79 research outputs found
European Specialist Porphyria Laboratories: Diagnostic Strategies, Analytical Quality, Clinical Interpretation, and Reporting As Assessed by an External Quality Assurance Program
BACKGROUND: The porphyrias are a group of rare metabolic disorders whose diagnosis depends on identification of specific patterns of porphyrin precursor and porphyrin accumulation in urine, blood, and feces. Diagnostic tests for porphyria are performed by specialized laboratories in many countries. Data regarding the analytical and diagnostic performance of these laboratories are scarce.
METHODS: We distributed 5 sets of multispecimen samples from different porphyria patients accompanied by clinical case histories to 18–21 European specialist porphyria laboratories/centers as part of a European Porphyria Network organized external analytical and postanalytical quality assessment (EQA) program. The laboratories stated which analyses they would normally have performed given the case histories and reported results of all porphyria-related analyses available, interpretative comments, and diagnoses.
RESULTS: Reported diagnostic strategies initially showed considerable diversity, but the number of laboratories applying adequate diagnostic strategies increased during the study period. We found an average interlaboratory CV of 50% (range 12%–152%) for analytes in absolute concentrations. Result normalization by forming ratios to the upper reference limits did not reduce this variation. Sixty-five percent of reported results were within biological variation–based analytical quality specifications. Clinical interpretation of the obtained analytical results was accurate, and most laboratories established the correct diagnosis in all distributions.
CONCLUSIONS: Based on a case-based EQA scheme, variations were apparent in analytical and diagnostic performance between European specialist porphyria laboratories. Our findings reinforce the use of EQA schemes as an essential tool to assess both analytical and diagnostic processes and thereby to improve patient care in rare diseases
Key Terms and Definitions in Acute Porphyrias: Results of an International Delphi Consensus Led by the European Porphyria Network
Background: Acute porphyrias are a group of rare inherited disorders causing acute neurovisceral attacks. Many terms used frequently in the literature and in clinical practice are ambiguous, which can lead to confusion in the way patients are managed, studied, and reported in clinical studies. Agreed definitions are a necessary first step in developing management guidelines and will facilitate communication of results of future clinical research. Methods: The Delphi method was used to generate consensus on key terms and definitions in acute porphyria. The process started with a brainstorming phase offered to all members of the European Porphyria Network followed by 2 Delphi rounds among international experts in the field of porphyria (the Acute Porphyria Expert Panel). A consensus of 75% or more was defined as the agreement threshold. Results: 63 respondents from 26 countries participated in the brainstorming phase, leading to the choice of 9 terms and definitions. 34 experts were invited to take part in the Delphi rounds. 7 of the initial 9 terms and definitions which entered the first Delphi round achieved the threshold for agreement. Following a second Delphi round, all 9 definitions achieved agreement. Conclusion: Agreement on the definitions for 9 important terms describing acute porphyrias represents a significant step forward for the porphyria community. It will facilitate more accurate comparison of outcomes among porphyria centres and in clinical trials and provide a strong framework for developing evidence based clinical guidelines.Background: Acute porphyrias are a group of rare inherited disorders causing acute neurovisceral attacks. Many terms used frequently in the literature and in clinical practice are ambiguous, which can lead to confusion in the way patients are managed, studied, and reported in clinical studies. Agreed definitions are a necessary first step in developing management guidelines and will facilitate communication of results of future clinical research. Methods: The Delphi method was used to generate consensus on key terms and definitions in acute porphyria. The process started with a brainstorming phase offered to all members of the European Porphyria Network followed by 2 Delphi rounds among international experts in the field of porphyria (the Acute Porphyria Expert Panel). A consensus of 75% or more was defined as the agreement threshold. Results: 63 respondents from 26 countries participated in the brainstorming phase, leading to the choice of 9 terms and definitions. 34 experts were invited to take part in the Delphi rounds. 7 of the initial 9 terms and definitions which entered the first Delphi round achieved the threshold for agreement. Following a second Delphi round, all 9 definitions achieved agreement. Conclusion: Agreement on the definitions for 9 important terms describing acute porphyrias represents a significant step forward for the porphyria community. It will facilitate more accurate comparison of outcomes among porphyria centres and in clinical trials and provide a strong framework for developing evidence based clinical guidelines
