Absorbance nephelometry of C1q-precipitable immune complexes: method comparisons and clinical correlations.

1983 ◽  
Vol 29 (12) ◽  
pp. 2082-2086 ◽  
Author(s):  
S S Levinson ◽  
J Goldman

Abstract Using a double-beam spectrophotometer, we investigated the clinical utility of a nephelometric method for assaying immune complexes. The complexes were concentrated from serum by precipitation with polyethylene glycol (PEG) and assayed by reaction with C1q. Testing of more than 100 sera showed a Spearman's rank correlation (p) between the present assay and the C1q-binding assay of 0.57, and 0.39 between the Raji cell assay and the present assay. Clinical sensitivity of the methods was not statistically different (p less than or equal to 0.5). Twenty-four of 30 patients with symptoms of disease showed increased concentrations of immune complexes by the present assay; only one of 38 normal individuals showed an increase. In a longitudinal study, we found that the concentrations of immune complexes paralleled clinical changes, indicating good clinical utility. The use of this assay with single-beam analyzers is limited because of the poor aqueous solubility of the PEG precipitate. Ongoing investigations designed to circumvent this problem are described.

2021 ◽  
Vol 102 (5) ◽  
pp. 626-635
Author(s):  
A U Sabitov ◽  
D A Soldatov ◽  
Yu B Khamanova

Aim. To assess the clinical and immunological features in patients with chronic opisthorchiasis, depending on the duration of the infection. Methods. The first group consisted of 19 patients with the duration of the infection up to 1 year, the second group consisted of 21 patients with the duration of the infection between 1 and 5 years, the third group was formed of 23 patients with the duration of the disease more than 5 years, the control group 20 healthy individuals. Immunological research was carried out at the Clinical Diagnostic Center. Statistical processing was performed using Microsoft Excel 2010 and Statistica 6.0 software. The statistical significance of differences was determined by using the MannWhitney test (U-test) at the level of significance of p 0.05. The correlations were assessed by calculating Spearman's rank correlation coefficients.Results Clinical features of chronic opisthorchiasis were revealed in the disease duration groups of up to 1 year, from 1 year to 5 years, more than 5 years: the subclinical course was most common in the group of up to 1 year; cholangiohepatitis prevailed in the group of between 1 to 5 years, allergic skin syndrome, cholangiocholecystitis and pancreatitis dominated in the group of more than 5 years. The immune response in chronic opisthorchiasis was characterized by: up to 1 year lymphocytosis, increased levels of immunoglobulins M (IgM) and circulating immune complexes (CIC), a decrease in the number of T-lymphocytes (CD3+), as well as an increase in bactericidal activity of leukocytes (BAL); between 1 and 5 years monocytosis, increased levels of immunoglobulins M, immunoglobulins G and circulating immune complexes, a decrease in T-cytotoxic lymphocytes (CD8+) and nitro blue tetrazolium (NBT test), as well as an increase in NK cells and phagocytic activity of monocytes, more than 5 years eosinophilia. Conclusion. Common features of rearrangement of the immune system in opisthorchiasis: inflammatory changes in the hemogram, activation of humoral immunity with parallel suppression of the cellular component of the immune system, and increased phagocytosis.


1983 ◽  
Vol 29 (12) ◽  
pp. 2035-2039 ◽  
Author(s):  
S S Levinson ◽  
J Goldman

Abstract We describe absorbance nephelometry of immunoglobulin G (IgG) in immune complexes (IC) with use of anti-IgG after precipitating the IgG from serum by three treatments with polyethylene glycol, 25 g/L final concentration. The three-step procedure removed all of the monomeric IgG, eliminating interference with the IC assay. Analytical recovery of IC was nearly 100%. Both the standard curve and results for control sera showed good day-to-day reproducibility, with CVs of less than 8%. Eighteen of 20 patients with diseases involving IC showed distinctly increased concentrations of IC; no increases were seen in 15 normal persons. Measurement of IC in 44 samples by this assay and a C1q assay gave a Spearman rank correlation coefficient of 0.76. The assay appears suited to routine use with manual double-beam spectrophotometers and stable nephelometers. The procedure is inexpensive, straightforward, and easy to perform.


