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Background: The fully automated and closed LIAISON(R) XL platform was developed for reliable detection of infection markers like hepatitis B virus (HBV) surface antigen (HBsAg), hepatitis C virus (HCV) antibodies (Ab) or human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-Ag/Ab. To date, less is known about the diagnostic performance of this system in direct comparison to the common Abbott ARCHITECT (R) platform. Objectives: We compared the diagnostic performance and usability of the DiaSorin LIAISON(R) XL with the commonly used Abbott ARCHITECT(R) system. Study design: The qualitative performance of the above mentioned assays was compared in about 500 sera. Quantitative tests were performed for HBsAg-positive samples from patients under therapy (n = 289) and in vitro expressed mutants (n = 37). For HCV-Ab, a total number of 155 selected samples from patients chronically infected with different HCV genotypes were tested. Results: The concordance between both systems was 99.4% for HBsAg, 98.81% for HCV-Ab, and 99.6% for HIV-Ab/Ag. The quantitative LIAISON(R) XL murex HBsAg assay detected all mutants in comparable amounts to the HBsAg wild type and yielded highly reliable HBsAg kinetics in patients treated with antiviral drugs. Dilution experiments using the 2nd International Standard for HBsAg (WHO) showed a high accuracy of this test. HCV-Ab from patients infected with genotypes 1-3 were equally detected in both systems. Interestingly, S/CO levels of HCV-Ab from patients infected with genotype 3 seem to be relatively low using both systems. Conclusions: The LIAISON(R) XL platform proved to be an excellent system for diagnostics of HBV, HCV, and HIV with equal performance compared to the ARCHITECT (R) system. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Background: The fully automated and closed LIAISON(R) XL platform was developed for reliable detection of infection markers like hepatitis B virus (HBV) surface antigen (HBsAg), hepatitis C virus (HCV) antibodies (Ab) or human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-Ag/Ab. To date, less is known about the diagnostic performance of this system in direct comparison to the common Abbott ARCHITECT (R) platform. Objectives: We compared the diagnostic performance and usability of the DiaSorin LIAISON(R) XL with the commonly used Abbott ARCHITECT(R) system. Study design: The qualitative performance of the above mentioned assays was compared in about 500 sera. Quantitative tests were performed for HBsAg-positive samples from patients under therapy (n = 289) and in vitro expressed mutants (n = 37). For HCV-Ab, a total number of 155 selected samples from patients chronically infected with different HCV genotypes were tested. Results: The concordance between both systems was 99.4% for HBsAg, 98.81% for HCV-Ab, and 99.6% for HIV-Ab/Ag. The quantitative LIAISON(R) XL murex HBsAg assay detected all mutants in comparable amounts to the HBsAg wild type and yielded highly reliable HBsAg kinetics in patients treated with antiviral drugs. Dilution experiments using the 2nd International Standard for HBsAg (WHO) showed a high accuracy of this test. HCV-Ab from patients infected with genotypes 1-3 were equally detected in both systems. Interestingly, S/CO levels of HCV-Ab from patients infected with genotype 3 seem to be relatively low using both systems. Conclusions: The LIAISON(R) XL platform proved to be an excellent system for diagnostics of HBV, HCV, and HIV with equal performance compared to the ARCHITECT (R) system. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

BACKGROUND: The aim of the study was to determine the role of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) on the microvasculature and on angiogenetic gene expression after partial hepatectomy (PH) in the rat model. METHODS: To determine the effect of exogenous and endogenous VEGF after PH, rats were subjected to 70% PH and treated either with VEGF, anti-VEGF or NaCl. Postoperatively (3-168 h), vessel density (VD), vessel diameter (VDi), and intersinusoidal space, liver body weight ratio (LBR), hepatic proliferation and biochemical markers were assessed. To further elucidate the underlying molecular mechanisms hepatic gene expression was determined by customized cDNA arrays and quantitative RT-PCR. RESULTS: In the VEGF group, VD, VDi, and LBR were significantly increased compared with anti-VEGF or controls. Blockage of endogenous VEGF led to a marked increase of biochemical markers. Anti-VEGF almost completely suppressed and VEGF markedly enhanced hepatic proliferation in the first 24 h after surgery. This was associated with a modulation of cell cycle control genes (PC4, Gadd45a, Tis21/BTG2), v-jun, and CD14 by VEGF. CONCLUSIONS: VEGF plays an important role in liver regeneration and this may be due in part through its effects on neovascularization. Whether it may, when given therapeutically, represent a strategy to optimize liver regeneration in problematic patients needs to be clarified.