Evaluation of Random Urine Sodium and Potassium Compensated by Creatinine as Possible Alternative Markers for 24 Hours Urinary Sodium and Potassium Excretion

Sodium and potassium intake was assessed on the basis of its respective excretion levels in 24 hr urine samples. However, owing to the inconvenience of collection, we evaluated random spot urine for alternative sodium and potassium excretion markers. We included 250 patients who submitted 24 hr- and spot urine for clinical tests. However, 22 patients who showed 24 hr urine creatinine excretion levels <500 mg/day were excluded, because these samples possibly resulted from incomplete urine collection. Moreover, 24 patients were excluded because of their use of diuretics during the urine collection period. We observed significant correlations between 24 hr urine sodium excretion and both the sodium/creatinine (r=0.34, P<0.0001) and the sodium/specific gravity unit (SGU) ratios (r=0.19, P=0.007) in random urine samples. Similarly, 24 hr urine potassium excretion and both the spot urine potassium/creatinine (r=0.47, P<0.0001) and potassium/SGU ratios (r=0.28, P<0.0001) were significantly correlated. Although the estimated sodium/creatinine and potassium/creatinine ratios showed a significant correlation with 24 hr urine sodium and potassium excretion, respectively, further studies are required to develop a spot urine test for individualized monitoring of sodium and potassium excretion.

The Evaluation of Recovery Rate of Neisseria gonorrhoeae in Two Bacterial Transport Swab Systems and Prevalence of Co-Infection after Delayed Transport / 대한임상미생물학회지

BACKGROUND: Neisseria gonorrhoeae infection remains prevalent, and the emergence of antimicrobial resistance has made the treatment and control of gonorrhea more difficult. Therefore, it is important to compare isolation methods and transport media to overcome gonorrhea via epidemiologic understanding and to determine co-infection rates with other sexually transmitted diseases among primary-care hospitals. In this study, we determine the recovery rate of transferred specimens according to type of transport media and co-infection rate using PCR. METHODS: Genital specimens were collected at three primary-care hospitals from January 2010 to November 2012 using transgrow media and commercial BD transport media. Culture and multiplex PCR were conducted to isolate N. gonorrhoeae. RESULTS: Among 162 specimens, 57 (35.2%) isolates were recovered, and 146 (90.1%) specimens were positive for multiplex PCR. The recovery rate was 29.9% (78/261) using transgrow media and 19.2% (50/261) using BD transport media. The most common co-infected bacteria with N. gonorrhoeae was Chlamydia trachomatis (15.8%), followed by Mycoplasma hominis (6.2%) and M. genitalium (3.4%). CONCLUSION: Under general transport conditions, the rate of recovery of N. gonorrhoeae was as low as 19.2-29.9% depending on the type of transport media, suggesting that molecular diagnostic methods are required to detect the remaining 70% of gonorrhea-infected patients. Co-infection with other sexually transmitted diseases was not rare, and other tests for accurate additional antimicrobial regimens should also be considered.