A capillary-based chemiluminescence immunoassay system using a charge-coupled device (CCD) camera as detector was established in this paper. The fused quartz capillary was easily activated in one step for immobilizing capture antibody, and the chemiluminescence immunoassay was carried out in the capillary in double-antibody sandwich format. Chemiluminescence signals were recorded by the portable imaging device which was installed with the CCD camera and the results were analyzed through gray intensity. The total cost time, which included not only the time for test but also the time for the preparation of experimental materials, was only 2 h. The immunoassay was performed without any complicated or expensive instruments. The consumption of the sample was only 0.8 μL in one test, which was significantly less than other methods. In this work, C-reactive protein (CRP), as a target, was quantitatively detected from 0.3 to 160.0 μg mL with high specificity and low sample volume. The reproducibility and accuracy were tested in clinic human serum samples and shown good results. Thus, this rapid, easy preparation and using, portable immunoassay system indicated its usefulness as a novel technology platform. Graphical abstract ᅟ.
Takayasu arteritis (TA) is an idiopathic chronic inflammatory vasculitis of the aorta and its main branches, which if not treated can lead to severe vascular damage and fatal vascular events. Glucocorticoids (GCs) are the mainstay of the therapy of TA but a significant proportion of patients tend to experience flare-ups when their GCs are tapered. We report a case of a 42-year-old female with TA, diagnosed according to the 1990 American College of Rheumatology Criteria for TA. Cardiovascular assessment showed normal carotid upstrokes with bilateral carotid bruits and soft right and left subclavian bruits with weak peripheral pulses. A computed tomography (CT) aortogram of the chest showed severe stenosis of bilateral subclavian arteries and mild stenosis of right and left common carotid arteries at the origin. A CT aortogram of the abdomen showed an occluded left renal artery, a very small left kidney, and mild narrowing of the abdominal aorta below the level of renal arteries. She was initially managed with GCs along with immunosuppressive therapy including methotrexate, azathioprine, and cyclophosphamide, but her disease remained active. She was then sequentially treated with inhibitor etanercept (ETN), inhibitor tocilizumab (TCZ) and monoclonal anti-CD20 antibody rituximab (RTX), and in spite of aggressive biologic therapy she continued to have active disease. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case of refractory TA treated sequentially with three different biologic drugs.
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