Hossein Sayed Sadrzadeh

Calgary Laboratory Services | CLS · Department of Clinical Biochemistry

Fecal immunochemical tests (FIT) are used to screen for colorectal cancer by detecting blood present in stool. Patients collect FIT specimens at home in a sampling kit and return them to the lab for testing. At our institution, patients are instructed to return their specimens to the laboratory within seven days from collection, which is shorter th...

Objective: To examine factors associated with the reported incidence of pheochromocytoma and paraganglioma across studies. Methods: The annual incidence of pheochromocytoma and paraganglioma was examined according to geographic altitude and year of detection. Results: Although higher altitude and later year of detection were associated with a highe...

Objective Despite the significant morbidity and mortality associated with pheochromocytoma and paraganglioma, little is known about their epidemiology. The primary objective was to determine the incidence of pheochromocytoma and paraganglioma in an ethnically diverse population. A secondary objective was to develop and validate algorithms for case...

Background: Hyperthyroidism due to Graves’ disease (GD) is an autoimmune condition caused by thyroid stimulating hormone receptor (TSHR) autoantibodies. Autoantibodies to the TSHR can stimulate or block thyroid hormone production, therefore testing specifically for stimulating antibodies would be beneficial for diagnosis of GD. Objectives: The prim...

Phenytoin is an anticonvulsant medication that is highly protein bound. A case of a 57-year-old female with history of epilepsy who experienced phenytoin toxicity has been described. The patient also had a medical history of hepatorenal syndrome, cirrhosis, and recent acute kidney injury and presented to the emergency department with headache, conf...

A case of a 15-year-old female with a family history of febrile seizures and epilepsy consumed an unknown pill provided to her by a relative to help manage a minor episode of headache. The patient experienced drowsiness and a prolonged “disconnected” state followed by a seizure episode. Although the immunoassay screen of the urine sample from the p...

Objectives: The level of glycated hemoglobin A (HbA1C) in blood is the preferred marker for diabetes monitoring and treatment. Here, we evaluate the analytical performance of the Roche Diagnostics Cobas c 513, a stand-alone HbA1C immunoassay analyzer. Design and methods: Performance was assessed with regards to imprecision, accuracy, linearity,...

Objective: Determine rate of high plasma normetanephrine or metanephrine (PNM-PMN) in a large sample of patients according to PNM-PMN posture and age-adjusted references. Design: Retrospective re-analysis of PNM-PMN from a Canadian reference laboratory(n=5452), 2011 to 2015; most were seated position(n=5112) rather than supine(n=340). An internatio...

Background The 72-h quantitative fecal fat test has been mostly obsolete for many years. Our objective was to reduce and eliminate the use of this test, while providing suitable alternatives. Methods We assessed (2010–2016) utilization of the fecal fat test in Calgary, Central Alberta, and Southern Alberta, Canada. Alternatives were identified thr...

Background Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) can be diagnosed in pregnant women by increased fasting plasma glucose alone, which eliminates the need for performing a 75 g oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). If whole blood glucose meters are used to triage fasting samples in order to decide whether to give the glucose drink, a cutpoint with approp...

All the tests in clinical laboratories are susceptible to preanalytical variables that can affect test results before a specimen is even analyzed. These variables include physiologic or nonphysiologic in nature and include types of collection devices, stature of patient during the collection, diet, circadian rhythms, the environment where the speci...

Thyroid disorders are among the most common diseases of the endocrine system and may be divided into the groups of hypothyroidism, hyperthyroidism, and thyroid nodules/cancer. This chapter will focus on the clinical and biochemical features in both diagnosis and management of all three classes of thyroid diseases with extra attention given to speci...

Osteoporosis and metabolic bone diseases are among the most common disorders of endocrine practice; fragility fractures from bone disease are a major cost to healthcare systems. Although commonly grouped under the general term of "osteoporosis," there are many primary and secondary bone disorders, each with unique pathophysiology. The field of bone...

Objectives: Serum iron is an important clinical test to help identify cases of iron deficiency or overload. Fluctuations caused by diurnal variation and diet are thought to influence test results, which may affect clinical patient management. We examined the impact of these preanalytical factors on iron concentrations in a large community-based co...

Direct renin concentration is replacing plasma renin activity in many laboratories for the investigation of primary aldosteronism, which may have a significant impact on the resulting aldosterone:renin ratios. We sought to develop a population-based approach to establishing an aldosterone:renin ratio cutoff when transitioning between assays. A popu...

