Automated evaluation of autoantibodies on human epithelial-2 cells as an approach to standardize cell-based immunofluorescence tests

INTRODUCTION: Analysis of autoantibodies (AAB) by indirect immunofluorescence (IIF) is a basic tool for the serological diagnosis of systemic rheumatic disorders. Automation of autoantibody IIF reading including pattern recognition may improve intra- and inter-laboratory variability and meet the demand for cost-effective assessment of large numbers of samples. Comparing automated and visual interpretation, the usefulness for routine laboratory diagnostics was investigated. METHODS: Autoantibody detection by IIF on human epithelial-2 (HEp-2) cells was conducted in a total of 1222 consecutive sera of patients with suspected systemic rheumatic diseases from a university routine laboratory (n = 924) and a private referral laboratory (n = 298). IIF results from routine diagnostics were compared with a novel automated interpretation system. RESULTS: Both diagnostic procedures showed a very good agreement in detecting AAB (kappa = 0.828) and differentiating respective immunofluorescence patterns. Only 98 (8.0%) of 1222 sera demonstrated discrepant results in the differentiation of positive from negative samples. The contingency coefficients of chi-square statistics were 0.646 for the university laboratory cohort with an agreement of 93.0% and 0.695 for the private laboratory cohort with an agreement of 90.6%, P < 0.0001, respectively. Comparing immunofluorescence patterns, 111 (15.3%) sera yielded differing results. CONCLUSIONS: Automated assessment of AAB by IIF on HEp-2 cells using an automated interpretation system is a reliable and robust method for positive/negative differentiation. Employing novel mathematical algorithms, automated interpretation provides reproducible detection of specific immunofluorescence patterns on HEp-2 cells. Automated interpretation can reduce drawbacks of IIF for AAB detection in routine diagnostics providing more reliable data for clinicians

GAMBARAN TINGKAT PENGETAHUAN MASYARAKAT TENTANG PENYAKIT ASAM URAT DI RT 04 RW 04 DESA KRANJI KECAMATAN PACIRAN KABUPATEN LAMONGAN

Penyakit asam urat menyerang masyarakat yang mempunyai kadar asam urat tinggi, masyarakat yang terkena asam urat biasanya mengeluh badan capek, linu-linu dan nyeri sendi. Tujuan penelitian ini adalah mengetahui gambaran tingkat pengetahuan warga tentang penyakit asam urat pada warga RT 04 RW 04 Desa Kranji Kecamatan Paciran Kabupaten Lamongan. Desain penelitian ini diskriptif. Populasinya semua warga yang mengeluh badan capek, linu-linu dan nyeri sendi sebesar 25 orang. Cara pengambilan sampel dengan menggunakan tehnik total sampling. Dengan jumlah sampel 25 responden. Variabelnya adalah tingkat pengetahuan warga tentang penyakit asam urat di RT 04 RW 04 Desa Kranji Kecamatan Paciran Kabupaten Lamongan. Pengumpulan data dengan menggunakan instrumen kuesioner dianalisis data dengan distribusi frekuensi. Hasil penelitian didapatkan dari 25 responden sebagian besar (56%) responden memiliki tingkat pengetahuan yang kurang, (24%) responden memiliki tingkat pengetahuan yang cukup dan (20%) memiliki tingkat pengetahuan yang baik. Disimpulkan bahwa warga di RT 04 sebagian besar memiliki tingkat pengetahuan tentang penyakit asam urat yang kurang. Sehingga bagi warga yang sudah mempunyai keluhan badan capek, linu-linu dan nyeri sendi diharapkan untuk menghindari semua makanan yang mengandung kadar purin tinggi

Effects of 60-day bed rest with and without exercise on cellular and humoral immunological parameters

Exercise at regular intervals is assumed to have a positive effect on immune functions. Conversely, after spaceflight and under simulated weightlessness (e.g., bed rest), immune functions can be suppressed. We aimed to assess the effects of simulated weightlessness (Second Berlin BedRest Study; BBR2-2) on immunological parameters and to investigate the effect of exercise (resistive exercise with and without vibration) on these changes. Twenty-four physically and mentally healthy male volunteers (20-45&nbsp;years) performed resistive vibration exercise (n=7), resistance exercise without vibration (n=8) or no exercise (n=9) within 60 days of bed rest. Blood samples were taken 2 days before bed rest, on days 19 and 60 of bed rest. Composition of immune cells was analyzed by flow cytometry. Cytokines and neuroendocrine parameters were analyzed by Luminex technology and ELISA/RIA in plasma. General changes over time were identified by paired t-test, and exercise-dependent effects by pairwise repeated measurements (analysis of variance (ANOVA)). With all subjects pooled, the number of granulocytes, natural killer T cells, hematopoietic stem cells and CD45RA and CD25 co-expressing T cells increased and the number of monocytes decreased significantly during the study; the concentration of eotaxin decreased significantly. Different impacts of exercise were seen for lymphocytes, B cells, especially the IgD(+) subpopulation of B cells and the concentrations of IP-10, RANTES and DHEA-S. We conclude that prolonged bed rest significantly impacts immune cell populations and cytokine concentrations. Exercise was able to specifically influence different immunological parameters. In summary, our data fit the hypothesis of immunoprotection by exercise and may point toward even superior effects by resistive vibration exercise.Cellular &amp; Molecular Immunology advance online publication, 10 November 2014; doi:10.1038/cmi.2014.106