Potential health effects of Champagne wine consumption

Epidemiological studies have suggested an inverse correlation between red wine consumption and the incidence of cardiovascular and neurodegenerative disorders. Although white wines are generally low in polyphenol content as compared to red wines, champagne has been shown to contain relatively high amounts of phenolic acids that may exert protective cellular actions in vivo. In this study, we have investigated the potential cardioprotective and neuroprotective effects of champagne. Our data suggest that a daily moderate consumption of champagne may improve vascular performance via the delivery of phenolic constituents capable of improving NO bioavailability and the modulation of metalloproteinase. Moreover, champagne intervention significantly increased spatial working memory in aged animals, whilst no improvement was observed in the presence of alcohol. Together, these data indicate that polyphenols present in champagne may induce cardioprotective and neuroprotective effects, delaying the onset of degenerative disorders

Mathematical modelling of anisotropy in fibrous connective tissue

We present two modelling frameworks for studying dynamic anistropy in connective tissue, motivated by the problem of fibre alignment in wound healing. The first model is a system of partial differential equations operating on a macroscopic scale. We show that a model consisting of a single extracellular matrix material aligned by fibroblasts via flux and stress exhibits behaviour that is incompatible with experimental observations. We extend the model to two matrix types and show that the results of this extended model are robust and consistent with experiment. The second model represents cells as discrete objects in a continuum of ECM. We show that this model predicts patterns of alignment on macroscopic length scales that are lost in a continuum model of the cell population

EurA1c: the European HbA1c Trial to Investigate the Performance of HbA1c Assays in 2166 Laboratories across 17 Countries and 24 Manufacturers by Use of the IFCC Model for Quality Targets

Background: A major objective of the IFCC Committee on Education and Use of Biomarkers in Diabetes is to generate awareness and improvement of HbA1c assays through evaluation of the performance by countries and manufacturers. Methods: Fresh whole blood and lyophilized hemolysate specimens manufactured from the same pool were used by 17 external quality assessment organizers to evaluate analytical performance of 2166 laboratories. Results were evaluated per country, per manufacturer, and per manufacturer and country combined according to criteria of the IFCC model for quality targets. Results: At the country level with fresh whole blood specimens, 6 countries met the IFCC criterion, 2 did not, and 2 were borderline. With lyophilized hemolysates, 5 countries met the criterion, 2 did not, and 3 were borderline. At the manufacturer level using fresh whole blood specimens, 13 manufacturers met the criterion, 8 did not, and 3 were borderline. Using lyophilized hemolysates, 7 manufacturers met the criterion, 6 did not, and 3 were borderline. In both country and manufacturer groups, the major contribution to total error derived from between-laboratory variation. There were no substantial differences in performance between groups using fresh whole blood or lyophilized hemolysate samples. Conclusions: The state of the art is that 1 of 20 laboratories does not meet the IFCC criterion, but there are substantial differences between country and between manufacturer groups. Efforts to further improve quality should focus on reducing between-laboratory variation. With some limitations, fresh whole blood and well-defined lyophilized specimens are suitable for purpose

Labile glycated haemoglobin and carbamylated haemoglobin are still critical points for HbA1c measurement

IntroductionHaemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) is a key analyte for the monitoring of glycemic balance in diabetic patients and is used for diabetes diagnosis in many countries. The potential interference of carbamylated haemoglobin (cHb) and labile glycated haemoglobin (LA1c) on HbA1c assays must remain a matter of vigilance. Such a situation has occurred in our laboratory with a kit replacement on the Bio-Rad Variant™ II testing system, a cation-exchange high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) system. With this method, LA1c and cHb coeluted in a same peak which may have different consequences on HbA1c values. Materials and methodsThe influence of increasing LA1c and cHb values on HbA1c results was studied with in vitro glycation and carbamylation of samples. Samples from patients with high and normal blood urea concentrations were assayed by HPLC and immunological assay. ResultsWe observed that the degree of interference greatly varied depending on the nature of the interfering Hb fractions found under the so-called “LA1c peak”. Thus, we have decided to apply a decision tree using “LA1c” thresholds depending on: (i) the retention time, (ii) the shape of the peak, (iii) other analytes, like urea. If the peak recognized as “LA1c” is mainly formed by LA1c, we consider that there is no interference until 4%. If the peak is mainly formed by cHb, we consider an interference threshold equal to 2%. ConclusionsThis situation reminds that cHb and LA1c remain critical issues in chromatography-based HbA1c assays and that adapted criteria must be set up for result interpretation

Metrological traceability and harmonization of medical tests: a quantum leap forward is needed to keep pace with globalization and stringent IVD-regulations in the 21st century!

Afdeling Klinische Chemie en Laboratoriumgeneeskunde (AKCL

Maitrise de la salinité des eaux d'irrigation pour la viticulture

Même si la vigne reste parmi les plantes cultivées une des plus économes en eau, se pose maintenant la question de la disponibilité et de l'accessibilité à la ressource en eau naturelle de qualité: eaux souterraines (infiltration, nappes), eaux de surface stagnantes (lacs, retenues de barrages) ou en écoulement (rivières, fleuves), eaux de mer, eaux usées traitées (REUT). Certaines de ces eaux peuvent contenir des composés d'intérêts nutritionnels pour les plantes, mais aussi être riches en sels dissous. L'objet de cette communication est d'étudier les technologies permettant d'affiner la teneur en sel de l'eau d'irrigation pour la vigne, quel que soit son origine et son niveau initial. Les techniques membranaires, osmose inverse, nanofiltration et électrodialyse sont ainsi comparées techniquement et évaluées économiquement. Les unes, nanofiltration et osmose inverse, à partir de membranes poreuses ou denses sous pression, consiste en une séparation de quasi tous les éléments dissous de l'eau (anions, cations, mais y compris les nutriments azotés, et minéraux) et ce quel que soit, pour l'osmose inverse, la salinité de l'eau initiale (e.g. eau de mer). L'autre l'électrodialyse, à partir de membranes denses ne filtre pas l'eau, mais extrait une quantité pilotable en ligne, de sels dissous (Na+ et Cl− en particulier sélectionnables) sous l'effet d'un champ électrique, afin de l'adapter aux sols ou plantes concerné