Labmedicine 

About: Labmedicine is an academic journal published by Oxford University Press. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Medicine & Internal medicine. It has an ISSN identifier of 0007-5027. Over the lifetime, 3938 publications have been published receiving 22452 citations. The journal is also known as: Lab medicine, & Labmedicine.

Plasma Amino Acid Levels and Insulin Secretion in Obesity

Abstract: Of 20 plasma amino acids measured, valine, leucine, isoleucine, tyrosine and phenylalanine were increased, and glycine decreased, in obese subjects compared with age- and sex-matched controls. The concentration of each of the amino acids elevated in obesity correlated directly with serum insulin. In addition, these were the amino acids most sensitive to the action of insulin in lowering plasma amino acid levels, as evidenced by a diminution in concentration after glucose infusion. Despite a significantly greater increment in serum insulin in the obese group, the magnitude of the decline in amino acids after glucose administration was identical in the two groups. Hyperaminoacidemia appears to be a manifestation of the insulin ineffectiveness characteristic of obesity. Furthermore, hyperaminoacidemia may provide the feedback signal to the beta cell through which insulin resistance is accompanied by an appropriately augmented secretory rate of insulin.

The Molecular Biology of Human Iron Metabolism

Abstract: Iron is one of the most important nonorganic substances that make life possible. Iron plays major roles in oxygen transport (eg, hemoglobin; -67% of total body iron [TBI]), short-term oxygen storage (eg, myoglobin; -3.5% of TBI), and energy generation (eg, cytochromes; -3% of TBI). Iron also serves vital roles in various nonheme-containing enzymes (-2% of TBI). Figure 1 lists heme-containing and nonheme iron-containing proteins. TBI is controlled by the rate of iron absorption; there are no physiologic mechanisms to excrete excess iron. Iron deficiency has many adverse consequences, including anemia, and in children, behavioral and learning disorders. Iron excess is toxic to the body, harming the heart, liver, skin, pancreatic islet beta cells, bones, joints, and pituitary gland. Maintaining proper iron balance is essential for maintaining homeostasis and health. TBI in adults normally ranges between 3.5 and 5.0 g. A total of 75% of TBI is functional, and 25% is stored within cells as ferritin or hemosiderin. Ferritin contains 24 subunits of light chains (L chains; 19.7 kDa) and heavy chains (H chains; 21.1 kDa). The L chains are encoded on chromosome 19q13.33 and are 175 amino acids long. The H chains are encoded on chromosome 11q1 and are 183 amino acids long. Each ferritin molecule can contain as many as approximately 4500 ferric ions. Because the major role of iron is in hemoglobin synthesis, this review will focus on iron, iron transport, and hematopoiesis.

Clinical Laboratory Tests: Which, Why, and What Do The Results Mean?

Abstract: According to Dr. Michael Laposata, the medical specialty that nearly every practicing physician relies on every day, for which training in many medical schools is limited to no more than a scattered few lectures throughout the entire curriculum, is “laboratory medicine.” The importance of understanding the principles for selecting and ordering the most rational laboratory test(s) on a specific patient is heightened in the current age of managed care, medical necessity, and outcome-oriented medicine. The days of a “shotgun approach” to ordering laboratory tests has, of necessity, been replaced by a “rifle” (or targeted) approach based on an understanding of the test’s diagnostic performance and the major “legitimate” reasons for ordering a laboratory test. Such an understanding is critical to good laboratory practice and patient outcomes.

Use of Calcofluor White in Clinical Mycology

Abstract: Calcofluor white, a nonspecific fluorochrome with affinity for chitin and cellulose, can be used alone or with potassium hydroxide (KOH) to sharply delineate fungal elements in clinical specimens. This technique obviates the inaccuracies associated with the reading and interpretation of KOH preparations, is more sensitive than Gram's stain, and is faster to perform than periodic acid-Schiff or Gomori methenamine silver stains.

Chronic Wound Biofilms: Pathogenesis and Potential Therapies

Abstract: Chronic wounds are a growing medical problem that cause high rates of morbidity and mortality, costing the healthcare industry in the United States millions of dollars annually. Chronic wound healing is hampered by the presence of bacterial infections that form biofilms, in which the bacteria are encased in exopolysaccharide (EPS) and are less metabolically active than their free-living counterparts. Bacterial biofilms make chronic wounds more refractory to treatment and slow tissue repair by stimulating chronic inflammation at the wound site. Bacterial species communicate through a mechanism known as quorum sensing (QS) to regulate and coordinate the gene expression that is important for virulence-factor production, including biofilm formation. This review focuses on the relationships between chronic wounds, biofilms, and QS in the virulence of chronic-wound pathogens.