Novel Use of Mass Spectrometry Help Improve TTP Patient Outcomes

In an article in the current issue of Spectroscopy, researchers at the Ohio State University College of Medicine and Public Health describe the clinical evaluation of thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) using Surface Enhanced Laser Desorption/Ionization Time of Flight (SELDI-TOF) mass spectrometry.

TTP is a condition caused by a deficiency in a metalloproteinase called ADAMTS13. With a timely diagnosis, TTP patients usually respond to plasma exchange therapy. However, many patients relapse after therapy. Thus, there is a need for both a rapid diagnostic test to help clinicians start therapy and for a biomarker that can anticipate recurrence.

Without enough ADAMTS13, extensive blood clots may occur throughout the body and can cause death. ADAMTS13 prevents this by breaking apart another protein that causes the clotting process. By measuring one of the broken fragments using SELDI-TOF, the researchers found that they could determine ADAMTS13 activity levels in the patient’s blood.

SELDI-TOF mass spectrometry offers an unique property to specifically capture and concentrate the target protein in a binding array. Afterwards it becomes relatively simple to measure the analyte. In this application, an immobilized metal affinity capture (IMAC) array was chosen which could bind to a product of ADAMTS13 proteolysis, ahistidine-containing fragment. The product was then measured by the mass spectrometer. Thus, the method was used to evaluate ADAMTS13 activity in TTP patients.

Writing in the article, Haifeng M. Wu, MD, states “Since the implementation of our SELDI-TOF based method, fast turnaround time for the detection of ADAMTS13 activity has greatly helped us in making the correct diagnosis, instituting appropriate therapy, and improving patient outcomes.”

The article is “Application of SELDI-TOF mass spectrometry in clinical evaluation of thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura” by Haifeng M. Wu, Spero R. Cataland, Michael Bissell and Ming Jin. It appears in Spectroscopy, Volume 20, Issue 5/6 (2007), published by IOS Press.

Media Contact

Astrid Engelen alfa

More Information:

http://www.iospress.nl

All latest news from the category: Health and Medicine

This subject area encompasses research and studies in the field of human medicine.

Among the wide-ranging list of topics covered here are anesthesiology, anatomy, surgery, human genetics, hygiene and environmental medicine, internal medicine, neurology, pharmacology, physiology, urology and dental medicine.

Back to home

Comments (0)

Write a comment

Newest articles

Lighting up the future

New multidisciplinary research from the University of St Andrews could lead to more efficient televisions, computer screens and lighting. Researchers at the Organic Semiconductor Centre in the School of Physics and…

Researchers crack sugarcane’s complex genetic code

Sweet success: Scientists created a highly accurate reference genome for one of the most important modern crops and found a rare example of how genes confer disease resistance in plants….

Evolution of the most powerful ocean current on Earth

The Antarctic Circumpolar Current plays an important part in global overturning circulation, the exchange of heat and CO2 between the ocean and atmosphere, and the stability of Antarctica’s ice sheets….

Partners & Sponsors