A rapid smartphone-based lactate dehydrogenase test for neonatal diagnostics at the point of care.

Halvorsen CP, Olson L, Araújo AC, Karlsson M, Nguyễn TT, Khu DTK, Le HTT, Nguyễn HTB, Winbladh B, Russom A

Sci Rep 9 (1) 9301 [2019-06-26; online 2019-06-26]

There is a growing recognition of the importance of point-of-care tests (POCTs) for detecting critical neonatal illnesses to reduce the mortality rate in newborns, especially in low-income countries, which account for 98 percent of reported neonatal deaths. Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) is a marker of cellular damage as a result of hypoxia-ischemia in affected organs. Here, we describe and test a POC LDH test direct from whole blood to provide early indication of serious illness in the neonate. The sample-in-result-out POC platform is specifically designed to meet the needs at resource-limited settings. Plasma is separated from whole blood on filter paper with dried-down reagents for colorimetric reaction, combined with software for analysis using a smartphone. The method was clinically tested in newborns in two different settings. In a clinical cohort of newborns of Stockholm (n = 62) and Hanoi (n = 26), the value of R using Pearson's correlation test was 0.91 (p < 0.01) and the R2 = 0.83 between the two methods. The mean LDH (±SD) for the reference method vs. the POC-LDH was 551 (±280) U/L and 552 (±249) U/L respectively, indicating the clinical value of LDH values measured in minutes with the POC was comparable with standardized laboratory analyses.

PubMed 31243323

DOI 10.1038/s41598-019-45606-0

Crossref 10.1038/s41598-019-45606-0

pmc: PMC6595069
pii: 10.1038/s41598-019-45606-0