News
This start-up is offering $8,000 blood transfusions from teens to people who want to fight aging
A start-up called Ambrosia is charging $8,000 for blood transfusions from young people.
About 100 people have signed up to receive an infusion, according to founder Dr. Jesse Karmazin.
Anyone over age 35 can become an Ambrosia customer, said Karmazin, but most of the early adopters tend to be of retirement age. He also stressed that it's a range of people who have signed up. The donated blood typically comes from teenagers, although anyone under age 25 is eligible. The company buys its supply from blood banks, which also sell blood to pharmaceutical companies. So high-schoolers donating their blood are not aware that it might be used on healthy adults.
Karmazin explained that the company does not claim that it can cure aging. Instead, he's hoping to recruit hundreds more people to research whether the transfusions can help fight particular symptoms associated with aging. Traditionally, biological aging hasn't been treated as a disease, which makes it challenging to study.
Robots Become Essential for the Clinical Diagnostic Lab, Says New Report
There is an 8.8 billion-dollar market for robotic laboratory automation systems, according to Kalorama Information. The healthcare research firm just completed a report on lab robots, and notes the imbalance between the high demand for diagnostics and the lack of supply of qualified technicians.
"More than two-thirds of clinical decisions are based on laboratory test results, and new tests are developed constantly," said Bruce Carlson, Publisher of Kalorama Information. "But a shrinking field of qualified laboratory personnel, while demand grows requires something to handle the tasks created."
Kalorama Information is a New York City-based market research firm that covers biotech, IVD and healthcare. The firm covered the market for lab robotics in its report Robotic Lab Automation. In the report, the firm notes that currently, many laboratories performing medical sample analyses still use manual distribution systems. The process starts first when the data for the incoming samples is captured. The samples are then placed in racks in batches, carried by employees to the various analysis stations and, if necessary, re-sorted from time to time for further analyses. Labor, notes Kalorama, is still about 60% of the cost of lab services.
Robotic technology can be harnessed to completely automate the work flow process. There are many laboratory processes suited for robotic automation – namely those processes that entail repetitive movements, such as pick and place; heating and cooling specimens; as well as mixing, shaking, and testing specimens. Essentially, laboratory robots manage specimen tubes, prepare them for testing, and allow for sample tracking throughout the testing process, from collection to results. The systems have various modules that participate in sample preparation, transport to analytical instruments — such as hematology, chemistry and immunoassay analyzers — and post-analytical storage. Each module often includes several units, such as decappers, sorters, centrifuges, analyzers, and refrigerators.
World’s Fastest Sepsis Test from Abionic Produces Result in Five Minutes
Abionic SA, a developer of point-of-care diagnostic solutions, announced initial positive results from evaluation studies with its rapid PSP (pancreatic stone protein) test for sepsis risk assessment and management conducted at two internationally renowned university hospitals, Zurich University Hospital (Switzerland) and University College London Hospital (UK). Sepsis is the number one preventable death, if treated within the first hour. Abionic’s CE marked, abioSCOPE is the only device worldwide that provides results showing an indication of sepsis within 5 minutes.
"This POC test has the potential to help us identify sepsis patients more quickly than with currently available technologies. Introducing such a test complies with recently released NICE objectives as well as the guidelines issued earlier this year by the World Health Organisation (WHO)”
"Accurately diagnosing sepsis early is crucial so that appropriate treatment can be started. This provides the greatest chance of success and patient recovery. These initial clinical evaluation studies have demonstrated the potentially huge impact our five minute test can have in hospital ICUs and emergency departments," stated Dr. Fabien Rebeaud, Chief Scientific Officer of Abionic.
"Pancreatic stone protein (PSP) is currently one of the most promising biomarkers to identify sepsis patients early. A precise and accurate sepsis biomarker makes sense only if it is readily available to the clinicians, and as seen from the data generated in our recently completed study, the 5 minute abioSCOPE platform is unique to provide this service," said Professor Dr Rolf Graf, Head of Research, Department of Surgery and Transplantation, Zurich University Hospital.
