In an effort to provide customers with expanded, more comprehensive solutions for molecular testing, Siemens Healthineers has announced a new strategic relationship with Fast-track Diagnostics (FTD) that includes the addition of FTD’s broad range of CE-marked kits and multisyndromic panels to the menu of the Siemens Healthineers VERSANT kPCR Molecular System. The addition of FTD’s broad menu of kits and panels – which cover conditions from respiratory to gastroenteritis to central nervous system (CNS) and childhood infections – increases the breadth of Siemens Healthineers’ complete molecular testing solution, ensuring leading-edge performance from extraction through detection and increasing workflow efficiency for molecular labs of all sizes.
 “Over the past 24 months, Siemens Healthineers has made significant advancements in the delivery of molecular diagnostic applications and services,” says Fernando Beils, Head of Molecular Diagnostics, Siemens Healthineers. “We continue to strengthen and broaden our Molecular System by offering a comprehensive, scalable solution for accurate diagnosis and monitoring to our customers worldwide through our alliance with Fast-track Diagnostics.”
The VERSANT kPCR Molecular System, an established market player in molecular testing for HIV and Hepatitis, will now feature over 75 assays, consolidating testing for the infectious disease spectrum in a single molecular ecosystem.
“The VERSANT kPCR Molecular System is perfectly suited to our wide range of assays, which means laboratories can now diagnose nearly any infectious disease in one workflow,” says Bill Carman, CEO of Fast-track Diagnostics.
In offering customers the option of a single, consolidated system with a broad menu and virtually open platform, Siemens Healthineers enables healthcare providers to meet their current challenges, especially as an increasing push towards a value-based healthcare philosophy relies heavily on increased productivity and streamlined workflows. With this in mind, Siemens Healthineers has made its growth and enhancement within the molecular diagnostics space a key priority for its business strategy moving forward. www.siemens.com/healthineerswww.fast-trackdiagnostics.com

Following the presentation to the European market at EuroMedLab in Athens and to the US market at AACC 2017 of the Thermo Scientific Cascadion SM Clinical Analyser bringing together the ease of use of clinical analysers with the selectivity and sensitivity of liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS), the company will now seek CE marking  followed by FDA approval.
“This is a marvelous development, and it is really quite outstanding. It will fulfill the needs of many laboratories,” said Professor Brian Keevil, consultant clinical scientist and head of the Clinical Biochemistry Department, University Hospital of South Manchester NHS Foundation Trust, UK, after viewing a demonstration during EuroMedLab 2017.
The Cascadion system was designed and built using Thermo Fisher products and technologies combined with its industry-leading expertise in mass spectrometry.  Featuring turnkey operation, the Cascadion analyser is designed to be used by laboratory staff with no specialized training.
James Nichols, PhD, medical director, Chemistry and Point of Care Testing, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, added, “For much of what we do in terms of chromatography and mass spectrometry, we need very highly skilled and experienced medical technologists. The Cascadion analyser is relatively maintenance-free and because it includes specially designed reagent kits, there is not a lot of interaction required with the technology.”
After previewing the Cascadion analyser, Michael Vogeser, senior physician and professor of laboratory medicine, University Hospital of Munich, stated “About 70% of all physician’s decisions are based on laboratory tests so the impact on laboratory testing is huge and this completely new technological approach is of enormous value to mankind.” www.thermofisher.com/Cascadion

HORIBA Medical and Siemens Healthineers have entered into a long-term agreement. The companies will collaborate in bringing new and innovative hematology solutions to the market globally. With HORIBA Medical as the original equipment manufacturer to complement the Siemens Healthineers portfolio, the companies will provide customers with expanded options to fulfill their hematology and multidisciplinary solution needs.

“With our commercial strength and global installed base of customers combined with HORIBA Medical’s innovative technologies, the relationship will expand the hematology solutions available to laboratories for diagnostics testing worldwide,” said Franz Walt, President, Laboratory Diagnostics, Siemens Healthineers.