Context Community-based programs are a common way of promoting colorectal cancer screening by primary care physicians. Fecal immunochemical testing (FIT) is a screening method commonly used in such programs. Fecal immunochemical testing has advantages to the patient as well as to clinical laboratories. Objective To assess the operational test char...

Context: Increasing rates of opioid abuse, particularly fentanyl, may lead to more presentations of unusual effects of opioid toxicity. Diffuse alveolar hemorrhage is a rare complication of fentanyl overdose. Case details: A 45-year-old male presented in hypoxic respiratory failure secondary to diffuse alveolar hemorrhage requiring intubation. C...

1.) Identify whether prostate-specific antigen velocity improves the ability to predict prostate biopsy diagnosis. 2.) Test whether there is an increase in the predictive capability of models when Gleason 7 prostate cancers are separated into a 3+4 and a 4+3 group. Calgary Laboratory Services clinical laboratory information system was searched for...

Community fecal immunochemical testing (FIT) screening programs are important for detecting early disease and can be effective when promoted by primary care physicians. Screening rates remain low across Canada and may be associated with sociodemographic factors. Fecal immunochemical testing results for a new community-based screening program were o...

Objectives There are conflicting recommendations regarding the use of prostate specific antigen (PSA) as a screening test. Integral to this debate is an understanding of who is currently being tested. The purpose of this study was to provide a detailed account of PSA testing practices in a major Canadian city (Calgary, Alberta) and to identify vari...

Background: The lack of specificity of immunoassays for drugs of abuse testing (DAT), and concerns over its cost in conjunction with reflex confirmatory tests prompted us to investigate the combinatorial use of dried urine spot (DUS) and LC-MS/MS as an alternative. Methods: The method development and validation were performed in accordance with...

In clinical laboratories, sometimes there is a need to recentrifuge the original tubes ("clot" tubes) in order to better clarify and clean the serum or plasma for further analysis. Also, the original tubes are recentrifuged to ensure there is an adequate volume of serum or plasma for multiple repeating or different tests, and/or to run additional t...

The relationship of genetic predisposition to reduced iron capacity and apolipoprotein E (APOE) to posttraumatic seizures (PTSs) and neuropsychological outcomes was investigated in patients with traumatic brain injuries from a prior valproate clinical study. Haptoglobin concentration/phenotype and APOE genotype were determined in 25 patients with P...

Iron is the most important element in the body, essential for almost all types of cells, including brain cells. The role of iron in the brain has been known for years. Iron deficiency and iron excess have been associated with pathophysiology of different brain disorders. Iron deficiency has been reported to have a role in brain development and the...

Haptoglobin is a positive acute phase protein that binds free hemoglobin and removes it from the circulation to prevent kidney injury, and iron lossfollowing hemolysis. Also, by bindingfree hemoglobin, haptoglobin functions as an antioxidant. In addition, haptoglobin acts as a potent immunosuppressor of lymphocyte function and modulates the helper...

Green tea polyphenols like epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) have been proposed as a cancer chemopreventative. Several studies have shown that EGCG can act as an antioxidant by trapping proxyl radicals and inhibiting lipid peroxidation. The main propose of this study is to investigate the antioxidant capacity of EGCG using erythrocyte membrane-bound...

Organic osmolytes are used in animal and plant cells to adapt to hyper- and hypoosmolar stress. We used our RBC-membrane model to investigate the effects of the osmolytes betaine, sorbitol and myo-inositol on Na(+)/K(+)-ATPase, Ca(2+)-ATPase and calmodulin-stimulated Ca(2+)-ATPase (CaM). Our results show that betaine inhibited ATPases by more than...

Transfusion-associated graft-versus-host disease (TA-GVHD) is a serious condition that under certain circumstances can be lethal in immunosuppressed patients. The risk of TA-GVHD can be reduced in this population by gamma irradiation (gammaRad) of blood components. gammaRad results in production of reactive oxygen species which can damage red blood...

Hydroxy-urea (OH-U) is used to treat sickle cell anemia by increasing hemoglobin fetal-fraction. It has been suggested that the sickle cell mutations lead to the formation of unstable HbS and release of iron, which can result in lipid peroxidation (LPO), and eventual cell damage. Since oxidative processes might be involved in pathogenesis of sickle...

