Prognostic value of circulating DNA levels in critically ill and trauma patients

Abstract

The number of studies investigating circulating nucleic acids as potential biomarkers has increased in recent years. The detection of such biomarkers is a minimally invasive alternative for the diagnosis and prognosis of various clinical conditions. The value of circulating DNA levels as a predictive biomarker has been demonstrated in patients suffering from numerous acute pathologies that have a high risk of intensive care needs and in-hospital deaths. The mechanism by which circulating DNA levels increase in patients with these conditions remains unclear. In this review, we focused on the potential use of this biomarker for prognosis prediction in critically ill and trauma patients. The literature review was performed by searching MedLine using PubMed in the English language.

Droplet digital PCR combined with minisequencing, a new approach to analyze fetal DNA from maternal blood: application to the non-invasive prenatal diagnosis of achondroplasia

“…The study of cfDNA is becoming a crucial tool for diagnosis and management in various clinical disorders. Indeed, increased levels of cfDNA have been reported in a number of clinicopathological conditions such as cancer, stroke, trauma, myocardial infarction, autoimmune disorders and pre‐eclampsia . Additionally, cfDNA from fetal origin can also be detected in the plasma of the mother as early as from the 5th week of gestation, opening the field for many applications of non‐invasive prenatal testing such as fetal gender determination or RHD genotyping, chromosomal aneuploidies, and an increasing number of single gene disorders …”

“…Indeed, increased levels of cfDNA have been reported in a number of clinicopathological conditions such as cancer, stroke, trauma, myocardial infarction, autoimmune disorders and preeclampsia. [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15] Additionally, cfDNA from fetal origin can also be detected in the plasma of the mother as early as from the 5th week of gestation, 16 opening the field for many applications of non-invasive prenatal testing such as fetal gender determination 16,17 or RHD genotyping, 18 chromosomal aneuploidies, [19][20][21][22][23] and an increasing number of single gene disorders. [24][25][26][27][28][29][30] In this work, we developed a novel and original strategy based on ddPCR combined with minisequencing, allowing the non-invasive prenatal diagnosis of achondroplasia.…”

Novel Epigenetic Biomarkers in Pregnancy-Related Disorders and Cancers

“…More than 93% of amplifiable cfDNA in plasma is located in plasma exosomes, which suggests that it is actively released from the cells [26]. We should differentiate between disease-related and normal cfDNA, because cfDNA can be isolated not only from healthy individuals, but also from individuals suffering from inflammatory diseases [62], trauma [17,63] or cancer.…”