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Mikrochimica Acta Jun 2022The early diagnosis of major diseases such as cancer is typically a major issue for humanity. Human α-fetoprotein (AFP) as a sialylated glycoprotein is of approximately...
The early diagnosis of major diseases such as cancer is typically a major issue for humanity. Human α-fetoprotein (AFP) as a sialylated glycoprotein is of approximately 68 kD molecular weight and is considered to be a key biomarker, and an increase in its level indicates the presence of liver, testicular, or gastric cancer. In this study, an electrochemical AFP immunosensor based on FeONPs@covalent organic framework decorated gold nanoparticles (FeO NPs@COF/AuNPs) for the electrode platform and double-coated magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) based on SiO@TiO (MNPs@SiO@TiO) nanocomposites for the signal amplification was fabricated. The immobilization of anti-AFP capture antibody was successfully performed on FeO NPs@COF/AuNPs modified electrode surface by amino-gold affinity, while the conjugation of anti-AFP secondary antibody on MNPs@SiO@TiO was achieved by the electrostatic/ionic interactions. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis, cyclic voltammetry (CV), square wave voltammetry (SWV), and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) techniques were used to characterize the nanostructures in terms of physical and electrochemical features. The limit of detection (LOD) was 3.30 fg mL. The findings revealed that the proposed electrochemical AFP immunosensor can be effectively used to diagnose cancer.
Topics: Biosensing Techniques; Gold; Humans; Immunoassay; Magnetite Nanoparticles; Metal-Organic Frameworks; Silicon Dioxide; Titanium; alpha-Fetoproteins
PubMed: 35654985
DOI: 10.1007/s00604-022-05344-z -
Abdominal Radiology (New York) Oct 2020Maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein is a valuable laboratory test used in pregnant women as an indicator to detect certain clinical abnormalities. These can be grouped into... (Review)
Review
Maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein is a valuable laboratory test used in pregnant women as an indicator to detect certain clinical abnormalities. These can be grouped into four main categories: fetal factors, pregnancy complications, placental abnormalities, and maternal factors. Imaging is an invaluable tool to investigate the various etiologies leading to altered maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein. By reading this article, the radiologist, sonologist, or other health care practitioner should be able to define the probable pathology leading to the laboratory detected abnormal maternal serum levels, thus helping the clinician to appropriately manage the pregnancy and counsel the patient.
Topics: Female; Humans; Placenta; Placenta Diseases; Pregnancy; Pregnancy Complications; alpha-Fetoproteins
PubMed: 32221672
DOI: 10.1007/s00261-020-02499-2 -
Analytical Methods : Advancing Methods... Mar 2023Primary antibody-enzyme complexes (PAECs) are ideal immunosensing elements that simplify the immunoassay process and improve the uniformity of results due to their...
Primary antibody-enzyme complexes (PAECs) are ideal immunosensing elements that simplify the immunoassay process and improve the uniformity of results due to their ability to both recognize antigens and catalyze substrates. However, the conventional fabrication methods of PAECs, such as direct gene fusion expression, chemical conjugation, enzymatic conjugation, , have low efficiency, poor reliability, and other defects, which limit the widespread application of PAECs. Therefore, we developed a convenient method for the fabrication of homogeneous multivalent PAECs using protein self-assembly and validated it using anti-alpha-fetoprotein nanobody (A1) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) as models. Heptavalent PAECs showed a 4-fold enhancement in enzymatic catalytic activity compared to monovalent PAECs. Further, to verify the application of developed heptavalent PAECs in immunoassay, heptavalent PAECs were used as bifunctional probes to construct a double-antibody sandwich ELISA to detect AFP. The detection limit of the developed heptavalent PAEC-based ELISA is 0.69 ng mL, which is about 3 times higher than that of monovalent PAECs, and the whole detection process can be completed within 3 hours. In short, the proposed protein self-assembling method is a promising technology for developing high-performance heptavalent PACEs, which can simplify the detection process and improve detection sensitivity in various immunoassays.