SONIC Students Online in Nursing Integrated Curricula A reflective account of a teaching and learning journey
Why develop online resources for problem-based learning? PBL is a pedagogy which requires students to seek resources for themselves. Providing students with easily accessible resources must surely run counter to the philosophy. PBL is first and foremost a strategy for learning; its overriding purpose is to assist learners to acquire, not only factual knowledge, but the transferable learning, critical thinking, and reflective skills necessary for professional life. PBL is thus ideally suited to the education of nurses.In nurse education a tension exists between the need to develop critical thinking skills and the requirement to acquire, simultaneously, the clinical proficiencies set by the Nursing and Midwifery Council. Meeting these demands within the time frame of an undergraduate nursing programme presents a considerable challenge. This monograph details the journey of the SONIC project group as they met this challenge, maximising student study time by combining the benefits offered by PBL with online resources targeted to topics which nursing students traditionally find difficult. At journey’s end their resources, offered freely, without the barrier of complex entry procedures, fit not only with the programmes run by the four partner institutions and other Schools of Nursing but also with programmes offered by other health care discipline
Excess risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes in women with porphyria: a population-based cohort study
The porphyrias comprise a heterogeneous group of rare, primarily hereditary, metabolic diseases caused by a partial deficiency in one of the eight enzymes involved in the heme biosynthesis. Our aim was to assess whether acute or cutaneous porphyria has been associated with excess risks of adverse pregnancy outcomes. A population-based cohort study was designed by record linkage between the Norwegian Porphyria Register, covering 70% of all known porphyria patients in Norway, and the Medical Birth Registry of Norway, based on all births in Norway during 1967–2006. The risks of the adverse pregnancy outcomes preeclampsia, delivery by caesarean section, low birth weight, premature delivery, small for gestational age (SGA), perinatal death, and congenital malformations were compared between porphyric mothers and the rest of the population. The 200 mothers with porphyria had 398 singletons during the study period, whereas the 1,100,391 mothers without porphyria had 2,275,317 singletons. First-time mothers with active acute porphyria had an excess risk of perinatal death [adjusted odds ratio (OR) 4.9, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.5–16.0], as did mothers with the hereditable form of porphyria cutanea tarda (PCT) (3.0, 1.2–7.7). Sporadic PCT was associated with an excess risk of SGA [adjusted relative risk (RR) 2.0, 1.2–3.4], and for first-time mothers, low birth weight (adjusted OR 3.4, 1.2–10.0) and premature delivery (3.5, 1.2–10.5) in addition. The findings suggest women with porphyria should be monitored closely during pregnancy
Calcium signals can freely cross the nuclear envelope in hippocampal neurons: somatic calcium increases generate nuclear calcium transients
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In hippocampal neurons, nuclear calcium signaling is important for learning- and neuronal survival-associated gene expression. However, it is unknown whether calcium signals generated by neuronal activity at the cell membrane and propagated to the soma can unrestrictedly cross the nuclear envelope to invade the nucleus. The nuclear envelope, which allows ion transit via the nuclear pore complex, may represent a barrier for calcium and has been suggested to insulate the nucleus from activity-induced cytoplasmic calcium transients in some cell types.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Using laser-assisted uncaging of caged calcium compounds in defined sub-cellular domains, we show here that the nuclear compartment border does not represent a barrier for calcium signals in hippocampal neurons. Although passive diffusion of molecules between the cytosol and the nucleoplasm may be modulated through changes in conformational state of the nuclear pore complex, we found no evidence for a gating mechanism for calcium movement across the nuclear border.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Thus, the nuclear envelope does not spatially restrict calcium transients to the somatic cytosol but allows calcium signals to freely enter the cell nucleus to trigger genomic events.</p