Related article: Advances and pitfalls in using laboratory biomarkers for the diagnosis and management of sepsis
Clinical Chemistry
Chemistry Case Study: Unexplained Metabolic Acidosis
Case Workup
A 24-year-old female at 34 weeks of gestation was transferred from an outside hospital with history of nephrolithiasis and right side pyelonephritis, for which she underwent stent placement 2 weeks ago. She started experiencing severe pain and muscle spasms in her hip and was unable to move her leg due to the pain. She had decreased appetite and also noted vomiting. Her bilirubin and aminotransferases were found to be elevated. Additionally, her blood gas analysis showed a bicarbonate of 9 mEq/L, pH of 7.2 with 99% SpO2. Our clinical chemistry team was consulted on her low pH.
Patient’s laboratory workup is shown in the table within the article. We first ruled out some common causes of metabolic acidosis, including lactic acidosis and diabetic ketoacidosis. Ingestion of toxic alcohols was ruled out based on normal osmolality and osmolar gap. Normal BUN, creatinine, and their ratio ruled out renal failure.
Positive urinary ketones were noted, with an elevated anion gap. Serum beta-hydroxybutyrate was therefore measured and a result of 3.0 mmol/L (ref: <0.4 mmol/L) confirmed ketoacidosis. Patient had no history of diabetes and no recent alcohol consumption. On the basis of excluding other causes, and also considering her decreased appetite and recurrent vomiting, it is believed that ketoacidosis was caused by "starvation."
Transfusion Medicine
Reducing the wastage of blood products by changing clinical practice
Before 2013, Aneurin Bevan University Health Board had one of the highest levels of red blood cell unit wastage in Wales. An improvement project led by a transfusion practitioner and former critical care nurse was launched to reduce that wastage by decreasing the number of inappropriate requests for blood products and encouraging requests for single blood units.
This article describes the project, its outcomes, the tools used to implement change, and the next challenges in minimising wastage and promoting the use of single-unit transfusions.
Key points
- Red blood cells are a precious resource, so minimising blood unit wastage is crucial
- Red blood cell wastage can happen when clinical staff request more units than they need on a ‘just-in-case’ basis
- Single-unit transfusions, recommended in stable, non-bleeding patients, reduce the risk of transfusion reactions and complications
- Ongoing training and good teamwork with blood bank staff, nurses and doctors across specialties can help reduce blood wastage
Read the entire article by clicking on the article title above.
Microbiology
Federal government spends $4M to fight Lyme disease
Federal Health Minister Jane Philpott unveiled the government's plan to establish a Lyme disease research network designed to improve diagnosis and treatment.
The government also released a framework for fighting the disease, focused on three areas:
- Establishing a national medical surveillance program to use data collected by the Public Health Agency of Canada to track incidence rates and the economic costs of Lyme disease.
- Creating and distributing standardized educational materials for public health care providers to increase national awareness to improve prevention, identification, treatment and management.
- Establishing guidelines for prevention, identification, treatment and management with a framework for sharing best practices throughout Canada.
The infectious disease is caused by Borrelia burgdorferi bacteria, and transmitted through the bite of select types of infected ticks.
Philpott said the strategy was developed after consultation with a broad spectrum of stakeholders, and will help create more effective detection and treatment.
"There's much more work to do on educating health care professionals, educating Canadians in general to make sure we serve people properly and they get the proper care," she said.
Molecular Genetics
NIH researchers find potential genetic cause of Cushing syndrome
A small study by researchers at the National Institutes of Health suggests that mutations in the gene CABLES1 may lead to Cushing syndrome, a rare disorder in which the body overproduces the stress hormone cortisol. The study appears online in Endocrine-Related Cancer.
The excess cortisol found in Cushing syndrome can result from certain steroid medications or from tumors of the pituitary or adrenal glands. Symptoms of the disease include obesity, muscle weakness, fatigue, high blood pressure, high blood sugar, depression and anxiety.
Researchers at NIH’s Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), in collaboration with researchers at other institutions in the United States, France and Canada, scanned tumor and cell tissue from 146 children with pituitary tumors evaluated for Cushing syndrome at the NIH Clinical Center. Researchers also scanned the genes of tumors from some of the children. Investigators in France scanned the genes of an additional 35 adult patients with Cushing syndrome and pituitary tumors.
