We measured total testosterone in unextracted serum specimens using a solid-phase radio immunoassay procedure with a specific rabbit antibody affixed to polypropylene tubes (Siemens Diagnostics/Diagnostic Products, Los Angeles, CA, USA).
In 2009, we measured glycated albumin (Asahi Kasei Lucica GA-L; Asahi Kasei Pharma Corporation, Tokyo, Japan)—expressed as a percentage of total serum albumin, fructosamine (Roche Diagnostics), and 1,5-AG (GlycoMark, Winston-Salem, NC) from stored serum specimens using a Roche Modular P800 system.
Testing serum specimens using PCR is dependent on the detection of free circulating Aspergillus DNA, while the use of EDTA-anticoagulated whole blood samples allows for the detection of conidia, hyphal fragments, and freely circulating DNA [ 12, 18].
We also want to express our thanks to the staff at the Veterinary Virus Laboratory in Nicosia, Cyprus, for harvesting and keeping all serum specimens used in this work until they were transported to Iceland for testing.
Serum specimens used in this study were collected from five pivotal phase 3 studies of tocilizumab in patients with RA: RADIATE, 4 OPTION, 3 TOWARD, 5 AMBITION 6 and LITHE 7 (table 1).
Serum specimens used included polyclonal specific murine serum specimens (anti-FHA, PRN, PT, AC-Hly) (35 ), the serum collected 7 months after the hospitalization of the patient infected with B. petrii, and 2 pools of serum samples from patients infected with B. pertussis and B. bronchiseptica, respectively.
At each sampling the serum specimen used for analysis of the protein tumor markers was saved in different aliquots at −80°C and used for the current analysis of hyper- and hypomethylated DNA.
Serologic testing was performed on human serum specimens by using a goat anti-human IgM, IgG, and IgA fluorescein isothiocyanate labeled secondary antibody (Kirkegaard and Perry Laboratories, Gaithersburg, MD, USA), by an indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA) as described (7 ).
Rickettsial serologic testing was performed on patients' paired serum specimens by using an indirect immunofluorescence assay (6 ).
The presence of IgG antibodies to Phase II C. burnetii in the baseline serum specimen was performed using a commercially available indirect ELISA test kit (Vircell, Granada, Spain. Cat. No. G1001).
Currently in the United States, the preferred method for detecting MERS in PUIs with recent symptom onset is to test lower respiratory, naso-oropharyngeal, and serum specimens by using the CDC rRT-PCR assay.
