Hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) is a glycosylated derivative of hemoglobin and is one of a family of derivatives whose concentrations are elevated in patients with diabetes mellitus. Published methods for the measurement of HbA1c are relatively tedious and require modest amounts of blood. A high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method for the determination of HbA1c is presented. The method is rapid (20 minutes), precise (coefficient of variation of 5-10 per cent), uses small amounts of sample (3 microliter.), can be automated. A sample preparation technique using filtration was developed that shortened and simplified preparation of venous blood and allowed use of capillary samples. HbA1c was measured by this method in three age-stratified groups of controls and a group of insulin-requiring juvenile diabetics. There was clear separation of HbA1c values between all normals (5.9 +/- 1.3, 5.6 +/- 0.7, 7.1 +/- 0.9 per cent) and the diabetics (12.1 +/- 2.4 per cent). Use of this method can facilitate large-scale clinical investigations and permit biochemical investigations of the metabolism and formation of hemoglobin A1c where small sample sizes are necessary.

Standard clinical X-ray contrast agents are small iodine-containing molecules that are rapidly cleared by the kidneys and provide robust imaging for only a few seconds, thereby limiting more extensive vascular and tissue biodistribution imaging as well as optimal tumor uptake. They are also not generally useful for preclinical microCT imaging where longer scan times are required for high resolution image acquisition. We here describe a new iodine nanoparticle contrast agent that has a unique combination of properties: 20 nm hydrodynamic diameter, covalent PEG coating, 40 hour blood half-life, 50% liver clearance after six months, accumulation in tumors, and well-tolerated to at least 4 g iodine/kg body weight after intravenous administration in mice. These characteristics are unique among the other iodine nanoparticles that have been previously reported and provide extended-time high contrast vascular imaging and tumor loading. As such, it is useful for preclinical MicroCT animal studies. Potential human applications might include X-ray radiation dose enhancement for cancer therapy and vascular imaging for life-threatening situations where high levels of contrast are needed for extended periods of time.

Our study results demonstrate the feasibility of developing gastric cancer PDOs from EGD biopsies. These results also indicate that endoscopic-derived PDOs are accurate surrogates of the primary tumor and have the potential for drug sensitivity screening and personalized medicine applications.

The effect of 2 hours of exercise on the serum creatine kinase (CK) level was investigated in 11 men and 9 women. The mean increase of CK 24 hours after exercise was significantly greater in men. The relative lack of CK elevation in women may: (1) indicate that female muscle is less susceptible to damage by adverse factors; and (2) explain discrepancies in previous reports.

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