Topics: alpha-Fetoproteins; Reproducibility of Results; Immunoassay; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay
PubMed: 36883654
DOI: 10.1039/d2ay02078e -
Zhonghua Gan Zang Bing Za Zhi =... Aug 2019To explore the diagnostic value of single or combined detection of serum tumor markers alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), α-fetoprotein (AFP)-L3 and abnormal clotting (PIVKA-II)...
To explore the diagnostic value of single or combined detection of serum tumor markers alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), α-fetoprotein (AFP)-L3 and abnormal clotting (PIVKA-II) in the primary hepatic carcinoma. Serum AFP, AFP-L3 and PIVKA-II of 56 cases with primary hepatic carcinoma, 46 cases with cirrhosis, 45 cases with other liver disease and 41 healthy persons (control group) were examined by chemiluminescence method, and the differences in the levels of AFP, AFP-L3 and PIVKA-II in each group were compared. Serum level of AFP, AFP-L3 and PIVKA-II in patients with primary liver cancer was significantly higher than that of the cirrhosis, other liver disease and control groups, and the difference was statistically significant ( < 0.05). The receiver operating characteristic curve analysis showed that the areas under the curve for the diagnosis of primary hepatic carcinoma by AFP, AFP-L3 and PIVKA-II were 0.887, 0.846 and 0.885, respectively. The combined use of the three tumor markers for the diagnosis of primary hepatic carcinoma increased the area under the curve to 0.899. Among the single detection, AFP had the highest sensitivity of 91.07% and PIVKA-II had the highest specificity at 88.63%. In the combined detection, AFP/PIVKA-II combination had the highest sensitivity of 94.64 %, while the AFP + AFP-L3 + PIVKA-II combination had the highest specificity at 98.48%. Combined detection of AFP, AFP-L3 and PIVKA-II could improve the diagnostic specificity and the sensitivity of primary hepatic carcinoma; thereby make up the deficiency of single detection and improve the early diagnosis rate.
Topics: Biomarkers, Tumor; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular; Case-Control Studies; Humans; Liver Cirrhosis; Liver Neoplasms; Prothrombin; alpha-Fetoproteins
PubMed: 31594082
DOI: 10.3760/cma.j.issn.1007-3418.2019.08.009 -
The Turkish Journal of Gastroenterology... Jul 2023The aim of this study is to evaluate the parameters that might be associated with pathologically diagnosed microvascular invasion and poor differentiation, using...
Parameters Predicting Microvascular Invasion and Poor Differentiation in Hepatocellular Carcinoma Patients with Normal Alpha-fetoprotein Level Before Liver Transplantation.
BACKGROUND/AIMS
The aim of this study is to evaluate the parameters that might be associated with pathologically diagnosed microvascular invasion and poor differentiation, using complete blood count and routine clinical biochemistry test results, in hepatocellular carcinoma patients before liver transplantation.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
The data of patients who underwent liver transplantation for hepatocellular carcinoma at our institute, between March 2006 and November 2021, was researched retrospectively.
RESULTS
The incidence of microvascular invasion was 28.6%, poor differentiation rate was 9.3%, hepatocellular carcinoma recurrence rate after liver transplantation was 12.1%, and median time to recurrence was 13 months, in the patients with normal alpha-fetoprotein levels. After univariate and multivariate analysis, maximum tumor diameter >4.5 cm and the number of nodules (n > 5) were found to be independent risk factors for microvascular invasion, and number of nodules >4 and mean platelet volume ≤8.6 fL were found to be independent risk factors for poor differentiation. Serum alpha-fetoprotein levels were still within the normal range at the recurrence time, in 53% of the patients who had recurrence after liver transplantation, but surprisingly were elevated in 47% of the patients at time of hepatocellular carcinoma recurrence.
