Scientists at The Scripps Institute (California, USA) have used liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC–MS) to identify a new biomarker for the diagnosis of river blindness.1 The discovery is an important step towards the development of a portable diagnostic test for use in the field.

River blindness affects 37 million people worldwide and is focused specifically in sub-Saharan Africa, Central and South America and Yemen. The disease is caused by nematode (

 sp.). In an attempt to kill the larvae, the body mounts an inflammatory immune response, indirectly damaging the eye and other body tissues.

The team analysed the urinary metabolome of infected and uninfected patients, identifying one particular protein that became elevated in the urine of infected patients. High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was performed to concentrate the protein and LC–MS was able to identify the chemical structure as N-acetyltyramine-O,ß-glucoronide.

The analysis was not as straightforward as initially hoped. The small, then unknown, molecule was not immediately identifiable. Daniel Globisch, a postdoctoral fellow in the Janda laboratory, studied the available literature referencing the metabolome of the nematode and pinpointed the metabolite source. The molecule was a breakdown product of a neurotransmitter produced by young larvae, excreted into the urine at higher levels during an active infection.

“It’s a spectacular find in terms of biomarkers as it does not occur naturally in humans,” said Globisch. Lead investigator Professor Janda advanced on this stating that for the findings to be of value in Third World countries it would need to be developed into a portable instrument, “basically distilling our finding to a test that can be carted around in a backpack”. 

According to the authors, the theory behind the investigation should be applicable to the diagnosis of other worm infection-induced diseases.

1. D. Globisch, A. Moreno, M.S Hixon, A.A.K. Nunes, J.R. Denery,S. Specht, A. Hoerauf and K.D. Janda, PNAS, DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1221969110 (2013).

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Scientists at The Scripps Institute (California, USA) have used liquid chromatography?mass spectrometry (LC?MS) to identify a new biomarker for the diagnosis of river blindness.1

Biomarker for river blindness discovered

A careful approach to data handling is important for the understanding of how certain procedures alter the metabolic profile of samples.

Verifying Data Quality of an Untargeted Approach to Analyse Terroir in Wine Grape Juice

Bruker (Massachusetts, USA) has built on its 30-year history in India by opening two new centres of excellence in Mumbai and Bengaluru. During this time, Bruker has established itself in many of India’s major cities including New Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Kolkata, Lucknow and Hyderabad.

The new centres of excellence will offer customer support for scientific and analytical instrumentation for the growing Indian market. The locations ofthe centres were selected based on their proximity to major academic, government and industrial research laboratories.

Dr Frank Laukien, Bruker’s President and CEO, commented: “With this significant investment in our two new centres of excellence, Bruker has taken a major step forward in India to provide highest‑level support for the outstanding and rapidly growing Indian research, industrial and clinical communities.”

Bruker (Massachusetts, USA) has built on its 30-year history in India by opening two new centres of excellence in Mumbai and Bengaluru.

Bruker expands Indian operations

Incognito espouses the benefits of a rigorous testing procedure in the workplace.

A Testing Time...

Dr Ronald A. DePinho — president of the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (Texas, USA) — has received an Agilent Thought Leader Award. Agilent Technologies (California, USA) will provide financial support for personnel as well as instrumentation for the center.

The work of DePinho has resulted in the development of improved cancer detection methods and cancer drug development. His research group focuses broadly on basic‑to‑translational research programmes for brain, colorectal, pancreas and prostate cancers, as well as ageing and neuro‑degeneration. 

The award will support DePinho and his team in their research into reprogramming the metabolome at the initial stages of cancer. Specifically, the instrumentation will “enhance” the investigation of metabolic adaptions during the development of pancreatic cancer, according to Dr Guilio Draetta, director of the Institute for Applied Cancer Science.

Pancreatic cancer is a major concern of DePinho’s group because survival rates of patients have not significantly improved over the past two decades. Depinho said: “This technology will allow us to rapidly identify new targets that drive the formation, progression and maintenance of pancreatic cancer. Discoveries from this research will also lead to the development of effective early detection biomarkers and novel therapeutic interventions.”

Patrick Kaltenbach, Agilent VP and general manager of the Liquid Phase division, said: “We are proud to support Dr DePinho’s exciting translational research programme, which will make use of metabolomics and integrated biology workflows and solutions in biomarker discovery.” 

Draetta added: “Armed with novel biomarkers, earlier diagnosis and treatment will be possible, leading to improved patient outcomes. Additional opportunities for novel therapeutic intervention will also emerge from this work.”

Dr Ronald A. DePinho ? president of the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (Texas, USA) ? has received an Agilent Thought Leader Award.

Agilent supports cancer research center

Breath may be an indicator of stress levels according to a study published in the 

 The breath samples of 22 individuals were analysed by performing thermal desporption–gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (TD–GC–MS) to pinpoint six stress sensitive compounds.

Stress is the by-product of the evolutionary “fight‑or‑flight” response. In a situation percieved to be challenging, or in some cases threatening, the body’s biological processes change in preparation. The most obvious change induced by fear or anticipation is an increase in heart rate and blood pressure.The study hypothesized that this would result in a change in the chemical profile of breath samples. These samples were collected from subjects following psychological interventions — designed to either induce stress or maintain a relaxed state of mind. One intervention used was a mental arithmetic test, while another was listening to classical music. 

The four compounds identified to be elevated following induced stress were indole, 2-hydroxy-1-phenylethanone, benzaldehyde and 2-ethylhexan-1-ol. 2-methylpentadecane was tentatively identified and another componenent remained undetermined. 

It is plausible that this non-invasive test could be used in clinical settings to determine the stress levels of patients.

M.A. Turner, S. Bandelow, L. Edwards, P. Patel, H.J. Martin, I.D. Wilson and C.L.P. Thomas, 

, DOI: 10.1088/1752-7155/7/1/017102 (2013).

Breath may be an indicator of stress levels according to a study published in the Journal of Breath Research.1

GC-MS detects stress levels

A reliable and sensitive determination of glyphosate residues in water and food is discussed.