BACKGROUND:Whereas disease surveillance for infectious diseases such as rubella is important, it is critical to identify pregnant women at risk of passing rubella to their offspring, which can be fatal and can result in congenital rubella syndrome (CRS). The traditional centralized model for diagnosing rubella is cost-prohibitive in resource-limited settings, representing a major obstacle to the prevention of CRS. As a step toward decentralized diagnostic systems, we developed a proof-of-concept digital microfluidic (DMF) diagnostic platform that possesses the flexibility and performance of automated immunoassay platforms used in central facilities, but with a form factor the size of a shoebox.
Clinicians should be aware of special populations that may yield misleading eGFRs with conventional creatinine-based formulae, and that the alternative methods may be more appropriate for some populations.
The purpose of the study was to evaluate urinary citrate/creatinine (UCi/UCr) and urinary calcium/citrate (UCa/UCi) ratios for distinguishing stone formers (SF) from non-stone formers (NSF) in an at-risk population. This was a retrospective study that included all pediatric patients who underwent urinary citrate testing from April 2017 to March 2018. The urinary levels of citrate, calcium, sodium, potassium, creatinine, oxalate, urate, pH, and specific gravity (SG) were measured in our clinical laboratory. Diagnosis of kidney stones was obtained through chart review.A total of 97 patients were included (46 NSF and 51 SF). The UCi/UCr ratio was not significantly different between NSF and SF. Median UCa/UCr ratio was higher in SF (0.67) compared with NSF (0.21, p < 0.0001). The median ratio of UCa/UCi was also higher in SF (1.30) than in NSF (0.65, p = 0.001). Oxalate, urate, pH, SG, and urinary sodium/potassium ratio did not differentiate between the SF and NSF. Positive correlation was seen between UCa/UCr and urinary sodium/creatinine UNa/UCr (p < 0.0001), as well as between UCa/UCr and UCi/UCr (p < 0.0001).The study has demonstrated significantly higher UCa/UCi and UCa/UCr in SF compared with NSF, while the use of urinary oxalate, urate, pH, and SG did not differentiate between SF from NSF. We also confirmed a positive correlation between UNa/UCr and UCa/UCr. While the utility of UCa/UCr is well established, our data suggest that UCa/UCi rather than UCi/UCr may be more predictive in the clinical setting when evaluating for nephrolithiasis.
Metastasis of cancerous cells to distant sites is the major cause of death from breast cancer. In a previous study, we performed aCGH on breast invasive duct carcinoma samples with and without lymph node metastases and identified regions of genomic amplification that are associated with lymph node metastasis. These were subsequently validated by q-PCR. Within the 17q22-24 region, we have identified four genes likely to contribute to metastasis based on published data: COIL, WIPI1, TMEM100, and SLC16A6. We are using RNAi and ectopic over-expression to characterize these genes with in vitro functional assays for proliferation, migration, invasion, and survival. We used qRT-PCR analysis on a panel of seven breast cancer cell lines of varying invasiveness: MDA-MB-157, MDA-MB-231, MDA-MB-468, BT-549, CAMA-1, HS578T, MCF-7, and SKBR-3. We identified that WIPI1 and COIL were expressed in the majority. WIPI1 is up-regulated in a variety of tumor cells; studies suggest WIPI1 can activate autophagy by suppressing TORC1. Autophagy can inhibit cancer by maintaining genome stability via disposing of damaged mitochondria and peroxisomes. In clinical data obtained from 298 breast cancer patients, we observed high expression of WIPI1 to be associated with higher survival and lower breast cancer relapse. Alternatively, autophagy can also provide a survival mechanism for tumors with restricted blood supply and resistance to chemotherapy. This is in agreement with our observation of high WIPI1 protein expression in highly invasive breast cancer cell lines. We are over-expressing WIPI1 in SKBR-3 and knocking it down in BT-549 in vitro. WIPI1 could help determine the role of autophagy in tumor initiation processes such as proliferation and invasion, and in maintenance of tumor cells following therapy. COIL is found in a diffuse nucleoplasmic pool and in Cajal bodies (CBs). The role of diffuse COIL is still unclear, but CBs, involved in the formation of macromolecular complexes and found more in cells with high transcriptional activity, require COIL for proper formation and localization. We observed high expression of COIL protein in cell lines with higher proliferation index, noticeably in ER positive cell lines such as CAMA1 and absence in a non-tumorogenic cell line MCF10A. We are investigating the association of COIL with proliferation, invasion and migration abilities by over-expression and knockdown of the COIL protein in MDA231 and MCF7 breast cancer cells. We found from clinical data obtained from 245 breast cancer patients that high expression of COIL resulted in lower survival and a higher risk of relapse. This suggests that COIL may be a potential therapeutic target. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 103rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2012 Mar 31-Apr 4; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2012;72(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 93. doi:1538-7445.AM2012-93
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