The research team found that four of the patients have mutant forms of CABLES1 that do not respond to cortisol. This is significant because, when functioning normally, the CABLES1 protein, expressed by the CABLES1 gene, slows the division and growth of pituitary cells that produce the hormone adrenocorticotropin (ACTH). In turn, ACTH stimulates the adrenal gland to produce cortisol, which then acts on the pituitary gland to halt the growth of ACTH-producing cells, effectively suppressing any tumor development. Because cortisol does not affect the four mutant forms of CABLES1 discovered by the researchers, these genes leave production of ACTH-releasing cells unchecked.
Research
Test to Detect "Hidden" HIV Developed
Scientists at the University of Pittsburgh’s Graduate School of Public Health announced in Nature Medicine that they’ve created a test sensitive enough to detect "hidden" HIV, and yet is faster, less labor-intensive and less expensive than the current "gold standard" test.
To date, the best test available to do this is called a "quantitative viral outgrowth assay," or Q-VOA. This test has many drawbacks: It may provide only a minimal estimate of the size of the latent HIV reservoir, requires a large volume of blood and is labor-intensive, time-consuming and expensive.
Phalguni Gupta, Ph.D's team developed a test that they call TZA. It works by detecting a gene that is turned on only when replicating HIV is present, thereby flagging the virus for technicians to quantify.
The TZA test produces results in one week compared to the two weeks needed using the Q-VOA, and at a third of the cost. It also requires a much smaller volume of blood and is less labor-intensive.
"Using this test, we demonstrated that asymptomatic patients on antiretroviral therapy carry a much larger HIV reservoir than previous estimates—as much as 70 times what the Q-VOA test was detecting,” said Gupta. “Because these tests have different ways to measure HIV that is capable of replicating, it is likely beneficial to have both available as scientists strive toward a cure."
Because of its low cell requirement, the TZA also may be useful for quantification of replication-competent HIV-1 in the pediatric population, as well as in the lymph nodes and tissues where the virus persists.
Novel blood biopsy device may identify which prostate cancers will spread
Researchers at Cedars-Sinai and UCLA developed a device known as the NanoVelcro Chip to identify and characterize tumor cells circulating through a patient’s blood, providing insights about how likely their cancer is to spread.
"It is far better to draw a tube of blood once per month to monitor cancer than to make patients undergo repeated surgical procedures," Edwin Posadas, MD, medical director of the urologic oncology program and co-director of the translational oncology program at Cedars-Sinai’s Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute, said in a press release. "The power of this technology lies in its capacity to provide information that is equal to or even superior to traditional tumor sampling by invasive procedures."
HemOnc Today spoke with Posadas about the technology, its potential benefits, and what questions must still be answered before the device can be employed in the clinical setting.
Q: How does the device work?
A: Since the 1970s, scientists hypothesized that there are cells from cancerous tumors that are shed into the bloodstream or circulatory system from the original site of the malignancy. The problem is that cancer cells in circulation — now called circulating tumor cells — is the proverbial ‘needle in a haystack.’ It is a one-in-a-million type of cell. There has long been a desire to use blood to diagnose and monitor cancer and, as nanotechnology evolved, there arose an interest in developing tools for pulling these rare events out of the bloodstream.
This assay combines a nanotechnology surface with a microfluidic mixing system. The device is as small as a quarter. The blood runs through about 12 different baffles, the purpose of which are to push cells in the blood against the NanoVelcro Chip. The chip’s surface is covered in nanometer-sized silicon wires that are coated with a predesignated trap substance. As the cells are flowed through the mixer and bounce up and down on the surface, these coated nanowires interact with small nanostructured folds on the cancer cell so proteins that stick to the surface interact with trap substances. The two surfaces form a tight bond that looks like common Velcro at the molecular level. We are able to adjust what is present on the surface of the NanoVelcro Chip to refine what types of cells the device will pull out from circulation. This is very important because we are trying to identify the proverbial ‘needle in a haystack’. Even if we were to throw the entire ‘haystack’ over this device and we have a very specific capture setup, it is not difficult to capture the needle.
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