Clinical OMICs - Issue 7 - (Page 27)

HEART TRANSPLANT (continued from p. 6) the biopsies indicated anything troubling. The study's authors emphasized that GTD not only detected early signs of rejection, it also did so "without incurring the risk, discomfort, and expense of an invasive biopsy." During a biopsy, a small tube is threaded through the jugular vein in the neck, and a serrated pincer is used to pluck off small bits of heart tissue for analysis. The procedure is uncomfortable and may cause complications such as heart rhythm abnormalities or valve damage. In addition, it delivers results that can be subjective or can vary according to the sampling location within the heart. "[GTD] appears to be safer, cheaper, and more accurate than a heart biopsy, which is the current gold standard to detect and monitor heart- Enjoying your trial subscription to Clinical OMICs? Register Here to Continue Free Subscription www.clinicalomics.com transplant rejection," said the study's co-senior author, Stephen Quake, Ph.D., professor of bioengineering and of applied physics at Stanford. GTD also outperformed AlloMap, a commercial gene expression assay that is currently available for the noninvasive monitoring for rejection after heart transplantation. Although much remains to be done-for example, optimizing scale-up and streamlining the analysis so that individual samples can be quickly processed-the researchers are already considering how GTD may be integrated into clinical routines: "Graft injury after AMR is detected, but the test is not able to distinguish graft damage from AMR versus ACR, which have different therapeutic consequences and outcomes. Hence, the GTD assay may require follow-up testing, such as biopsy or measurement of donor-specific antihuman leukocyte antigen antibodies, if rejection is determined." The researchers are also hopeful that GTD can be generalized to detect the rejection of organs other than the heart, and to diagnose other problems such as infections that plague organ transplant recipients. "This test may also allow us to conduct several diagnostic tests simultaneously. For example, we could also look for microbial sequences in the blood sample to rule out infection or other complications sometimes experienced by transplant recipients," explained Dr. Khush. "It could allow us to determine whether shortness of breath experienced by a patient is due to an infection or the start of a rejection episode. It could be a onestop shop for multiple potential problems." Discover what's new from the leading journal on post-genomic medicine and integrative biology Sign Up for TOC Alerts www.liebertpub.com/omi Editor-in-Chief: Vural Özdemir, MD, PhD, DABCP July 16, 2014 Clinical OMICs 27 http://www.liebertpub.com/omi https://www.sub-forms.com/dragon/init.do?site=GNP147_GOdigitaln http://www.liebertpub.com/omi http://www.clinicalomics.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Clinical OMICs - Issue 7

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Clinical OMICs - Issue 7