“Our long-term vision and continuous investments coupled with our outstanding employees have resulted in innovative hematology technology solutions. I am extremely pleased that this long-term vision has resulted in an alliance with Siemens Healthineers” said Mr. Atsushi Horiba, Chairman, President & CEO of HORIBA, Ltd.

www.horiba.com/medicalwww.siemens.com/healthineers

Preeclampsia is the most dangerous form of hypertension during a pregnancy and can be fatal for both mother and child. Though it is known to originate in the placenta, the root causes remain largely a mystery. An international research team led by the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) has recently published new findings which reveal that preeclampsia is not in fact a single disease caused solely by genetic factors. Their tests on placenta samples have shown that epigenetically regulated genes play an important role. The Berlin research team also developed an in vitro model of the disorder which demonstrates the dysregulation of an important transcription factor.
The research team compared placental tissue samples and the genetic makeup of patients with preeclampsia with those of healthy women. The entirety of their genetic material was analysed for genes that are differentially expressed in the preeclamptic versus healthy placentas and checked for disrupted genomic imprinting, which refers to certain genes that are “switched off” on either the paternal or maternal chromosome. This led them to identify the so-called DLX5 gene as a significant transcription factor involved in regulating the activity of other genes in preeclampsia. This gene is usually turned off – or epigenetically “imprinted” – on the paternal chromosome, controlling the proper dosage of gene expression. Due to loss of the regulation by imprinting, DLX5 was strongly upregulated in ca. 70 percent of the samples studied from preeclampsia patients, meaning the gene was switched on in these cases. This study is the first to demonstrate that a change in epigenetic gene regulation by imprinting can contribute to preeclampsia. The scientists also found three separate types of preeclampsia, supporting the view that preeclampsia is a complex disease.

Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine
insights.mdc-berlin.de/en/2017/10/preeclampsia-triggered-overdose-gene-activity/
 

Researchers at the University of Helsinki have found a genetic variation, which associates with the damage caused by maternal alcohol consumption. This genetic variation clarifies the role of genetic factors in the alcohol-induced developmental disorders and could be useful in future diagnostics.
The effects of prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) on placental genes involved in growth and on the size of affected newborns were explored in the study performed at the University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Hospital in Finland. The researchers observed that alcohol alters epigenetic marks on the placenta and also the head size of newborn, depending on the genetic variation inherited from the parents.
Epigenetic marks are molecules, which bind to DNA sequence. They regulate the activity of genes and thus production of proteins in the cells.
The research material was 39 alcohol-exposed and 100 control placentas. They were collected from mothers who gave birth in the Helsinki University Hospital and had given approval for their participation in the study.
It is already known that in addition to neuronal disorders and birth defects, alcohol causes retarded growth. Therefore the researchers focused on two genes, insulin-like growth hormone 2 (IGF2) and H19, which locate near each other and regulate the growth of the placenta and embryo.
There is a common genetic variation in the Finnish population in the DNA region which regulates the function of these genes. The genetic variants that an individual inherits from the parents have been shown to associate with the amount of epigenetic marks on this region. This led the researchers to examine this intensively studied genomic region in a novel way.
– We divided all our samples in four groups according to the inherited genetic variations. We observed that there were different quantities of epigenetic marks in the groups of alcohol-exposed placentas compared with controls, explains Adjunct Professor Nina Kaminen-Ahola, the leader of the research team at the University of Helsinki.
– This finding led us to explore if there are changes in the gene expression and newborns’ birth measurements that would associate with the variation. We observed that expression of the negative growth controller H19 was significantly increased compared to expression of the growth supporter IGF2 in certain variant groups of the alcohol-exposed placentas.
The birth measurements were analysed by using new Finnish growth charts. Previous studies have shown that alcohol particularly affects the head growth and thus head circumference has been used as a mark of alcohol-induced damage. However, this study indicated that the head circumferences of alcohol-exposed newborns vary significantly depending on the genetic variations inherited from parents.
– We do not know yet if this variation is connected with alcohol-induced neuronal disorders. However, this could explain earlier study results concerning decreased correlation between HCs and brain size, as well as between HCs and cognitive skills among alcohol-exposed children. This suggests that alcohol causes damage in the brain in all genotypes, but this cannot be always seen in the head size, Kaminen-Ahola states.

University of Helsinki
www.helsinki.fi/en/news/a-candidate-genetic-factor-for-the-effects-of-prenatal-alcohol-exposure-has-been-found