CONCLUSIONS
In hepatocellular carcinoma patients with normal alpha-fetoprotein levels before liver transplantation, independent risk factors of the presence of microvascular invasion were maximum tumor diameter and number of nodules, and independent risk factors of poor differentiation were mean platelet volume and number of nodules. Furthermore, serum alpha-fetoprotein levels were still normal at time of recurrence in 53% of hepatocellular carcinoma patients whose alpha-fetoprotein levels were normal before liver transplantation but were elevated in 47% of the patients at recurrence time, despite having normal levels before liver transplantation.
Topics: Humans; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular; Liver Transplantation; alpha-Fetoproteins; Liver Neoplasms; Neoplasm Recurrence, Local; Male; Female; Child; Adolescent; Young Adult; Adult; Middle Aged; Aged
PubMed: 37326153
DOI: 10.5152/tjg.2023.22538 -
Biosensors & Bioelectronics Oct 2021Designing a photoelectrochemical (PEC) immunosensor that can produce dual photocurrent signals which can refer to each other is a great importance but a big challenge....
Designing a photoelectrochemical (PEC) immunosensor that can produce dual photocurrent signals which can refer to each other is a great importance but a big challenge. In this manuscript, a novel dual photocurrent signals immunosensor was constructed for the detection of α-fetoprotein (AFP). Unlike the usual method of using two composite materials to provide cathode and anode photocurrent respectively, this work applies only one compound of MIL-101 (Cr) and CdSe quantum dots (QDs). Thereinto, we found that the photocurrent polarity of MIL-101(Cr) would switch by adjusting applied voltage. And then CdSe QDs was introduced by simple ultrasound mixing to boost the dual photocurrent signals. Furthermore, in the composite of M&C, the electron transfer path between MIL-101(Cr) and CdSe QDs may switch between "Z-type" and "Ⅱ-type" by adjusting voltage. Benefiting by the dual signals, the proposed sensor can not only perform sensitively quantitative detection of α-fetoprotein (AFP), but also can intuitively estimate the accuracy and reliability of the test result by determining whether the corresponding relationship of "cathode photocurrent-analyte concentration-anode photocurrent" is established. The linear ranges of the sensing electrodes as cathode and anode are the same, both from 0.1 to 300 ng mL. The limit of detection (LOD) is 0.082 ng mL (S/N = 3) when it used as an anode, and the LOD is 0.054 ng mL (S/N = 3) when it served as cathode. Furthermore, this sensor showed acceptable stability, reproducibility, specificity, and feasibility of detecting AFP in human serum, which has broad development prospects in the early clinical diagnosis.
Topics: Biosensing Techniques; Cadmium Compounds; Electrochemical Techniques; Humans; Immunoassay; Limit of Detection; Metal-Organic Frameworks; Quantum Dots; Reproducibility of Results; Selenium Compounds; alpha-Fetoproteins
PubMed: 34091283
DOI: 10.1016/j.bios.2021.113389 -
Clinical Journal of Gastroenterology Feb 2017Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP)-producing esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC) is a rare occurrence. Elevation of serum AFP is commonly associated with hepatocellular carcinoma and... (Review)
Review
Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP)-producing esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC) is a rare occurrence. Elevation of serum AFP is commonly associated with hepatocellular carcinoma and yolk sac tumors, but rarely with esophageal carcinoma. Here, we report a rare case of AFP-producing EAC. A 51-year-old man presented with two weeks of acid reflux and a 35-lb weight loss. Laboratory data were notable for transaminitis and AFP was 2524 ng/mL. Computed tomography of the abdomen revealed abnormal thickening of the esophagus and multiple metastatic masses throughout the liver. Biopsy of one of the masses revealed adenocarcinoma of gastrointestinal origin. Subsequent upper endoscopy revealed an esophageal mass with biopsy notable for ulcerated dysplastic glandular mucosa with likely underlying malignancy. The patient underwent palliative esophageal stent placement but died two months later. Elevated AFP levels are an unusual occurrence in EAC. Prognosis is poor given its advanced presenting stage and high metastatic potential. Most cases are unsuccessfully treated with surgery and chemotherapy. Serial measurement of serum AFP may be useful for monitoring clinical status and treatment response. Clinicians should consider AFP-producing EAC in their differential diagnosis in the work-up of a liver mass in the setting of elevated AFP or liver function impairment, especially in the absence of chronic liver disease.
