Biomarkers in Blood

A special issue of Diagnostics (ISSN 2075-4418).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (25 March 2015) | Viewed by 39500

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The issue "Biomarkers in Blood" will be focused on the diagnostics of plethora of pathologies, including such widely spread ailments as cancer, neurodegenerative Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and other diseases as well as other pathological conditions, by using biomarkers in the blood. Due to growing elderly population these diseases are on the rise in the modern society and combatting them is a global issue. The early or even pre-clinical diagnostics of pathological conditions at the stage when the clinical symptoms are not obvious would be of significant therapeutic value and would enable to administer protective or preventive treatments at an earlier stage. The molecular constitution of blood can be highly representative of the physiological state of an individual. Patient blood serum analyses are potentially minimally invasive and cheap means of both early disease detection and the convenient monitoring of disease response to therapeutic intervention. These approaches are tightly aligned with the concept of personalised healthcare. Over last years a range of new robust diagnostic assays underpinning the presymptomatic detection of pathological conditions were established as well as a range of new biomarkers associated with the disease pathology were discovered. The biodiagnostics is a rapidly expanding field and yet many problems need to be solved. Experience shows that candidate biomarkers may fail to demonstrate their clinical utility, which can be because they are genuinely not relevant to the disease, or their validation has been limited to a subset of patients to whom they are relevant, or the technical limitations of the detection methods.
The present issue aims at bringing a collection of research and reviewer articles together to summarize a state of the art, problems and future directions in the biomarker and biodiagnostics field based on the blood analysis. Your contribution is very welcome!

Yours faithfully,

Prof. Dr. Ludmilla Morozova-Roche
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • biomarker
  • biosensor assay
  • diagnostics
  • blood analysis
  • presymptomatic detection
  • disease monitoring
  • cancer
  • neurodegenerative diseases

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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1108 KiB  
Article
Mini-P-gp and P-gp Co-Expression in Brown Trout Erythrocytes: A Prospective Blood Biomarker of Aquatic Pollution
by Emeline Valton, Christian Amblard, François Desmolles, Bruno Combourieu, Frédérique Penault-Llorca and Mahchid Bamdad
Diagnostics 2015, 5(1), 10-26; https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics5010010 - 12 Jan 2015
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 6427
Abstract
In aquatic organisms, such as fish, blood is continually exposed to aquatic contaminants. Multidrug Resistance (MDR) proteins are ubiquitous detoxification membrane pumps, which recognize various xenobiotics. Moreover, their expression is induced by a large class of drugs and pollutants. We have highlighted the [...] Read more.
In aquatic organisms, such as fish, blood is continually exposed to aquatic contaminants. Multidrug Resistance (MDR) proteins are ubiquitous detoxification membrane pumps, which recognize various xenobiotics. Moreover, their expression is induced by a large class of drugs and pollutants. We have highlighted the co-expression of a mini P-gp of 75 kDa and a P-gp of 140 kDa in the primary culture of brown trout erythrocytes and in the erythrocytes of wild brown trout collected from three rivers in the Auvergne region of France. In vitro experiments showed that benzo[a]pyrene, a highly toxic pollutant model, induced the co-expression of mini-P-gp and P-gp in trout erythrocytes in a dose-dependent manner and relay type response. Similarly, in the erythrocytes of wild brown trout collected from rivers contaminated by a mixture of PAH and other multi-residues of pesticides, mini-P-gp and P-gp were able to modulate their expression, according to the nature of the pollutants. The differential and complementary responses of mini-P-gp and P-gp in trout erythrocytes suggest the existence in blood cells of a real protective network against xenobiotics/drugs. This property could be exploited to develop a blood biomarker of river pollution. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biomarkers in Blood)
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691 KiB  
Article
Evaluation of the Diagnostic Accuracy of Serum D-Dimer Levels in Pregnant Women with Adnexal Torsion
by Hasan Onur Topçu, Can Tekin İskender, Ufuk Ceran, Oktay Kaymak, Hakan Timur, Dilek Uygur and Nuri Danışman
Diagnostics 2015, 5(1), 1-9; https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics5010001 - 5 Jan 2015
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 6155
Abstract
We aimed to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of serum D-dimer levels in pregnant women with adnexal torsion (AT). The pregnant women with ovarian cysts who suffered from pelvic pain were divided into two groups; the first group consisted of the cases with surgically [...] Read more.
We aimed to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of serum D-dimer levels in pregnant women with adnexal torsion (AT). The pregnant women with ovarian cysts who suffered from pelvic pain were divided into two groups; the first group consisted of the cases with surgically proven as AT (n = 17) and the second group consisted of the cases whose pain were resolved in the course of follow-up period without required surgery (n = 34). The clinical characteristics and serum D-dimer levels were compared between the groups. Patients with AT had a higher rate of elevated serum white blood cell (WBC) count (57% vs. 16%, p = 0.04) and serum D-dimer levels (77% vs. 21%, p < 0.01) on admission in the study group than in the control group. Elevated D-dimer and cyst diameter larger than 5 cm yielded highest sensitivity (82% for each); whereas the presence of nausea and vomiting and elevated CRP had the highest specificity (85% and 88%, respectively). This is the first study that evaluates the serum D-dimer levels in humans in the diagnosis of AT, and our findings supported the use of D-dimer for the early diagnosis of AT in pregnant women. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biomarkers in Blood)

