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Objective. Although there is information on biochemical markers of muscle and cardiac damage following strenuous exercise, little is known about the kinetics of these markers in athletes performing sub-maximal exercise. Material and methods. Fifteen healthy, trained, Caucasian males took part in a 21-km run. Blood samples were collected before the run, immediately after (post), and 3 h, 6 h and 24 h thereafter. Biochemical markers of muscle and cardiac damage were evaluated on the Modular System, employing proprietary reagents. In no case did the concentration of troponin T increase by >0.03 ng/mL. The values of aspartate aminotransferase (AST), creatine kinase (CK), CK MB, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and myoglobin increased significantly immediately after the run and remained elevated 24 h thereafter. Results. The number of subjects with values above the upper limit of the relative reference ranges did not vary throughout the study period for AST and LDH, while it increased significantly for CK, CK MB and myoglobin. The major variation over the pre-run value was recorded for myoglobin (3-fold increment), whereas AST and LDH increased 1.1 and 1.3-fold, respectively. Conclusions. The results suggest the hypothesis that sub-maximal exercise influences the concentration of several biomarkers of muscle damage for up to 24 h with no biochemical signs of myocardial damage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction The potential cross-contamination of additives between primary blood tubes is a well-known problem during sample collection. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of citrated blood contamination with different amounts of dipotassium ethylenediaminetetraacetic (K2 EDTA blood) on activated partial thromboplastin time ( APTT), prothrombin time ( PT), and fibrinogen. Methods Blood was collected from 15 ostensibly healthy volunteers into four 0.109 m citrate blood tubes followed by one K2 EDTA blood tube. The citrate tubes of each subject were pooled and divided in five aliquots. The whole blood of the K2 EDTA tube was then added in scalar amounts to autologous citrated blood aliquots, to obtain K2 EDTA contamination ranging from 0% to 43%, and thus mimic potential pre-analytical contamination. Results A statistically and clinically significant prolongation was observed for both APTT and PT between 29% and 43% K2 EDTA contamination, whereas the decrease of fibrinogen values became statistically and clinically significant at 43% K2 EDTA contamination. Conclusion The results of this investigation show that contamination of citrated blood with as much as 29% of K2 EDTA blood generates a significant bias in results of routine clotting assays. This has serious implications for patient safety and management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-pressure liquid chromatography instruments specifically devised for separating haemoglobin (Hb) fractions have been increasingly employed by the hospital laboratories over the recent years since they allow easy and fast screening for several Hb variants. Although such instruments may be proposed as sensitive, specific and reliable alternatives to the classic electrophoretic techniques, a major drawback of this screening strategy is the almost identical retention time of several Hb variants. In particular, at least 18 Hb variants have been reported in the same retention window as HbA2, including HbE, the second most common β-chain variant in humans after sickle cell trait. Recently, we evaluated the performance characteristics of an improved buffer formulation originally conceived for Hb variants separation procedures on the fully automated high-pressure liquid chromatography instrument Tosoh G7. At variance with other fully automated high-pressure liquid chromatography analyzers, the elution pattern on the G7 in subjects heterozygous for HbE is characterized by the presence of four suggestive peaks (HbF, HbA, HbA2 and HbE), confirming the effective separation of HbE from HbA2. Because of its potential value in the diagnosis of the thalassaemia syndromes, the effective separation of HbA2 from HbE can provide clinical laboratories with a valuable information for the diagnostic reasoning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Physical activity is essential for weight control, for limiting onset and complications of chronic disorders and for preventing impaired insulin sensitivity. Little is known about the glycaemic adaptations of physically active subjects, especially elite and professional athletes. Thus, we evaluated the glycaemic control in elite and professional cyclists by assessing fasting plasma glucose (FPG) and glycated haemoglobin (HbAlc). The study population consisted of 47 male professional road cyclists, 72 male elite road cyclists and 58 male sedentary blood donors. A significant difference was observed for FPG between sedentary controls (96 ± 8 mg/dL) and either elite (91 ± 8 mg/dL; p <0.001) or professional cyclists (89 ± 8 mg/dl; p <0.001). Athletes showed a consistent trend towards higher HbAl c values, reaching statistical significance between sedentary individuals and professional cyclists (5.2 ±0.3% versus 5.4 ± 0.2%; p = 0.017). In multiple linear regression analysis, the intensity of physical exercise is inversely correlated with FPG (r=-0.320; p<0.001) and directly correlated with HbAlc (r=0.190; p=0.006). These results demonstrate a significant association between intensity of the training regimen and both FPG and HbA1c, highlighting the need for establishing the appropriate critical difference for the measurement of FPG and HbA1c according to the training and exercise workload. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We evaluated the analytical performances of a new commercial chemiluminescent enzyme immunometric assay ford-dimer measurement on the Immulite 2000 automated analyser. The within- and between-run coefficients of variations for low, intermediate and highd-dimer concentrations ranged from 2.2% to 5.1% and from 2.9% to 6.0% respectively. The assay was proven linear in a range ofd-dimer concentrations comprised between 324 and 7602 ng/ml. Comparison of samples collected in either 0.109 mol/l sodium citrate or lithium–heparin tubes by Bland–Altman plots and nonparametric regression analysis ( y = 0.858 x − 39, r = 0.997; P < 0.0001) revealed a minimum bias, almost completely attributable to the dilution effect of the anticoagulant. Results of 56 outpatients’ citrated plasma samples analysed with the Immulite 2000d-dimer assay were compared with those of the current reference commercial immunoassay on the Mini Vidas Immunoanalyser. Although the nonparametric regression according to the method of Passing and Bablok and the relative Spearman's correlation coefficient was satisfactory (Immulite = 1.001 × Vidas − 181; r = 0.937, P < 0.001), some random discrepancies could be observed in Bland–Altman plots analysis. The analytical accuracy, calculated as the area under the Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC), was 0.961 ( P < 0.0001). On the basis of the results of the present evaluation, we conclude that the analytical performances and the main technical features of new Immulite 2000d-dimer assay make it a suitable method for the rapid quantification ofd-dimer in clinical laboratories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]