HbA1c results from five routine assays in patients with relatively common Hb variants in Korea showed various degrees of bias compared to those of IFCC RMP. Therefore, laboratories should be aware of the limitation of their methods with respect to interference from Hb variants found commonly in their local population and suggest an alternative HbA1c quantification method.

Chemical castration involves administration of drugs to prevent pathological sexual behavior, reduce abnormal sexual drive and treat hormone-dependent cancers. Various drugs have been used for chemical castration; however, substantial interindividual variability and side effects are often observed. In this study, we proposed a useful monitoring method for the application of chemical castration agents using ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS-MS). Testosterone, cyproterone acetate, medroxyprogesterone, goserelin acetate, leuprolide acetate and triptorelin acetate were analyzed by UPLC-MS-MS. The target drugs were extracted from serum samples by double protein precipitation using methanol. Testosterone-1,2-d2 and buserelin acetate were used as internal standards. Parameters of analytical performance were evaluated, including imprecision, linearity, ion suppression and detection capabilities. Testosterone measurements were compared with the results of immunoassays. Serum specimens from 51 subjects who underwent chemical castration were analyzed. All drugs and testosterone were well extracted and separated using our method. The method was essentially free from potential interferences and ion suppression. Within-run and between-run imprecision values were <15%. The lower limits of quantification were 0.125 and 0.5-1.0 ng/mL for testosterone and other drugs, respectively. Good correlations with pre-existing immunoassays for testosterone measurement were observed. Sera from subjects who underwent androgen deprivation therapy showed variable levels of drugs. We successfully developed a UPLC-MS-MS-based monitoring method for chemical castration. The performance of our method was generally acceptable. This method may provide a novel monitoring strategy for chemical castration to enhance expected effects while reducing unwanted side effects.

Overall assessment of the hemostatic system including procoagulant and anticoagulant changes may help assess the clinical status and prognosis of disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC). The thrombin generation assay provides useful information about the global hemostatic status. Therefore, we measured several parameters of global hemostatic potential by the thrombin generation assay in patients suspected of having DIC. A total of 114 patients with suspected DIC were included. The thrombin generation assay was performed on the calibrated automated thrombogram using tissue factor with or without the addition of thrombomodulin, showing three parameters: lag time, endogenous thrombin potential (ETP), and peak thrombin. Both 1 and 5 pmol/l tissue factor-stimulated ETP and peak thrombin were well correlated with DIC severity. Interestingly, antithrombin level greatly affected ETP, whereas protein C influenced lag time. Prognostic analysis revealed that the area under the curve of peak thrombin stimulated by 1 pmol/l tissue factor was superior to that of D-dimer. Moreover, multivariate Cox analysis showed that the lag time and time to peak with both 1 and 5 pmol/l tissue factor were independent prognostic markers. ETP and peak thrombin well reflect DIC severity. Hypocoagulability manifesting as prolonged lag time and time to peak is expected to be an independent prognostic marker in DIC.

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