Automated Analysis of Acute Kidney Injury using the MALDI-8020 Benchtop Linear MALDI-TOF MS with SampleStationTM & AuraSolutionTM Software

Introduction

Acute kidney injury (AKI) refers to sudden damage to the kidneys resulting in impairment of their normal function. Since the kidneys are the major excretory organs of waste in the body, this is potentially a serious clinical condition, in the absence of early detection and intervention. Several hospital patient clinical groups, particularly those with hip fractures, have been identified to be at high risk of AKI during treatment . Correlations have also been made with long-term mortality, and the financial burden to the UK National Health Service is £434-620 million annually. These are all indications of a need for monitoring and early prediction of AKI. In response to this need, a method transfer study is ongoing to screen for AKI biomarkers using matrix assisted laser desorption/ionisation time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS). This would harness the typical advantages associated with this technology, which include the rapid analysis, simple sample preparation and small volume requirement combined with high sensitivity and mass accuracy. MALDI-TOF MS could then become preferable to contemporary methods for AKI including ELISA and CE-MS. Here, we provide an example analysis of urine samples, from intensive care unit patients at risk of AKI, using the MALDI-8020 mass spectrometer. The seamless workflow controlled by the SampleStation and AuraSolution software enables automated analysis with data security and sample traceability, all of which are important for clinical analysis.

May 21, 2018 GMT