Topics: Adenocarcinoma; Biopsy; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular; Diagnosis, Differential; Esophageal Neoplasms; Humans; Liver Neoplasms; Male; Middle Aged; Tomography, X-Ray Computed; alpha-Fetoproteins
PubMed: 27995468
DOI: 10.1007/s12328-016-0704-1 -
Archives of Disease in Childhood Apr 2017Ataxia telangiectasia (A-T) is a rare progressive, multisystem genetic disease. Families of children with ultra-rare diseases often experience significant diagnostic...
BACKGROUND AND AIMS
Ataxia telangiectasia (A-T) is a rare progressive, multisystem genetic disease. Families of children with ultra-rare diseases often experience significant diagnostic delays. We reviewed the diagnostic process for A-T in order to identify causes of delay in an attempt to facilitate earlier identification of A-T in the future.
METHODS
A retrospective case note review of 79 children at the National Paediatric A-T clinic seen since May 2009. Data were collected on the nature and age of initial symptoms, the age at first presentation, measurement of alpha feto-protein (AFP) and age of genetic diagnostic confirmation.
RESULTS
At presentation, 71 children (90%) had ataxia. The median presentation delay (from first parental concern to presentation) was 8 months (range 0-118 months), and the median diagnostic delay (genetic confirmation of diagnosis) was 12 months (range 1-109 months).
CONCLUSIONS
There are significant delays in presentation and diagnostic confirmation of A-T. A greater awareness of A-T and early measurement of AFP may help to improve this.
Topics: Age Factors; Ataxia Telangiectasia; Child; Child, Preschool; Delayed Diagnosis; Humans; Infant; Retrospective Studies; alpha-Fetoproteins
PubMed: 27799156
DOI: 10.1136/archdischild-2016-310477 -
Pediatrics in Review Nov 2022
Topics: Infant; Humans; alpha-Fetoproteins; Digestive System Abnormalities
PubMed: 36316264
DOI: 10.1542/pir.2020-004914 -
Mikrochimica Acta Apr 2019Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) is a reliable clinical marker of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). A highly sensitive fluorometric aptamer nanoprobe is described for AFP...
Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) is a reliable clinical marker of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). A highly sensitive fluorometric aptamer nanoprobe is described for AFP detection. It is based on fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) between AFP aptamer labelled with 5-carboxyfluorescein (FAM) and palladium nanoparticles (PdNPs). The PdNPs quench the green fluorescence of the FAM-AFP aptamer via interactions between nitrogen functional groups of the AFP aptamer and PdNPs. When AFP was introduced into the FAM-AFP aptamer-PdNPs FRET system, the AFP aptamer preferentially combines with AFP. This results in a conformational change and weakens the interaction between the aptamer and the PdNPs. Thus, the fluorescence of FAM recovers. The fluorescence recovery of FAM increases linearly in the 5.0-150 ng·mL AFP concentration range and has a 1.4 ng·mL detection limit. The assay was applied to the analysis of spiked diluted human serum. The recovery values ranged from 98.3 to 112.9%, with relative standard deviations of <1.1%. This biosensing strategy provides a reliable and ultrasensitive protocol for the quantification of biomarkers with relevant antigens and aptamers. Graphical abstract Schematic presentation of a fluorometric aptamer nanoprobe for AFP assay based on fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) between AFP aptamer labelled with 5-carboxyfluorescein (FAM) and palladium nanoparticles (PdNPs).
Topics: Animals; Aptamers, Nucleotide; Base Sequence; Biosensing Techniques; Feasibility Studies; Fluoresceins; Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer; Fluorometry; Humans; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; Metal Nanoparticles; Nanostructures; Palladium; alpha-Fetoproteins
PubMed: 31041529
DOI: 10.1007/s00604-019-3403-z