Journal of Biological Methods

Diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease: Towards accuracy and accessibility

2023-10-16T07:10:30+08:00

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a serious dementia afflicting aging population and is characterized by cognitive decline, amyloid-β plaques, and neurofibrillary tangles. AD substantially impairs the life quality of the victims and poses a heavy burden on the society at large. The number of people with dementia due to AD, prodromal AD, and preclinical AD is estimated to stand at roughly 3.2, 69, and 315 million worldwide, respectively. Current clinical diagnosis is based on clinical symptoms, and clinical research demonstrated that positron emission tomography (PET) and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers had excellent diagnostic performance. However, the application of CSF biomarker tests and PET are restricted by the invasiveness and high cost. The presence of clinical symptoms means that AD pathology has been progressing for many years, and only a few drugs have been approved for the traetemnt of AD. Therefore, early diagnosis is extremely important for controlling the outcomes caused by AD. In this review, we provided an overview of developing clinical diagnostic criteria, diagnostic strategies under clinical research, developing blood based-biomarker assays, and promising nanotechnologically-based assays.

Development of an In Situ Hybridization Method for Detection of Akabane Virus

2023-12-25T02:49:05+08:00

Akabane virus (AKAV) is an arbovirus belonging to the family Bunyaviridae, genus Orthobunyavirus. AKAV consists of three-segment (L, M, and S RNA segments), negative single-stranded RNA. The aim of this study was to investigate an in situ hybridization method (ISH) in a Vero E6 cell line infected with Akabane virus. The 320 base pair amplicon was obtained by RT-PCR with a primer pair and labeled with digoxigenin. Akabane virus RNAs were seen as a granular pattern in the cytoplasm of infected cells. As a result, the expression of the particular Akabane virus gene area was successfully disclosed in the current investigation using the ISH method with a digoxigenin-labeled probe.

Validation of 12 Rapid Antigen Tests for the Detection of SARS-CoV-2

2023-06-21T04:46:09+08:00

The rapid identification SARS-CoV-2 virus has become the basis for the control of the COVID-19 outbreak. The rapid antigen tests for SARS-CoV-2 are quick, widely available, and inexpensive. Rapid antigen tests have gradually replaced the time-consuming and costly RT-PCR. Currently, although several RAT kits have been extensively used for the diagnosis of COVID-19, validity data are limited due to the inconsistent sensitivity and poor reproducibility. Meanwhile, WHO does not recommend specific commercial RAT kits. Therefore, it is crucial to establish a method to evaluate the effectiveness of different rapid antigen tests kits. This study aimed to develop an evaluation system for rapid antigen tests to provide an efficient and accurate technique for screening SARS-CoV-2 antigen detection kits. Given large number of rapid antigen tests kits available, this study only focused on those that are representative and commonely used in China. By minimzing biases through randomization, concealment, and blinding, we eventually found that the Test 1 had the lowest sensitivity and the Test VI had the highest sensitivity. This study provided an evaluation platform that can potentially serve as a reference for COVID-19 diagnostic strategies.