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Abstract Background Animal models and observations in human neonates suggest fetal exocrine pancreas vulnerability to reduced maternofetal blood flow. We investigated the relationship between superior mesenteric artery blood flow velocity (sma bfv) and exocrine pancreatic function, in a cohort of very low birth weight (VLBW) babies. Group 1: 9 babies < 3rd percentile for birth weight. Antenatally, all had absent or reversed diastolic flow on Doppler ultrasound of the umbilical artery (UA). Group2: 18 babies > 10th percentile for birth weight. Findings All had Doppler ultrasound scan of the superior mesenteric artery (sma), by same operator (RMN), on day 1 of life before commencement of enteral feeding. Stool samples assayed for faecal chymotrypsin and weekly serum samples assayed for amylase and lipase (kinetic colorimetric assay) from days 1 to 14 of life. Growth restricted babies had significantly lower sma bfv values compared with appropriately grown preterm babies. Faecal chymotrypsin levels were also lower but this difference did not achieve statistical significance. Both groups had serum lipase levels detectable in adult concentrations. Serum amylase was undetectable in either group. Conclusion Babies with previous in-utero blood flow redistribution may exhibit altered gut ontogeny with re-setting of mesenteric blood flow velocities and altered exocrine pancreatic function.

Carbohydrate-deficient transferrin (CDT) is a glycoform profile of serum transferrin that increases in response to sustained high alcohol intake and over the last decades has become an important alcohol biomarker with clinical and forensic applications. However, the wide range of CDT measurement procedures has resulted in lack of uniform results and reference limits, and hampered comparison of results. In 2005, the IFCC therefore founded a special working group (WG) aiming for standardisation of CDT measurement. This review summarises the history of CDT and the actions taken by the WG-CDT. Initial steps included the definition of the measurand (serum disialotransferrin to total transferrin fraction expressed in %), and the determination of a well-defined anion-exchange HPLC procedure as the candidate reference measurement procedure (cRMP). Subsequent achievements were the establishment of a network of reference laboratories to perform the cRMP, setting a reference interval, and development of a reference material based on human serum for which the laboratory network assign values. Using a set of reference materials for calibration allowed for achieving equivalence of results of all present CDT measurement procedures. The final steps of the WG-CDT have been a full validation of the cRMP to make it an IFCC approved RMP, and providing guidance for international standardisation of all CDT measurement procedures., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Carbohydrate-deficient transferrin (CDT) is used as a biomarker of sustained high alcohol consumption. The currently available measurement procedures for CDT are based on various analytical techniques (HPLC, capillary electrophoresis, nephelometry), some differing in the definition of the analyte and using different reference intervals and cut-off values. The Working Group on Standardization of CDT (WG-CDT), initiated by the International Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (IFCC), has validated an HPLC candidate reference measurement procedure (cRMP) for CDT (% disialotransferrin to total transferrin based on peak areas), demonstrating that it is suitable as a reference measurement procedure (RMP) for CDT. Presented is a detailed description of the cRMP and its calibration. Practical aspects on how to treat genetic variant and so-called di-tri bridge samples are described. Results of method performance characteristics, as demanded by ISO 15189 and ISO 15193, are given, as well as the reference interval and measurement uncertainty and how to deal with that in routine use. The correlation of the cRMP with commercial CDT procedures and the performance of the cRMP in a network of laboratories are also presented. The performance of the CDT cRMP in combination with previously developed commutable calibrators allows for standardization of the currently available commercial measurement procedures for CDT. The cRMP has recently been approved by the IFCC and will be from now on be known as the IFCC-RMP for CDT, while CDT results standardized according to this RMP should be indicated as CDT IFCC ., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Carbohydrate-deficient transferrin (CDT) is a glycoform profile of serum transferrin that increases in response to sustained high alcohol intake and over the last decades has become an important alcohol biomarker with clinical and forensic applications. However, the wide range of CDT measurement procedures has resulted in lack of uniform results and reference limits, and hampered comparison of results. In 2005, the IFCC therefore founded a special working group (WG) aiming for standardisation of CDT measurement. This review summarises the history of CDT and the actions taken by the WG-CDT. Initial steps included the definition of the measurand (serum disialotransferrin to total transferrin fraction expressed in %), and the determination of a well-defined anion-exchange HPLC procedure as the candidate reference measurement procedure (cRMP). Subsequent achievements were the establishment of a network of reference laboratories to perform the cRMP, setting a reference interval, and development of a reference material based on human serum for which the laboratory network assign values. Using a set of reference materials for calibration allowed for achieving equivalence of results of all present CDT measurement procedures. The final steps of the WG-CDT have been a full validation of the cRMP to make it an IFCC approved RMP, and providing guidance for international standardisation of all CDT measurement procedures., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

1. The time course of iron overload of the pancreas in hypotransferrinaemic mice maintained on a standard rodent diet was compared with biochemical and histological markers of tissue damage. 2. Pancreatic iron levels increased linearly from weaning till 9 months of age [73.3 nmol/mg of tissue (SEM 9.9; n = 5) compared with 0.9 nmol/mg of tissue (SEM 0.1; n = 4) in age-matched controls] then decreased linearly till at least 18 months of age. 3. Investigation of tissue distribution of newly absorbed radioiron suggested that significant redistribution of iron from liver to pancreas (rather than direct dietary iron sources) must be invoked to explain the rate of pancreatic iron loading in hypotransferrinaemic mice. 4. Pancreatic epithelial cells first showed altered morphology at 9 months of age. At 12 months of age, the pancreatic epithelium had developed a micronodular appearance, with large numbers of acini replaced by atrophic, degenerated acinar cells. Increased collagen fibre deposition was evident by trichrome staining and by electron microscopy. Biochemical markers of pancreatitis (serum lipase, tissue pancreatitis-associated protein mRNA) were elevated before 9 months of age, whereas the levels of pancreatic amylase mRNA declined from 9 months of age. 5. The data suggest that iron loading of hypotransferrinaemic mouse pancreas proceeds up to a threshold level at 9 months of age followed by a progressive atrophy of secretory epithelium. The hypotransferrinaemic mouse pancreas is a useful model system for investigation of parenchymal cell damage by iron.