2021 ◽  
Vol 80 (Suppl 1) ◽  
pp. 22.2-22
Author(s):  
L. Chatzis ◽  
A. Goules ◽  
A. Tzioufas ◽  
E. Kapsogeorgou

Background:CXCL13 has been implicated in the formation of ectopic germinal centers (GC) in minor salivary gland (MSG) inflammatory lesions of SS patients. Recent studies suggest that serum CXCL13 levels associate with disease severity and risk for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) development.Objectives:To validate the clinical utility of CXCL13 by investigating potential associations of saliva and serum CXCL13 levels with various histopathologic (including severity of MSG autoimmune infiltrates and GC formation), serologic and clinical features of the disease, as well as NHL.Methods:CXCL13 levels were measured by a commercially available ELISA (sensitivity: 1 pg/ml; Abcam, Cambridge, UK) in paired serum and saliva specimens from 25 SS patients (9 with NHL; SSL), 9 sicca controls (SC; sicca-complaining individuals with no infiltrates in diagnostic MSG biopsy and negative autoantibody profile) and 6 healthy controls (HC). From the 16 SS patients without evidence of NHL, 5 had mild, 6 intermediate and 5 severe lesions at MSGs, as arbitrarily defined by focus (FS) and Tarpley (TS) biopsy scores (mild: FS:1-1.7, TS:1, intermediate: FS:1.8-2.95, TS:2 and severe: FS: 3.0-11, TS: 3-4). Furthermore, the organization of the MSG infiltrates to GCs has been evaluated in 23 patients revealing 10 with GCs.Results:Kruskal-Wallis analysis revealed that serum CXCL13 levels were significantly increased in SS patients without or with NHL (median: 94.83 pg/ml and 96.70 pg/ml, respectively), compared to SC and HC (35.44 and 40.92 pg/ml respectively; p<0.05), whereas saliva levels were only marginally increased (76.47, 84.10, 55.98 and 65.30 pg/ml in SS, SSL, SC and HC, respectively, p=0.051). Among SS patients with distinct MSG lesion severity, only those with severe lesions were found to express significantly higher serum CXCL13 levels (149.3 pg/ml) from SC and HC (p: 0,0051 and 0.0166, respectively). Spearman’s Rank correlation analysis showed that both serum and saliva levels correlated with SG biopsy focus score (r: 0.6889, p=0.0001 and r: 0.4222, p=0.01, respectively). Mann-Whitney test revealed that serum CXCL13 levels were significantly elevated in patients with GCs at MSG lesions (156.1 vs 69.64 pg/ml, p:0.0015), rheumatoid factor (105.0 vs 53.72 pg/ml, p: 0.015) and marginally with anti-Ro/La antibodies (121.8 vs 65.05 pg/ml, p: 0.06) compared to those without. Furthermore, CXCL13 levels were significantly increased in SS patients at high risk to develop NHL compared to low risk (149.3 vs 71.54 pg/ml, respectively, p: 0.0275). Saliva levels were not found to associate with the studied features.Conclusion:Serum and to a lesser extend saliva CXCL13 levels are increased in SS and SSL patients and associate with the degree of MSG infiltration, as assessed by focus score. Serum, but not saliva, CXCL13 associates with various disease features, including GC formation, and may have a clinical utility in identifying SS patients at high risk to develop lymphoma.Disclosure of Interests:None declared


Author(s):  
Fu-Ju Tsai ◽  
Cheng-Yu Chen ◽  
Gwo-Liang Yeh ◽  
Yih-Jin Hu ◽  
Chie-Chien Tseng ◽  
...  

