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Introduction: Participation in external quality assessment (EQA) is central to the maintenance of high-quality laboratory results in patient diagnosis and clinical trials. Laboratories in the TAF112582 DETECTIVE study (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01376167) are enrolled in the United Kingdom National Quality Assessment Scheme (UK NEQAS) for glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) quantitative assay, which utilizes ovine (sheep) blood as a readily available source of apparently G6PD-deficient survey material. A substitute for sheep blood was sought because some non-UK sites in the study encountered participation difficulties due to the strict regulations on the import of sheep blood into their countries., Methods: G6PD activity in normal human donor blood was abrogated by the action of heat under controlled conditions. Residual G6PD activity in the heated samples was measured by UK NEQAS using the Trinity Biotech 345 kit (Trinity Biotech) and a Jenway 6715 UV/Vis spectrophotometer with external temperature control to monitor enzyme kinetics and linearity over a set time. Heat-treated material was also assayed for G6PD activity and assessed for its acceptability as EQA survey material by selected UK laboratories., Results: Blood heated at 45 °C for 15 h showed a reduction in G6PD activity of 76.3 ± 4.6% (n = 6) and was considered acceptable as EQA material in terms of appearance and behaviour by the majority of UK sites in the trial., Conclusions: We have developed a simple heat-treatment procedure to produce EQA survey material with low/intermediate G6PD activity, similar to that found in females heterozygous for G6PD deficiency., (© 2017 The Authors. International Journal of Laboratory Hematology Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Population migration has led to the global dispersion of human hemoglobinopathies and has precipitated a need for their identification. An effective mass spectrometry-based procedure involves analysis of the intact alpha- and beta-globin chains to determine their mass, followed by location of the variant amino acid residue by direct analysis of the enzymatically digested chains and low-energy collision induced dissociation of the variant peptide. Using this procedure, a variant was identified as either beta54Val-->Leu or beta54Val-->Ile, since the amino acids leucine and isoleucine cannot be distinguished using low-energy collisions. Here, we describe how hot electron capture dissociation on a Fourier transform-ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometer was used to distinguish isoleucine from leucine and identify the mutation as beta54(D5)Val-->Ile. This is a novel variant, and we have named it Hb Askew.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of a fish oil preparation (MaxEPA) on hemostatic function and fasting lipid and glucose levels in non-insulin-dependent diabetic (NIDDM) subjects. Eighty NIDDM outpatients aged 55.9 yr (mean SD 11.5 yr) participated in a prospective double-blind placebo-controlled study of MaxEPA capsules (10 g/day) or olive oil (control) treatment over 6 wk. Patients received either MaxEPA or olive oil in addition to preexisting therapy. Metabolic and hemostatic variables were measured before treatment and after 3 and 6 wk. Platelet membrane eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) content increased in the treatment group (P less than 0.001). MaxEPA supplementation was associated with a significant fall in total triglycerides (P less than 0.001) but did not affect total cholesterol (P = 0.7) compared with control treatment. Fasting plasma glucose increased after 3 wk (P = 0.01) but not after 6 wk (P = 0.17) treatment with MaxEPA. Spontaneous platelet aggregation in whole blood fell in the MaxEPA group (P less than 0.02) after 6 wk, but there were no changes in agonist-induced platelet aggregation, thromboxane generation in platelet-rich plasma, or plasma beta-thromboglobulin and platelet factor IV levels. An increase in clotting factor VII (P = 0.02), without changes in fibrinogen or factor X levels, occurred in the MaxEPA group. Similar reductions in blood pressure were observed in both groups. Dietary supplementation with MaxEPA capsules (10 g/day) in NIDDM subjects is associated with improvement in hypertriglyceridemia but with deleterious effects in factor VII and blood glucose levels. Most indices of platelet function are unaffected by this therapy.