Periprosthetic joint infections are serious complications in orthopedic surgeries. Their fast and efficient diagnostics is therefore of utmost importance. One of the markers of such infections is the presence of α-defensins (antibacterial peptides produced in the immune response) in the synovial fluid.
Biochemist Václav Čeřovský from IOCB Prague, together with medical scientists at Motol University Hospital proposed a novel method of such diagnostics based on HPLC with UV detection, followed by mass spectrometric verification of α-defensins identity.
This method promises reducing the amount of false-positive and false-negative results that may be obtained in standardly used tests, as well as sizable cost reduction while giving results within 1 hour.
Read the paper:
- Melicherčík, P.; Klapková, E.; Kotaška, K.; Jahoda, D.; Landor, I.; Čeřovský, V. High-Performance Liquid Chromatography as a Novel Method for the Determination of α-Defensins in Synovial Fluid for Diagnosis of Orthopedic Infections. Diagnostics 2020, 10, 33. https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4418/10/1/33