Background: Nursing educators should train nursing students to pursue physical, psychological, spiritual, and social health promotion. The purpose of this study was to explore relationships between nursing students’ meaning of life, positive beliefs, and well-being. Methods: A cross-sectional correlational study with a quantitative approach was adopted. Purposive sampling was used. A total of 170 nursing students voluntarily participated in this study. A 56-item questionnaire was used to examine nursing students’ meaning of life (1-25 items), positive beliefs (1-11 items), and well-being (1-20 items). The content validity index (CVI) of the study questionnaire was established as 0.95 by seven expert scholars. The reliability values for the three parts of the measure were as follows: meaning of life, Cronbach’s α 0.96; positive beliefs, Cronbach’s α 0.93; and well-being, Cronbach’s α 0.95. Percentages, frequencies, means, SDs, Kruskal-Wallis one-way analysis of variance by rank, Spearman’s rank correlation, one-way analysis of variance, Spearman’s rho correlation, and regression analysis were used for the data analysis. Results: Nursing students had the following mean scores: meaning of life with 4.02 (SD 0.56); positive beliefs with 3.92 (SD 0.62); and well-being with 3.95 (SD 0.57). The results indicate that for all nursing students, meaning of life was positively correlated with positive beliefs, r=0.83 (P<.01); similarly, all nursing students had positive beliefs that were positively correlated with meaning of life, r=0.83 (P<.01). In the results of the study, the nursing students’ background, meaning of life and positive beliefs explained 63% of the variance in well-being (Adjusted R2 squared =0.63, F=33.41, P<.001). Conclusions: Nursing students’ sense of meaning of life and positive beliefs may impact their well-being. Therefore, nursing educators can promote meaning of life and positive beliefs to nursing students as a way to increase their well-being for physical, psychological, spiritual, and social health promotion.


2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hui Jiang ◽  
Peian Lou ◽  
Xiaoluo Chen ◽  
Chenguang Wu ◽  
Shihe Shao

Abstract Background Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is mainly affected by genetic and environmental factors; however, the correlation of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) with T2DM remains largely unknown. Methods Microarray analysis was performed to identify the differentially expressed lncRNAs and messenger RNAs (mRNAs) in patients with T2DM and healthy controls, and the expression of two candidate lncRNAs (lnc-HIST1H2AG-6 and lnc-AIM1-3) were further validated using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient was used to measure the degree of association between the two candidate lncRNAs and differentially expressed mRNAs. Furthermore, the KEGG (Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes) pathway and GO (Gene Ontology) enrichment analysis were used to reveal the biological functions of the two candidate lncRNAs. Additionally, multivariate logistic regression analysis and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis were performed. Results The microarray analysis revealed that there were 55 lncRNAs and 36 mRNAs differentially expressed in patients with T2DM compared with healthy controls. Notably, lnc-HIST1H2AG-6 was significantly upregulated and lnc-AIM1-3 was significantly downregulated in patients with T2DM, which was validated in a large-scale qRT-PCR examination (90 controls and 100 patients with T2DM). Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient revealed that both lncRNAs were correlated with 36 differentially expressed mRNAs. Furthermore, functional enrichment (KEGG and GO) analysis demonstrated that the two lncRNA-related mRNAs might be involved in multiple biological functions, including cell programmed death, negative regulation of insulin receptor signal, and starch and sucrose metabolism. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that lnc-HIST1H2AG-6 and lnc-AIM1-3 were significantly correlated with T2DM (OR = 5.791 and 0.071, respectively, both P = 0.000). Furthermore, the ROC curve showed that the expression of lnc-HIST1H2AG-6 and lnc-AIM1-3 might be used to differentiate patients with T2DM from healthy controls (area under the ROC curve = 0.664 and 0.769, respectively). Conclusion The profiles of lncRNA and mRNA were significantly changed in patients with T2DM. The expression levels of lnc-HIST1H2AG-6 and lnc-AIM1-3 genes were significantly correlated with some features of T2DM, which may be used to distinguish patients with T2DM from healthy controls and may serve as potential novel biomarkers for diagnosis in the future.


Author(s):  
Rei Nakamichi ◽  
Toshiaki Taoka ◽  
Hisashi Kawai ◽  
Tadao Yoshida ◽  
Michihiko Sone ◽  
...  