Red Fluorescent Protein-Aequorin Fusions as Improved Bioluminescent Ca2+ Reporters in Single Cells and Mice
Bioluminescence recording of Ca2+ signals with the photoprotein aequorin does not require radiative energy input and can be measured with a low background and good temporal resolution. Shifting aequorin emission to longer wavelengths occurs naturally in the jellyfish Aequorea victoria by bioluminescence resonance energy transfer (BRET) to the green fluorescent protein (GFP). This process has been reproduced in the molecular fusions GFP-aequorin and monomeric red fluorescent protein (mRFP)-aequorin, but the latter showed limited transfer efficiency. Fusions with strong red emission would facilitate the simultaneous imaging of Ca2+ in various cell compartments. In addition, they would also serve to monitor Ca2+ in living organisms since red light is able to cross animal tissues with less scattering. In this study, aequorin was fused to orange and various red fluorescent proteins to identify the best acceptor in red emission bands. Tandem-dimer Tomato-aequorin (tdTA) showed the highest BRET efficiency (largest energy transfer critical distance R0) and percentage of counts in the red band of all the fusions studied. In addition, red fluorophore maturation of tdTA within cells was faster than that of other fusions. Light output was sufficient to image ATP-induced Ca2+ oscillations in single HeLa cells expressing tdTA. Ca2+ rises caused by depolarization of mouse neuronal cells in primary culture were also recorded, and changes in fine neuronal projections were spatially resolved. Finally, it was also possible to visualize the Ca2+ activity of HeLa cells injected subcutaneously into mice, and Ca2+ signals after depositing recombinant tdTA in muscle or the peritoneal cavity. Here we report that tdTA is the brightest red bioluminescent Ca2+ sensor reported to date and is, therefore, a promising probe to study Ca2+ dynamics in whole organisms or tissues expressing the transgene
EXPLORE: A Prospective, Multinational, Natural History Study of Patients with Acute Hepatic Porphyria with Recurrent Attacks
BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Acute hepatic porphyria
comprises a group of rare genetic diseases caused by mutations in genes involved in heme biosynthesis. Patients can
experience acute neurovisceral attacks, debilitating chronic
symptoms, and long-term complications. There is a lack of
multinational, prospective data characterizing the disease and
current treatment practices in severely affected patients.
APPROACH AND RESULTS: EXPLORE is a prospective,
multinational, natural history study characterizing disease activity and clinical management in patients with acute hepatic
porphyria who experience recurrent attacks. Eligible patients
had a confirmed acute hepatic porphyria diagnosis and had
experienced ≥3 attacks in the prior 12 months or were receiving prophylactic treatment. A total of 112 patients were enrolled and followed for at least 6 months. In the 12 months
before the study, patients reported a median (range) of 6
(0-52) acute attacks, with 52 (46%) patients receiving hemin
prophylaxis. Chronic symptoms were reported by 73 (65%)
patients, with 52 (46%) patients experiencing these daily.
During the study, 98 (88%) patients experienced a total of
483 attacks, 77% of which required treatment at a health
care facility and/or hemin administration (median [range] annualized attack rate 2.0 [0.0-37.0]). Elevated levels of hepatic
δ-aminolevulinic acid synthase 1 messenger ribonucleic acid levels, δ-aminolevulinic acid, and porphobilinogen compared with
the upper limit of normal in healthy individuals were observed
at baseline and increased further during attacks. Patients had
impaired quality of life and increased health care utilization.
CONCLUSIONS: Patients experienced attacks often requiring treatment in a health care facility and/or with hemin, as
well as chronic symptoms that adversely influenced day-to-day
functioning. In this patient group, the high disease burden
and diminished quality of life highlight the need for novel
therapies. (Hepatology 2020;71:1546-1558)
- …