We investigated the potential of 16-desmethyl tirilazad mesylate, a member of 21-aminosteroids, to ameliorate alcohol-induced liver injury. Four groups (five rats/group) of male Wistar rats were studied. One group of rats was fed fish oil and ethanol (FE) for 4 weeks, and a second group received isocaloric amounts of dextrose instead of ethanol (FD...

Cellular blood components are irradiated to prevent graft-versus-host disease in transfusion recipients at risk for this syndrome. Because gamma radiation can result in the production of reactive oxygen species, the role of reactive oxygen species was investigated in radiation-induced red cell damage. Whole blood from normal donors was exposed to v...

We studied the effect of the long-acting parenteral iron chelator, hydroxyethyl starch deferoxamine (HES-DFO) on liver nonheme iron, lipid peroxidation and pathologic changes in the liver in the intragastric feeding rat model for alcoholic liver disease. Male Wistar rats (225-250 g) were fed liquid diet and ethanol for 2 months. In control pair-fed...

Lipid peroxidation may be important in the pathogenesis of alcoholic liver injury. We investigated the potential of medium chain triglycerides and vitamin E to decrease lipid peroxidation and reverse established alcoholic liver injury. Four groups (five rats/group) of male Wistar rats were studied. Rats in group 1 were fed a fish oil-ethanol diet f...

We used the intragastric feeding rat model for alcoholic liver disease to evaluate the relationship between morphologic and functional indicators of endothelial cell dysfunction. Twelve groups of rats (4-5 rats/group) were fed the following diets: saturated fat and dextrose (SD), saturated fat and ethanol (SE), corn oil and dextrose (CD), corn oil...

To evaluate the relationship between heat-shock gene expression and the severity of pathologic liver injury and lipid peroxidation in experimental alcoholic liver disease, we used the intragastric-feeding rat model. Six groups of male Wistar rats weighing between 225 and 250 g were fed liquid diets containing different dietary fats (saturated fat,...

Regulation of blood flow and oxygen supply are important pathogenetic factors in alcoholic liver disease. Because nitric oxide may have an important role, its effects on alcoholic liver injury were investigated. Rats were fed ethanol intragastrically with either saturated fat or corn oil. Spontaneous production of NO by liver nonparenchymal cells w...

Lipid peroxidation may be important in the pathogenesis of alcoholic liver injury. The purpose of this study was to determine whether a saturated fatty acid-based therapy (palm oil) could decrease lipid peroxidation and alcoholic liver injury during ethanol withdrawal. Three groups of male Wistar rats (5 rats/group) were studied. Rats in group 1 we...

We carried out a study to relate the effect of the type of dietary fat and ethanol on antioxidant enzyme mRNA levels in liver in the intragastric feeding rat model. Different types of dietary fat were administered [saturated fat (SE), corn oil (CE) and fish oil (FE)] with ethanol to induce varying severities of liver injury. Ethanol-fed rats were p...

The effect of alpha-tocopherol (alpha-T) supplementation on ethanol-induced liver damage was studied. The intragastric feeding rat model was used in this study. Both normal and alpha-T supplemented animals (3125 IU/kg body weight) were fed liquid diet and ethanol for 1 mo. In pair-fed animals, ethanol was isocalorically replaced by dextrose. The bl...

We investigated the association between vitamin E, lipid peroxidation and eicosanoid production in experimental alcoholic liver injury. We used the intragastric feeding rat model in which animals were fed corn oil and ethanol (CO+E) and corn oil and dextrose (CO+D) for 2 and 4 week periods. At sacrifice, we measured plasma levels of alpha-tocophero...

We evaluated the role of changes in cytochrome P-450 2E1 (CYP 2E1) and lipid peroxidation in relation to development of severe liver injury in fish oil-ethanol-fed rats. The experimental animals (male Wistar rats) were divided into 5 rats/group and were fed the following diets for 1 month: corn oil and ethanol (CO+E) or corn oil and dextrose (CO+D)...

Capillarization of the hepatic sinusoid occurs in alcoholic liver disease. Because endothelial cell proliferation is relevant to capillarization, we used the intragastric feeding rat model to evaluate the relationship between pathological liver injury and endothelial cell proliferation. Male Wistar rats (225-250 g) were fed liquid diets containing...

Artemisinin is an effective antimalarial agent, and its action on the malarial parasite is suggested to be mediated by oxidative processes. Since malarial parasites contain a high concentration of hemin, and hemin may induce the formation of reactive oxygen species, we investigated the interaction of artemisinin, iron and hemin. We used erythrocyte...

