Clinical Biochemistry

The fundamental role of blood in the maintenance of homeostasis and the ease with which blood can be obtained have meant that the study of its constituents has been of central importance in the development of biochemistry and clinical biochemistry. The basic properties of a number of plasma proteins, including the immunoglobulins (antibodies), are described in this chapter. Changes in the amounts of various plasma proteins and immunoglobulins occur in many diseases and can be monitored by electrophoresis or other suitable procedures. As indicated in an earlier chapter, alterations of the activities of certain enzymes found in plasma are of diagnostic use in a number of pathologic conditions. 

Laurell, C.B. (1985). Acute phase proteins - a group of protective proteins. In Recent Advances in Clinical Biochemistry , No. 3 (eds. C.P. Price and K.G.M.M. Alberti) pp. 103-124. Churchill Livingstone, Edinburgh. 

Applications Speciation analysis is particularly important in plant and animal biochemistry and nutrition (food/food supplements), clinical biochemistry, industrial chemistry and environmental chemistry. In the... 

Hallworth, M. J. (2004). The drugs dont work pharmacogenomics - clinical biochemistry s future Ann. Clin. Biochem., 41, 260-2. 

Narayanan S. Concepts, principles and applications of selected molecular biology techniques in clinical biochemistry. Adv Clin Chem 1996 32, 1-38. 

Department of Clinical Biochemistry Glostrup Hospital Glostrup, Denmark... 

Clarke, M. J. Ruthenium Chemistry Pertaining to the Design of Anticancer Agents Progress in Clinical Biochemistry and Medicine Springer-Verlag Berlin, 1989 Vol. 10, pp 25-40. 

Sturgeon, C. and McAllister, E. 1998. Analysis of hCG clinical applications and assay requirements. Annals of Clinical Biochemistry 35, 460-491. 

Shimosaka, C. (1999). Relationship between chemical composition and crystalline structure in fish bone during cooking. Journal of Clinical Biochemistry and Nutrition 26 173-182. 

Studies are often one to two weeks in duration and routinely include body weight determinations, clinical observations, and gross necropsy findings. Additional antemortem studies may be performed as appropriate, especially in large animals (e.g., observation of local reactogenicity, pharmacokinetic evaluations, hematological and/or clinical biochemistry measurements). Histological evaluations may also be performed. 

Tomoda A, Nagai K, Hashimoto K. 1992. A simple and convenient method for the determination of cyanide in bloods and water by methemoglobin. Int Congr Ser - Excerpta Med 991 (Progress in Clinical Biochemistry) 789-791. 

The design of fluorescent sensors is of major importance because of the high demand in analytical chemistry, clinical biochemistry, medicine, the environment, etc. Numerous chemical and biochemical analytes can be detected by fluorescence methods cations (H+, Li+, Na+, K+, Ca2+, Mg2+, Zn2+, Pb2+, Al3+, Cd2+, etc.), anions (halide ions, citrates, carboxylates, phosphates, ATP, etc.), neutral molecules (sugars, e.g. glucose, etc.) and gases (O2, CO2, NO, etc.). There is already a wide choice of fluorescent molecular sensors for particular applications and many of them are commercially available. However, there is still a need for sensors with improved selectivity and minimum perturbation of the microenvironment to be probed. Moreover, there is the potential for progress in the development of fluorescent sensors for biochemical analytes (amino acids, coenzymes, carbohydrates, nucleosides, nucleotides, etc.). 

Enzymes occupy an important place in analytical biochemistry and many investigations require their detection and quantitation. Studies of the enzyme content of blood plasma are particularly useful in clinical biochemistry both in the monitoring of normal metabolic processes and in the detection of abnormal levels of enzyme production or release. Enzyme assays also provide convenient methods for assessing the quality of foodstuffs and checking the efficiency of sterilization and pasteurization processes. 

CONCEPTS, PRINCIPLES, AND APPLICATIONS OF SELECTED MOLECULAR BIOLOGY TECHNIQUES IN CLINICAL BIOCHEMISTRY... 

Ion recognition is a subject of considerable interest because of its implications in many fields chemistry, biology, medicine (clinical biochemistry), environment, etc. In particular, selective detection of metal cations involved in biological processes (e.g., sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium), in clinical diagnosis (e.g., lithium, potassium, aluminum) or in pollution (e.g., lead, mercury, cadmium) has received much attention. Among the various methods available for detection of ions, and more... 

Honour JW. 2003. Benchtop mass spectrometry in clinical biochemistry. Ann Clin Biochem 40 628. 

Sly, W.S., Sato, S., and Zhu, X.L. (1991) Evaluation of Carbonic Anhydrase Isoenzymes in Disorders Involving Osteopetrosis and/or Renal Tubular Acidosis. Clinical Biochemistry 1, 311 318. 

One other class of biochemical proteins that offers a similar advantage in clinical biochemistry is antibodies, which are highly specific for interaction with other proteins (i.e. with antigens) and bind with a high affinity. The combination of antibodies with radioisotopes produces very sensitive and very specific assays. This system has been used particularly for measuring the concentrations of hormones (see below) peptides and cytokines. 

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