SummaryBackground To date, there has been no reliable in vitro test to diagnose aspirin-exacerbated respiratory disease (AERD). Objective To investigate potential diagnostic biomarkers for AERD using metabolomic analysis. Methods An untargeted profile of serum from asthmatics in the first cohort (group 1) comprising 45 AERD, 44 patients with aspirin-tolerant asthma (ATA), and 28 normal controls was developed using the ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC)/QToF MS system. Metabolites that discriminate AERD from ATA were quantified in both serum and urine, which were collected before (baseline) and after the lysine-aspirin bronchoprovocation test (Lys-ASA BPT). The serum metabolites were validated in the second cohort (group 2) comprising 50 patients with AERD and 50 patients with ATA. Results A clear discrimination of metabolomes was found between patients with AERD and ATA. In group 1, serum levels of LTE 4 and LTE 4 /PGF 2 a ratio before and after the Lys-ASA BPT were significantly higher in patients with AERD than in patients with ATA (P < 0.05 for each), and urine baseline levels of these two metabolites were significantly higher in patients with AERD. Significant differences of serum metabolite levels between patients with AERD and ATA were replicated in group 2 (P < 0.05 for each). Moreover, serum baseline levels of LTE 4 and LTE 4 /PGF 2 a ratio discriminated AERD from ATA with 70.5%/71.6% sensitivity and 41.5%/62.8% specificity, respectively (AUC = 0.649 and 0.732, respectively P < 0.001 for each). Urine baseline LTE 4 levels were significantly correlated with the fall in FEV 1 % after the Lys-ASA BPT in patients with AERD (P = 0.008, r = 0.463). Conclusions and Clinical Relevance Serum metabolite level of LTE 4 and LTE 4 /PGF 2 a ratio was identified as potential in vitro diagnostic biomarkers for AERD using the UHPLC/QToF MS system, which were closely associated with major pathogenetic mechanisms underlying AERD.
Aggressive red imported fire ants (RIFAs) are expanding their habitat due to active international trade and global warming. To prevent infestation and settlement, RIFAs must be removed during the quarantine process. Because RIFAs are social insects and have different morphological characteristics depending on their castes, non-ant taxonomists have difficulty confirming RIFAs based on their morphological characteristics alone. The disadvantages of previously reported RIFA molecular diagnostics are that they require additional steps, such as restriction enzyme digestion followed by agarose gel electrophoresis separation or DNA sequence verification for polymerase chain reaction (PCR)amplified products. To overcome these drawbacks, two RIFA-specific genes were selected and used to develop diverse PCR-based RIFA molecular diagnostic techniques. We found that RIFAs could be confirmed by conventional PCR targeting of two RIFA-specific genes followed by agarose electrophoresis separation. In addition, TaqMan probe real-time PCR methods had the advantage of confirming RIFAs immediately after the reactions were completed by observing fluorescence indexes. Finally, Ji-Hye Kim and Youngjin Park contributed equally to this study.multiplex PCRs enhanced RIFA specificity and sensitivity.The new molecular diagnostic methods developed in this study had the advantages of reducing false positive and negative results together with high specificity and sensitivity for RIFAs.
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