Abstract Purpose To identify magnetic resonance cisternography (MRC) imaging findings related to Gadolinium-based contrast agent (GBCA) leakage into the subarachnoid space. Materials and methods The number of voxels of GBCA leakage (V-leak) on 3D-real inversion recovery images was measured in 56 patients scanned 4 h post-intravenous GBCA injection. Bridging veins (BVs) were identified on MRC. The numbers of BVs with surrounding cystic structures (BV-cyst), with arachnoid granulations protruding into the superior sagittal sinus (BV-AG-SSS) and the skull (BV-AG-skull), and including any of these factors (BV-incl) were recorded. Correlations between these variables and V-leak were examined based on the Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient. Receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curves were generated to investigate the predictive performance of GBCA leakage. Results V-leak and the number of BV-incl were strongly correlated (r = 0.609, p < 0.0001). The numbers of BV-cyst and BV-AG-skull had weaker correlations with V-leak (r = 0.364, p = 0.006; r = 0.311, p = 0.020, respectively). The number of BV-AG-SSS was not correlated with V-leak. The ROC curve for contrast leakage exceeding 1000 voxels and the number of BV-incl had moderate accuracy, with an area under the curve of 0.871. Conclusion The number of BV-incl may be a predictor of GBCA leakage and a biomarker for waste drainage function without using GBCA.


Author(s):  
Cheryl Jones ◽  
Katherine Payne ◽  
Alexander Thompson ◽  
Suzanne M. M. Verstappen

Abstract Objectives To identify whether it is feasible to develop a mapping algorithm to predict presenteeism using multiattribute measures of health status. Methods Data were collected using a bespoke online survey in a purposive sample (n = 472) of working individuals with a self-reported diagnosis of Rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Survey respondents were recruited using an online panel company (ResearchNow). This study used data captured using two multiattribute measures of health status (EQ5D-5 level; SF6D) and a measure of presenteeism (WPAI, Work Productivity Activity Index). Statistical correlation between the WPAI and the two measures of health status (EQ5D-5 level; SF6D) was assessed using Spearman’s rank correlation. Five regression models were estimated to quantify the relationship between WPAI and predict presenteeism using health status. The models were specified based in index and domain scores and included covariates (age; gender). Estimated and observed presenteeism were compared using tenfold cross-validation and evaluated using Root mean square error (RMSE). Results A strong and negative correlation was found between WPAI and: EQ5D-5 level and WPAI (r = − 0.64); SF6D (r =− 0.60). Two models, using ordinary least squares regression were identified as the best performing models specifying health status using: SF6D domains with age interacted with gender (RMSE = 1.7858); EQ5D-5 Level domains and age interacted with gender (RMSE = 1.7859). Conclusions This study provides indicative evidence that two existing measures of health status (SF6D and EQ5D-5L) have a quantifiable relationship with a measure of presenteeism (WPAI) for an exemplar application of working individuals with RA. A future study should assess the external validity of the proposed mapping algorithms.


Author(s):  
Ian Howard ◽  
Peter Cameron ◽  
Maaret Castrén ◽  
Lee Wallis ◽  
Veronica Lindström

ABSTRACT Background Quality Indicator (QI) appraisal protocols are a novel methodology that combines multiple appraisal methods to comprehensively assess the "appropriateness" of QIs for a particular healthcare setting. However, they remain inadequately explored compared to the single appraisal method approach. This paper aimed to describe and test a QI appraisal protocol versus the single method approach, against a series of QIs potentially relevant to the South African Prehospital Emergency Care setting. Methods An appraisal protocol was developed consisting of two categorical-based appraisal methods, combined with the qualitative analysis of the discussion generated during the consensus application of each method. The output of the protocol was assessed and compared with the application and output of each method. Inter-rater reliability of each particular method was evaluated prior to group consensus rating. Variation in the number of non-valid QIs and the proportion of non-valid QIs identified between each method and the protocol were compared and assessed. Results There was mixed IRR of the individual methods. There was similarly low to moderate correlation of the results obtained between the particular methods (Spearman’s rank correlation=0.42,p&lt;0.001). From a series of 104 QIs, 11 non-valid QIs were identified that were shared between the individual methods. A further 19 non-valid QIs were identified and not shared by each method, highlighting the benefits of a multi-method approach. The outcomes were additionally evident in the group discussion analysis, which in and of itself added further input that would not have otherwise been captured by the individual methods alone. Conclusion The utilization of a multi-method appraisal protocol offers multiple benefits, when compared to the single appraisal approach, and can provide the confidence that the outcomes of the appraisal will ensure a strong foundation on which the QI framework can be successfully implemented.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (Supplement_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
M Stratinaki ◽  
K Milaki ◽  
S Stavrakis ◽  
M Pitarokoilis ◽  
E Charitakis ◽  
...  

