Alterations in the serum biomarkers belonging to different metabolic systems of fish (Oreochromis niloticus) after Cd and Pb exposures.

The serum of vertebrates including human gives sufficient data about the current health status of organism in concern. Biomarkers have gained importance in evaluation of data from biological monitoring studies. In this study, freshwater fish Oreochromis niloticus were individually exposed Cd or Pb using acute (10µM, 2 d) and chronic (20µM, 20 d) exposure protocols to investigate the alterations in serum parameters (ALP, ALT, AST, LDH, lipase, glucose, protein, cholesterol and triglyceride) and response of the endocrine system functioning in different axis, namely HPI (cortisol), HPT (TSH, T3, T4), gonadal (LH, FSH) and prolactin. Data showed that except LH, the levels of all hormones decreased significantly following exposure to Cd and Pb both in acute and chronic exposures. In acute exposures, the activity of ALP and levels of cholesterol and triglyceride decreased significantly following both Cd and Pb exposures, while glucose levels increased only after Cd exposure. In chronic exposures, both metal exposures caused significant decreases in ALP activity and levels of cholesterol and triglyceride, though there were increases in glucose level after Cd exposure and AST, ALT and LDH levels after Pb exposure. Data emphasized the importance of biomarker selection and multiparameter usage of relevant systems in ecotoxicological research to achieve proper evaluation of environmental data.

Biological variations of some analytes in renal posttransplant patients: a different way to assess routine parameters.

BACKGROUND: Biological variation (BV) data of analytes have been used to evaluate the significant changes in serial results (reference change value, RCV) of healthy individuals in clinical laboratories. However, BV data of healthy subjects may not be identical to the analytes of patients with ongoing clinical condition. The aim of this study was to calculate intra-(CVw) (coefficient of variation for intra-individual BV) and inter-individual (CVg) BV, index of individuality, and RCV of nine serum analytes of renal posttransplant patients. METHODS: Six serum specimens were obtained in an interval of two months in a one-year period from 70 transplant patients who had been stable for three years. Each time creatinine, uric acid, urea, sodium, potassium, calcium, inorganic phosphate, total protein, and albumin of these patients were analyzed with an integrated clinical chemistry/immunoassay auto-analyzer. ANOVA tests were used to calculate the variations. Results were compared with the data of healthy subjects obtained from BV database. RESULTS: CVw of all nine analytes of the renal transplant patients were higher than the healthy subjects. RCVs of these analytes were calculated as 14.5% for creatinine, 16.5% for urea, 13.7% for urate, 12.57% for albumin, 8.26% for total protein, 3.25% for sodium, 12.81% for potassium, 5.88% for calcium, and 21.57% for inorganic phosphate. CONCLUSION: RCV concept for predicting the clinical status in posttransplant population represents an optimization of laboratory reporting and could be a valuable tool for clinical decision.