Browsing by Author "Bell, Jody Lee"

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    Evaluating the role of long-term urine bio-banking on the stability of urine bio-markers in the diagnosis of pre-eclampsia
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2019-04) Bell, Jody Lee; Swanepoel, Carmen; Isaacs, Shafieka; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences. Dept. of Pathology. Haematological Pathology.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The aim of the pre-eclampsia (PE) and eclampsia monitoring, prevention and treatment consortium is to develop a rapid diagnostic test for PE in pregnant women because early identification of PE would decrease the likelihood of maternal and perinatal mortality and improve antenatal care, management and treatment. The identification of potential bio-markers is thus of great importance in PE because urine is a non-invasive bio-specimen and has the potential to help predict PE since proteinuria can be detected and quantified in urine. The purpose of this exploratory study was to evaluate the long-term stability of selected analytes within preservative-free urine in a pre-eclampsia cohort. Calcium, Creatinine and total protein in long-term, stored urine samples were measured using both manual Siemens and Life Assay dipsticks and compared with high-throughput, laboratory measurements. Additionally, the diagnostic and prognostic potential of an Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) -based, Adipsin or Complement Factor D (CFD) test for pre-eclampsia was evaluated. Furthermore, fresh urine samples were collected, and different processing and intermediate storage conditions were evaluated and compared to the medical research gold standard to determine to what extent pre-analytical variables could affect sample integrity. Albumin, Creatinine, Calcium, Urea and Total Protein were measured using high-throughput measurements. The results of the study showed that the measurements for the Siemen dipstick and Life Assay dipstick were significantly similar. However, no agreement was found between the dipsticks and high-throughput laboratory measurements. Adipsin was measurable using the ELISA assay despite the assay not being validated for frozen urine samples. Our results also showed that the measurements for Creatinine, Protein, and Calcium were impacted after sample storage at room temperature for 48 hours, highlighting pre-analytical variable has a great influence on sample integrity. This exploratory pilot study provided insight into the sample collection, handling, processing and long-term storage of urine bio-specimens and how each step of the process can have an impact. These insights led to an understanding of the limitations of this pilot study and can help to establish priorities for a larger study in terms of selected analytes to be measured, that could improve final research design and determine the best methods for data collection and analysis.