Abstract Funding Acknowledgements Type of funding sources: None. Introduction Hospitalization due to acute coronary syndromes (ACS) usually is the occasion that leads to diagnosis of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Current literature suggests that the severity of the ACS could be associated with the presence and the severity of DM. Purpose To study the reliability of HbA1c in the diagnosis of T2DM in the acute phase of ACS, as well as the presence of possible correlation between the HbA1c and the severity of ACS. Methods We evaluated 160 consecutive patients admitted due to ACS. HbA1c was measured on day 1 and day 90. HbA1c &gt;6.5% was used to diagnose T2DM and HbA1c 5.7-6.4% was used to diagnose pre-diabetes. The severity of ACS was assessed via Gensini score. Results are interpreted as mean ± SD. Comparisons were made by one way ANOVA(p &lt; 0.05 was regarded statistically significant).Spearman’s rank correlation was used to study the correlation between Gensini score and the other parameters. Results Mean age was 59.73 ± 12.21 years. 103/160(64.37%) were male and 57/160(35.63%) were female. 19/160(11.87%) were diagnosed as STEMI and 141/160(88.13%) as NSTEMI. Mean BMI was 29.55 ± 8.41 kg/m2 and mean Hb 12.62 ± 2.08 g/dl. On day 1, 43/160 (26.87%) had HbA1c &gt; 6.5% and 41/160(25.62%) HbA1c 5.7-6.4%. On day 90, 28/160 (17.5%) had HbA1c &gt; 6.5% and 52/160(32.5%) HbA1c 5.7-6.4%. Gensini score varied between 0-144 with mean value 40.26 ±35.9. A strong correlation was found between Gensini score and HbA1c on admission as well as on day 90 (rho-0.36, p &lt; 0.05 and rho = 0.32, p &lt; 0.05 respectively). Conclusion HbA1c seems to be reliable in the identification of pre-diabetes but not T2DM in the acute phase of ACS. The correlation of the severity between ACS and HbA1c seems to relate with the worst prognosis of T2DM patients.


Author(s):  
Heming Jia ◽  
Kangjian Sun ◽  
Wanying Zhang ◽  
Xin Leng

AbstractChimp optimization algorithm (ChOA) is a recently proposed metaheuristic. Interestingly, it simulates the social status relationship and hunting behavior of chimps. Due to the more flexible and complex application fields, researchers have higher requirements for native algorithms. In this paper, an enhanced chimp optimization algorithm (EChOA) is proposed to improve the accuracy of solutions. First, the highly disruptive polynomial mutation is used to initialize the population, which provides the foundation for global search. Next, Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient of the chimps with the lowest social status is calculated with respect to the leader chimp. To reduce the probability of falling into the local optimum, the beetle antennae operator is used to improve the less fit chimps while gaining visual capability. Three strategies enhance the exploration and exploitation of the native algorithm. To verify the function optimization performance, EChOA is comprehensively analyzed on 12 classical benchmark functions and 15 CEC2017 benchmark functions. Besides, the practicability of EChOA is also highlighted by three engineering design problems and training multilayer perceptron. Compared with ChOA and five state-of-the-art algorithms, the statistical results show that EChOA has strong competitive capabilities and promising prospects.


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