The influence of dietary fat and alcohol on hepatic microsomal levels of cytochromes P-450 2E1, 2B, and 4A; phospholipases A and C; and UDP-glucuronosyltransferase was studied in the intragastric feeding rat model for alcoholic liver injury. Eight groups of animals were evaluated. Control and ethanol fed rats received either saturated fat or corn o...

The rat intragastric feeding model for alcoholic liver disease was used to study the effect of different diets on the fatty acid composition of liver microsomes. Rats were fed corn oil and ethanol (CE), saturated fat and ethanol (SF+E) or corn oil and dextrose (CD) for either 2 or 4 weeks. Rats were also fed saturated and dextrose (SF+D) for 4 week...

We evaluated the expression of interleukin-1 alpha, interleukin-1 beta, tumor necrosis factor-alpha and transforming growth factor-beta mRNAs in the intragastric-feeding rat model of alcoholic liver disease. Rats were fed different diets for periods of 2 or 4 wk. Animals fed saturated fat and ethanol and the corn oil-dextrose control group had no l...

Cytochrome P450 induction is believed to be important in the pathogenesis of alcoholic hepatic disease. Because cimetidine is a general inhibitor of cytochrome P450 enzymes, it was hypothesized that it could be useful in preventing alcoholic hepatic injury. An intragastric feeding model was used these studies. Experimental animals were divided into...

We used the intragastric feeding rat model for alcoholic liver disease to investigate the relationship between pathological severity and lipid peroxidation. Lipid peroxidation was assessed by measurement, in plasma, of a novel noncyclooxygenase-derived prostanoid (8-isoprostane). Six groups of animals fed ethanol and different dietary fats (saturat...

The effects of chronic ethanol intake on the levels of α-tocopherol and γ-tocopherol in serum and liver of both vitamin E-deficient and normal rats were studied. An intragastric feeding rat model was used. Both normal and vitamin E-deficient animals were fed a liquid diet and ethanol for 1 month. In pair-fed animals, dextrose was isocalorically rep...

The effect of the oral iron chelator 1,2-dimethyl-3-hydroxypyrid-4-one (L1) on liver nonheme iron, lipid peroxidation and hepatic fat accumulation in the intragastric feeding rat model for alcoholic liver disease was studied. Male Wistar rats (225-250 g) were fed liquid diet and ethanol for 1 month. In control pair-fed animals, ethanol was replaced...

Chronic ethanol intake impairs several parameters of immune function. Since there is evidence that cytokine production by immune cells may contribute to the immunosuppressive effect of ethanol, we examined interleukin 1 (IL1) production by liver non-parenchymal cells (NPC) in ethanol-fed rats. Male Wistar rats (225-250 g) were fed by continuous int...

We have previously shown a relationship between plasma endotoxin levels and severity of alcoholic liver injury in the intragastric feeding rat model. We attempted to reduce both circulating endotoxin and liver injury in this model by administering a lactobacillus strain (species GG) which survives for prolonged periods in the gastrointestinal tract...

The effect of chronic ethanol intake, with and without an iron chelator, on the activity of rat membrane ATPases was investigated. Using the intragastric feeding model, male Wistar rats (250 g) were fed a liquid diet and ethanol for 1 month. In control pair-fed animals, ethanol was isocalorically replaced by dextrose. In addition to the above group...

We used the intragastric feeding rat model for alcoholic liver disease to investigate the relationship between prostacyclin and liver injury. Rats were fed the following diets for periods ranging from 1 to 8 weeks: corn oil plus ethanol (CO+E), corn oil plus dextrose (CO+D), saturated fat plus ethanol (SF+E) and saturated fat plus dextrose (SF+D)....

We used the intragastric feeding rat model for alcohol liver disease to investigate the relationship between endothelin and pathologic liver injury. Rats were fed the following diets for periods of 1, 2 and 4 weeks: corn oil plus ethanol (CE), corn oil plus dextrose (CD) and saturated fat plus ethanol (SE). Plasma endothelin levels were significant...

We evaluated whether fish oil or vitamin E administration affected ethanol-induced changes in membrane ATPases. Male Wistar rats (225-250 g) were fed, through a gastric tube a liquid diet containing fish oil (25% of calories) and ethanol for one month. Another group of animals was given supplemental vitamin E (300 u/kg). In the pair-fed control ani...