Review

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942 KiB  
Review
Circulating HMGB1 and RAGE as Clinical Biomarkers in Malignant and Autoimmune Diseases
by Christin Pilzweger and Stefan Holdenrieder
Diagnostics 2015, 5(2), 219-253; https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics5020219 - 16 Jun 2015
Cited by 52 | Viewed by 11959
Abstract
High molecular group box 1 (HMGB1) is a highly conserved member of the HMG-box-family; abundantly expressed in almost all human cells and released in apoptosis; necrosis or by activated immune cells. Once in the extracellular space, HMGB1 can act as a danger associated [...] Read more.
High molecular group box 1 (HMGB1) is a highly conserved member of the HMG-box-family; abundantly expressed in almost all human cells and released in apoptosis; necrosis or by activated immune cells. Once in the extracellular space, HMGB1 can act as a danger associated molecular pattern (DAMP), thus stimulating or inhibiting certain functions of the immune system; depending on the “combinatorial cocktail” of the surrounding milieu. HMGB1 exerts its various functions through binding to a multitude of membrane-bound receptors such as TLR-2; -4 and -9; IL-1 and RAGE (receptor for advanced glycation end products); partly complex-bound with intracellular fragments like nucleosomes. Soluble RAGE in the extracellular space, however, acts as a decoy receptor by binding to HMGB1 and inhibiting its effects. This review aims to outline today’s knowledge of structure, intra- and extracellular functions including mechanisms of release and finally the clinical relevance of HMGB1 and RAGE as clinical biomarkers in therapy monitoring, prediction and prognosis of malignant and autoimmune disease. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biomarkers in Blood)
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683 KiB  
Review
Current Challenges Towards the Development of a Blood Test for Parkinson’s Disease
by Jose A. Santiago and Judith A. Potashkin
Diagnostics 2014, 4(4), 153-164; https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics4040153 - 22 Oct 2014
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 6975
Abstract
Parkinson’ disease (PD) is the second most prevalent neurodegenerative disease worldwide. To date, there is no disease-modifying agent, and current medical treatment only provides symptomatic benefits. Early diagnosis of PD would be useful in clinical practice to identify patients for clinical trials, test [...] Read more.
Parkinson’ disease (PD) is the second most prevalent neurodegenerative disease worldwide. To date, there is no disease-modifying agent, and current medical treatment only provides symptomatic benefits. Early diagnosis of PD would be useful in clinical practice to identify patients for clinical trials, test potential drugs and neuroprotective agents and track their therapeutic effect. Considerable progress has been made in the discovery and validation of diagnostic biomarkers for PD. In particular, blood-based biomarkers have shown promise in identifying PD patients in samples from independent clinical trials. Evaluation of these biomarkers in de novo patients and individuals at risk for PD remains a top priority. Here, we review the current advances and challenges toward the clinical translation of these biomarkers into a blood-based test for PD. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biomarkers in Blood)

Other

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107 KiB  
Concept Paper
Pain in the Blood? Envisioning Mechanism-Based Diagnoses and Biomarkers in Clinical Pain Medicine
by Emmanuel Bäckryd
Diagnostics 2015, 5(1), 84-95; https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics5010084 - 17 Mar 2015
Cited by 27 | Viewed by 7134
Abstract
Chronic pain is highly prevalent, and pain medicine lacks objective biomarkers to guide diagnosis and choice of treatment. The current U.S. “opioid epidemic” is a reminder of the paucity of effective and safe treatment options. Traditional pain diagnoses according to the International Classification [...] Read more.
Chronic pain is highly prevalent, and pain medicine lacks objective biomarkers to guide diagnosis and choice of treatment. The current U.S. “opioid epidemic” is a reminder of the paucity of effective and safe treatment options. Traditional pain diagnoses according to the International Classification of Diseases are often unspecific, and analgesics are often prescribed on a trial-and-error basis. In contrast to this current state of affairs, the vision of future mechanism-based diagnoses of chronic pain conditions is presented in this non-technical paper, focusing on the need for biomarkers and the theoretical complexity of the task. Pain is and will remain a subjective experience, and as such is not objectively measurable. Therefore, the concept of “noci-marker” is presented as an alternative to “pain biomarker”, the goal being to find objective, measurable correlates of the pathophysiological processes involved in different chronic pain conditions. This vision entails a call for more translational pain research in order to bridge the gap between clinical pain medicine and preclinical science. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biomarkers in Blood)
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