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Introduction: Autoimmune diseases (AID) are a manifestation of a self damaging immune response of the body to its own antigen. In any suspected AID, the first test to be done is ANA detection by indirect immunofluoresence using HeP 2 cells due to its sensitivity. A positive ANA test is further evaluated by performing immunoblot test to detect specific antigens causing autoimmunity. The present study was undertaken to study the prevalence of antinuclear antibodies in patient population of Central Madhya Pradesh as well as to study the prevalence of disease specific antigens. Materials and Methods: A total of 650 patients of all ages and both sexes coming to our diagnostic centre between January to June 2018 for ANA testing were included in the study. Serum ANA was determined by indirect immunofluorescence (IIFA) using Hep 2 cell lines (Euroimmun, Germany). A positive result by IIFA was further tested by immunoblot method (Euroimmun, Germany) when requested by the clinician. Result: Out of 650 patients ANA screen was positive in 280 (43.08%) patients and negative in 209(32.15%) patients. ANA blot was requested in 161 patients (57.5%) of the total 280 ANA screen positive patients. Out of the 161 patients, 69 had a positive Immunoblot test for one or more antigens. Total 53.69% patients were positive by both ANA screen and immunoblot test. The total coincidence rate was 44.5% between ANA screen and ANA blot test with a positive coincidence rate of 81.6% and negative coincidence rate of 79.1%. Conclusion: ANA IIF is considered to be the gold standard screening test for detecting autoantibodies and ANA blot is done as a confirmatory test to detect specific autoantibodies against antigens causing autoimmunity. The combination of ANA IIF and ANA blot is an effective method to diagnose autoimmune diseases. If used alone, a possibility of missing a diagnosis is high and so a combinbation of these two tests is of great benefit to both the clinicians as well as laboratorians.

Introduction: Atherosclerosis is a chronic inflammatory condition n resulting from hyperlipidemia and involves platelet mediated recruitment of white blood cells to arteries. The platelet activation is measured indirectly through several platelet indices routinely available without any additional cost in newer fully automated haematology analysers. These indices include platelet count, mean platelet volume(MPV), platelet distribution width(PDW), plateletcrit(PCT), mean platelet(component) concentration (MPC), mean platelet dry mass (MPM), platelet large cell count and platelet large cell ratio (PLCR).. The present study was undertaken in the pathology department of our diagnostic centre to find an association between platelet indices reported by Advia 2120(Siemens) fully automated haematology analyser and hyperlipidemia. Materials and Methods: This was a prospective study carried out in our diagnostic centre from April to July 2018. 100 patients with hyperlipidemia without any associated diseases and 100 controls with normal lipid profile were included in the study. Statistical analysis was done using Pearson's correlation test and data was expressed as mean ±SD for each parameter. A p value of < 0.05 was considered to be significant. Results: Maximum number of patients were in 41-60 years of age (65%). The male to female ratio was 1.7: 1 with 63% males and 37% females. The mean cholesterol ,mean triglyceride and mean HDL cholesterol level in study group was 218.6±36.3, 244.3±154,38.7±9.6 respectively and 158±26.8 ,94.1±34.8,and 42.1±9.3 in control group respectively. Mean LDL cholesterol was 131.1±39.4 in study group and 97.1±25.2 in control group. There was a significant difference in platelet counts in both groups with a p value of 0.01. PCT and MPC also showed a p value of 0.004. The mean platelet mass (MPM) was 2.17±0.2 in study group as compared to 2.13±021 in control group. Large platelet count was 7.09±4.9 in study group while it was 5.95±3.81 in control group which was also significantly different. Conclusion:Our study indicates that PCT, MPM large platelets and platelet count are significantly higher in hyperlipidemia patients.These indices are available without any additional cost to clinicians, pathologists and patients and can be used to assess the risk associated with hyperlipidemia.

The diagnosis and monitoring of SARS-CoV-2 infection (COVID-19 illness) are based on two different types of tests: (i) RT-PCR (reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction) test that detects the presence of viral RNA, and (ii) antibody test that detects antibodies to SAR-CoV-2. Studies have demonstrated that antibody testing is useful for the identification of asymptomatic or subclinical infection of SARS-CoV-2 among close contacts with COVID-19 patients, including the HCP.This study presents the first SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence study among 307 HCP in Central India. This study also evaluates the risk of exposure of the HCP of different roles/departments to COVID-19 infection by the SARS-CoV-2 antibody seroconversion rate. A cross-sectional study was conducted using serum obtained from 307 HCP, who were on duty in the hospitals in Indore City of Central India during the COVID-19 pandemic from March till June 2020. Siemens Healthineers COV2T assay that detects total antibody (including IgM and IgG) against the S1-RBD (receptor binding domain of spike protein subunit 1) antigen was selected to be used in this study due to its robust sensitivity and specificity, compared to IgG or IgM assay alone Overall, the prevalence of COVID-19 infection among HCP in Central India hospital is 7.82% (n=24/307) as evaluated using SARS-CoV-2 total antibody test. Of the 307 HCP. Seropositivity rate varies widely by professions/departments ranging from intensivists (66.7%), general surgeons (25%), ophthalmologist (20%), pediatrician (20%), anesthetist (12.5%), radiologist (10%), general physician (9.7%) to gynaecologist (4.9%). This seroprevalence study, along with other studies, highlights the importance of SARS-CoV-2 antibody in seroprevalence and epidemiology studies which may subsequently guide the policy-making in implementing an effective infection control strategy to curb SARS-CoV-2 transmission in the hospital settings; on top of the use as aid-in-diagnosis, contact-tracing, pre and post vaccination screening and evaluation of convalescent plasma therapy.

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