SERUM FREE LIGHT CHAIN MEASUREMENT

FBR ANNOUNCES THE AVAILABILITY OF
SERUM FREE LIGHT CHAIN MEASUREMENT - a significant contribution to the detection and management of plasma cell dyscrasias.

* Increase detection of light chain multiple myeloma, non-secretory multiple myeloma, and amyloidosis.
* Monitor treatment response in multiple myeloma, light chain multiple myeloma, non-secretory multiple myeloma, and amyloidosis.
* Assess progression risk in monogammopathy of unknown significance.

For more information on free light chain testing at FBR, visit the FBR Home page.

•ECOSCIENCEWORKS: FBR's Dr. Walter Allan and Jeri Erickson have been granted an extension year on their EcoScienceWorks grant. They plan to work with middle school librarians on a Straight-to-Student approach to engaging middle school students in the Program a Bunny unit of the Maine Explorer software. See Ecoscienceworks for more information on the ecoscienceworks project.

Watch for it! FBR Staff have been Busy:

Maternal obesity and markers of inflammation in pregnancy. by Jonathan M. Davis, Wendy Craig, Marilyn Collins, Walter Allan, Robert Quinn, and Olaf Damann.

Coming soon in a current issue of Cytokine

Recently Published by FBR Staff:

Maternal urine and serum steroid measurements to identify steroid sulfatase deficiency (STSD) in second trimester pregnancies.

Marcos J, Craig WY, Palomaki GE, Kloza EM, Haddow JE, Roberson M, Bradley LA, Shackleton CH.

OBJECTIVE: To document the performance of second trimester maternal urine and serum steroid measurements for detecting fetal steroid sulfatase deficiency (STSD). METHODS: We studied detection rate and false positive rate (DR, FPR) of analytes in maternal urine [combinations of 16alpha-OH-dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (16alpha-OH-DHEAS), 11beta-hydroxyandrosterone, total estriol] and serum [combinations of 16alpha-OH-DHEAS, 11beta-hydroxyandrosterone, total estriol, unconjugated estriol (uE3)]. Samples were obtained from pregnancies which were screen positive for Smith-Lemli-Opitz syndrome (SLOS). RESULTS: Among 1 079 301 pregnancies, 3083 (0.29%) were screen positive for SLOS. Urine and/or serum samples were available from 917 viable pregnancies with known gender. We assigned likelihood ratios (LRs) to steroid measurements from male fetuses with known STSD and unaffected female fetuses. An LR >/= 100 was present in urine from 84 of 86 STSD pregnancies (98% DR, 95% CI 92-99), along with 0 of 198 pregnancies with normal female fetuses (0.0% FPR, CI 0-1.9). LRs were >/= 100 in 4 of 129 female fetuses with major abnormalities (3% FPR). In maternal serum, steroid measurements performed less effectively, achieving a 71% DR for STSD at a 1.6% FPR. CONCLUSION: Maternal urine steroid measurements are effective for detecting STSD, including those with point mutations and those with full deletions. Copyright (c) 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Info Tidbit

From the FBR Library:
"Research shows that 80% of all Internet users have gone online to search for health information. Although most searchers are satisfied with their results, 75% are inconsistent when verifying the source and date of the information retrieved." [reference no.36 from Cobus, Laura (2009) "using blogs and wikis in a graduate public health course", Medical Reference Services Quarterly, 28(1):22-32]

New Test Available Soon

The Rheumatic Disease Laboratory at FBR continues to develop testing to aid physicians in the diagnosis and management of patients with rheumatic, neoplastic, and immunologic disorders. FREE LIGHT CHAIN MEASUREMENT will soon be available for enhanced detection and monitoring of Multiple Myeloma and related disorders.

Recently Published by FBR Staff:

Evaluation of the recombinant VlsE-based liaison chemiluminescence immunoassay for detection of Borrelia burgdorferi and diagnosis of Lyme disease. By Ledue TB, Collins MF, Young J, Schriefer ME. Published in: Clin Vaccine Immunol. 2008 Dec;15(12):1796-804. Epub 2008 Oct 22.
Abstract: Recent efforts to improve the serologic diagnosis of Lyme disease have included the use of a synthetic peptide (C6) that reproduces the sequence of invariable region 6 of VlsE, the variable surface antigen of Borrelia burgdorferi. In the present study, the diagnostic performance of DiaSorin's recombinant VlsE-based chemiluminescence immunoassay in 1,947 human serum samples was evaluated. Sensitivity was determined using two serum panels from the CDC. For panel I, we observed sensitivities of 68.4% and 75.6% for subjects with early, localized (n=19) or disseminated (n=41) disease, respectively. For panel II, we observed sensitivities of 61.5% and 100% for subjects with early (n=26) or late-stage (n=11) disease, respectively. We observed a specificity of 99.5% for healthy donors (n=600) living either in regions of the United States where the disease is endemic or in regions where it is not endemic. Overall, specificity among 207 potentially cross-reactive sera from subjects who had other spirochetal infections, nonspirochetal infections including bacterial and viral infections, or autoimmune or neurologic disease; who were positive for rheumatoid factor or anti-mouse antibodies; or who had been previously vaccinated for Lyme disease was 93.7%. In a direct comparison of 1,038 prospectively collected samples for Lyme disease testing we observed a relative sensitivity of 70%, a relative specificity of 99.1%, and an overall agreement of 97.1% between the DiaSorin recombinant VlsE chemiluminescence immunoassay and the Immunetics peptide-based C6 enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.

See Lola and click FBR Publications for a full list of articles published by FBR Staff.