients of variation (CVs) of all the full-range CRP tests were less than 10% for concentrations greater than 0.6 mg/L, and CVs of N-CRP and I-CRP were lower than those of P-CRP for concentrations less than 1 mg/L. N-CRP (0.1-467 mg/L) and I-CRP (0.1-280 mg/L) had wider AMR than P-CRP (3-233 mg/L). All the full-range CRP tests showed more than 90% agreement with the cCRP values for the assessment of cardiovascular risk. CONCLUSIONS: The 3 full-range CRP tests, by virtue of their wide AMR, may be used for the detection of acute inflammation as well as for the assessment of cardiovascular risk. N-CRP and I-CRP may be more useful than P-CRP for determining the CRP concentration, especially for the detection of concentrations close to the lower or upper limit of the analytical range, without the need for repetition of the test.
C-Reactive Protein/*analysis ; Cardiovascular Diseases/diagnosis ; Humans ; Immunoassay/*methods ; Limit of Detection ; Nephelometry and Turbidimetry/*methods ; Reproducibility of Results ; Risk Assessment

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the performance of BNII auto-analyzer system in detecting C3 and C4.

METHODSCLSI protocols (EP15-A, EP6-A, EP9-A2) and other relevant literatures were use to or evaluate the precision, accuracy, linearity of C3 and C4 detection by the auto-analyzer system, and the results were compared with the recognized standards.

RESULTSThe relative bias of C3 and C4 was less than one third of the CLIA'88 standard and the precision met the clinical requirement. The results tested by DADE BNII system were not compatible with those by Roche Modular System. C3 showed good linearity in the tests (R2>0.975, P<0.05) with a linearity range of 0.18-5.1 g/L. The linearity of C4 was not available because of lack of high-level samples.

CONCLUSIONThe performances of DADE BNII System basically meet the recognized standards in clinical detection of C3 and C4, but the method comparison needs further validation.

Autoanalysis ; methods ; Blood Chemical Analysis ; instrumentation ; methods ; Complement C3 ; analysis ; Complement C4 ; analysis ; Humans ; Nephelometry and Turbidimetry ; instrumentation ; methods ; Proteins ; analysis ; Sensitivity and Specificity

Dual-magnetic circuit beads and scattering nephelometry dual channel semiautomatic coagulometers are used for the coagulational evaluation of the 5 blood contact medical devices which consist of metals and polymers. The partial thromboplastin time(PTT) and prothrombin time(PT) tests are made based on the GB/T 16886.4-2003 standard. The results indicate that the coefficient of variation in the two groups is in the identical order of magnitude. In the PTT tests, they give the similar evaluational results. With the smaller numerical values of the PT tests, the different coagulometers give the high consilience results. So, both of dual-magnetic circuit beads and scattering nephelometry coagulometers are acceptable in the medical devices' coagulational evaluations. But the interpretation and analysis of the results of the small numerical value tests, PT tests for example, should be noticed.
Blood Coagulation Tests ; instrumentation ; methods ; Magnetics ; instrumentation ; Nephelometry and Turbidimetry ; instrumentation

A new transformation method for follow-up coordinate system is used and a matrix equation for transforming spatial transporting coordinate of scattering photons is given. The equation has recursion form and only relates to multiplication and will not lead to overflow in calculation. The equation is applied to Monte Carlo simulation in the light propagation in bio-tissues. The results show it can effectively save CPU time and improve simulation efficiency. The results are also in good agreement with the results from the traditional method.
Animals ; Computer Simulation ; Connective Tissue ; radiation effects ; Humans ; Light ; Models, Biological ; Monte Carlo Method ; Nephelometry and Turbidimetry ; methods ; Photons ; Refractometry ; methods ; Scattering, Radiation

BACKGROUND: An increased level of beta2-microglobulin (beta2M) is seen in diseases such as lymphoproliferative diseases, renal diseases, solid tumors, liver diseases, certain viral infection, or chronic inflammatory diseases, etc. In this study, we evaluated a quantitative beta2M assay for precision and linearity using an automated turbidimetric immunoassay (TIA) by Hitachi 7600-110 (Hitachi High Technologies Co., Japan). The TIA of beta2M was compared with a chemiluminescent immunoassay (CLIA) by Immulite 2000 (Diagnostic Products Corporation, USA). METHODS: Two TIAs, the Hitachi 7600-110 with Roche reagent (Roche-TIA) and the Hitachi 7600- 110 with HBI reagent (HBI-TIA), were evaluated for within-run precision, within-day precision, betweendays precision, and linearity. With 68 serum samples, two TIAs were compared with Immulite 2000 using DPC reagent (DPC-CLIA). These data were analyzed by Passing-Bablok analysis and Bland- Altman analysis. RESULTS: The coefficients of variation (CVs) of within-run precision, within-day precision, and between- days precision were less than 7% in all groups. The linearity tests of the two TIAs were maintained well (Roche-TIA: R2=0.9952; HBI-TIA: R2=0.9946). The comparison study indicated good correlations (Roche-TIA/DPC-CLIA: r=0.9738, y=0.9625x-0.0375; HBI-TIA/DPC-CLIA: r=0.9725, y= 1.1000x-0.3100). In Bland-Altman analysis, less than 2SD differences were observed between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: Both Roche-TIA and HBI-TIA showed a good precision and excellent correlations with DPC-CLIA; therefore, TIA could be used in the routine laboratory to determine a quantitative analysis of beta2M.
Aged ; Chemiluminescent Measurements ; Enzyme Multiplied Immunoassay Technique ; Female ; Humans ; Immunoassay/*methods ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Nephelometry and Turbidimetry ; Reagent Kits, Diagnostic ; Regression Analysis ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; beta 2-Microglobulin/*analysis

OBJECTIVESTo discuss the correlation of C-reactive protein (CRP) concentration in the EPS of chronic prostatitis (CP) patients with CP types, WBC count in EPS, lecithin corpuscles (LLZXT) and chronic prostatitis symptom index (CPSI).

METHODSAccording to the NIH classification standard, 196 cases of CP were diagnosed by the pro and post massage test (PPMT) and EPS routine, of which 68 were chronic bacterial prostatitis (Type II ), 76 inflammatory chronic non-bacterial prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome (Type III A) and 52 non-inflammatory chronic non-bacterial prostatitis/chronic pain syndrome (Type III B). Another 50 healthy volunteers were enrolled as normal controls. The CRP concentration in the EPS of all the patients was determined by immunoturbidimetry and 196 groups of data were obtained.

RESULTSThe average concentration of CRP was significantly higher in the CP group ( [2.945 +/- 1.996] mg/L) than in the control ( [1.101 +/- 0.440] mg/L) (P < 0. 01) , and it decreased progressively from the Type II to Type III A and Type III B group, with statistical difference between Type III B and Type II or Type III A (P < 0. 01 ), but not between Type II and Type III A (P = 0.058). The CRP concentration was correlated negatively with LLZXT (r = -0.33, P < 0.01) and positively with WBC count (r = 0.63, P < 0.01) and the score on the first 6 items of CPSI (r = 0. 28, P < 0. 01).

CONCLUSIONThe CRP concentration in EPS, with its significant role in the pathogenesis of CP, may serve as a basis for the diagnosis and classification of CP as well as an objective index for assessing the therapeutic effect on the disease.

Adult ; Biomarkers ; analysis ; Body Fluids ; chemistry ; metabolism ; C-Reactive Protein ; analysis ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Nephelometry and Turbidimetry ; methods ; Prostate ; secretion ; Prostatitis ; classification ; diagnosis ; metabolism