The present study evaluated the role of endotoxin, prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), leukotriene B4 (LTB4) and thromboxane B2 in alcoholic liver injury. Animals (4-5 per group per time period) were fed ethanol and either saturated fat (SE group) or corn oil (CE group) and sacrificed at various time intervals: 1, 2, and 4 weeks. Non parenchymal cells (NPC) w...

An assay for activities of erythrocyte membrane-bound ATPases adapted from the autoanalyzer method of Raess and Vincenzi (1980a) is described in detail. Mg2+ ATPase, Na+/K(+)-ATPase, Ca2+ ATPase, and calmodulin- (CaM) activated Ca2+ ATPases were determined in microtiter plates. Total volume was 100 microL. Ten microliters of 0.75 mg/mL of red blood...

The present study evaluated the possible protective effect of ((2E)-3-[5-(2,3 dimethoxy-6-methyl-1,4-benzoquinoyl)]-2-nonyl-2-propanoic acid) (E3330), a newly synthesized hepatoprotective-quinone derivative, on experimental alcoholic liver injury. The intragastric feeding rat model for alcoholic liver disease was used. Eight sets of experiments wer...

We evaluated the role of changes in microsomal phospholipases (A and C) and arachidonic acid in the intragastric rat feeding model. The experimental animals (male Wistar rats), divided into 4-5 rats/group, were fed the following diets: corn oil and ethanol and corn oil plus dextrose. One set of groups was killed after 2 weeks of feeding, and the se...

The purpose of our study is to determine if a relationship exists between the severity of injury in experimental alcoholic liver disease and plasma levels of endotoxin, prostaglandin E2, leukotriene B4, and thromboxane B2. Four groups of animals (n = 4 to 8 in each group) were fed a liquid diet with corn oil (25% of calories) and ethanol over vario...

Concerns regarding the ability to semiquantitate drugs-of-abuse urine immunoaasay results, particularly THC-COOH, prompted us to reexamine EMIT results. The Syva EMIT d.a.u. cannabinoid 20-ng/mL assay was performed on the Cobas Bio centrifugal analyzer, and positive samples were confirmed by Toxi-Lab or GC/MS. Of 39 specimens tested, 17 were confir...

The full extent of an injury to the central nervous system (CNS) is often not evident until long after the initial insult. Multiple factors may be involved, but one which appears to be of great importance is hemorrhage into the site of damage.1 Indeed, in at least one experimental model of CNS trauma, neutrophils only accumulate in those areas to w...

Hemorrhage within the central nervous system (CNS) may be associated with subsequent development of seizure states or paralysis. Prior investigations indicate that hemoglobin, released from extravasated erythrocytes, may be toxic to the CNS by promoting peroxidation of lipids and inhibition of Na,K-ATPase. These deleterious effects are blocked both...

Iron and iron compounds--including mammalian hemoglobins--catalyze hydroxyl radical production and lipid peroxidation. To determine whether hemoglobin-mediated lipid peroxidation might be important in hemorrhagic injuries to the central nervous system (CNS), we studied the effects of purified hemoglobin on CNS homogenates and injected hemoglobin in...

Mammalian erythrocytes have large amounts of catalase, an enzyme which catabolizes hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). Because catalase has a low affinity for H2O2, others have suggested that glutathione peroxidase clears most H2O2 within the erythrocyte and that catalase is of little import. We hypothesized that erythrocyte catalase might function to protec...

In select kindreds afflicted with familial idiopathic epilepsy, most individuals suffering seizures also have low levels of the plasma hemoglobin-binding protein, haptoglobin. This hypohaptoglobinemia may be causally associated with a tendency to develop epilepsy. Our experimental results indicate that artificially-induced hypohaptoglobinemia in mi...

Iron and iron compounds may facilitate hydroxyl-radical generation from activated oxygen species. Earlier work on the generation of this radical has been focused on simple, low-molecular-weight iron compounds. We hypothesized that free hemoglobin, like other iron-rich substances, might also mediate hydroxyl-radical generation. We find: 1) In the pr...

An antibody-dependent cell-mediated granulocytotoxic assay (ADLG) has been developed to detect antibodies to human granulocytes. This study examines some possible variables in this assay, the ADLG activity in serum from normal individuals, the contribution of ABO isohemagglutinins and the sensitivity and specificity of this technique. Significant d...