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Objective:To investigate levels of serum IL-34 in SLE patients,and correlation between concentrations of serum IL-34 and other established serum markers and disease activity indexes.Methods: In all,78 SLE patients and 53 healthy controls were enrolled in the research.Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA) was employed to measuring the concentrations of serological IL-34.Then,serum IL-34 levels between SLE group and healthy controls were analyzed by Mann-Whitney U test.Meanwhile,the correlation between the serum IL-34 levels and disease activity indexes and other established serum markers were assessed.Serum IL-34 levels were significantly higher in SLE patients compared to healthy controls[(Median,128.9 pg/ml) vs (Median,52.4 pg/ml),P<0.001].Results: Their levels were remarkably associated with accumulation of the clinical features of SLE.Additionally,IL-34 titers were positively correlated with the SLE disease activity indexes,anti-double stranded DNA antibody(anti-dsDNA)titers and C-reactive protein(CRP)levels,but inversely with C3 levels.Conclusion: Serum IL-34 could be a candidate biomarker for SLE as the elevated serum levels in treatment-naive SLE patients and its association with SLE disease activity.
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Objective To investigate the value of serum ischemia-modified protein (IMA),hypersensitivity C reaction protein (hs-CRP),myoglobin (MYO)creatine kinase MB (CK-MB)and ultra-sensitivity troponin T (hs-cTnT)in the early diagnosis of patients with acute coronary syndrome(ACS).Methods Serum levels of IMA,hs-CRP,MYO,CK-MB and hs-cTnT were meaused in 94 patients with ACS[including 40 cases of unstable angina pectoris(UAP),20 cases of non-ST segment elevation myocardial in-farction(NSTEMI),non-Q wave myocardial infarction and 34 cases of ST segment elevation myocardial infarction(STEMI),Q wave myocardial infarction]and 99 cases of controls.The efficiency,sensitivity,specificity,negative and positive predictive values in the early diagnosis of ACS were compared among 5 kinds markers by the ROC curve.Results The detection results of serum IMA,hs-CRP,MYO,CK-MB and hs-cTnT had statistically significant differences between the UAP,NSTEMI and STEMI groups with the normal control group (P 0.05).Conclusion In the patients with ACS,the multiple indicators combined detection can achieve the early diagnostic value.
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BACKGROUND: We investigated the influence of pre-analytical factors on the results of clinical tests and thereby analyzed approaches to improve quality management in clinical laboratories. METHODS: Unqualified clinical samples were selected from all the samples received at our clinical laboratory. The data were collected for 2009 and 2010, i.e., the years before and after the establishment of the laboratory quality management system. The rate and causes of generation of unqualified samples were analyzed, and measures to improve the laboratory practices were studied and implemented. RESULTS: A total of 1,051 unqualified samples were identified from among the 553,158 samples (the overall incidence rate of unqualified samples was 0.19%). The number of unqualified samples substantially varied according to the nature of the sample, and clinical samples collected for routine blood tests or coagulation tests were the predominant unqualified samples. The main causes of generation of unqualified samples were insufficient sample volumes and improper methods of mixing the samples. The rate of generation of unqualified samples decreased significantly after the implementation of improvement measures (0.26% in 2009 vs. 0.13% in 2010, P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The number of unqualified samples decreased significantly after the establishment of the laboratory quality management system, which promoted active communication among and training of the clinical staff to reduce the occurrence of pre-analytical errors. Comprehensive control of pre-analytical factors is an important approach in improving the clinical laboratory practices.