Comparison of Different Parathyroid Hormone Radioimmunoassays in Uremic Patients with Secondary Hyperparathyroidism

Parathyroid hormone (PTH) levels of patients with chronic renal failure (CRF) were measured by three different radioimmunoassays (RIA); RIA for mid-region PTH by antibody CH9 (i-PTH) (1), RIA for intact fragments of PTH (intact PTH) and RIA for C-terminal fragments of PTH (PTH-C). PTH levels were higher in CRF patients undergoing hemodialysis therapy (hemodialysis patients) by all three methods. However, PTH levels measured only by i-PTH assay and intact PTH assay were significantly higher in patients with CRF who were not on dialysis (non-dialyzed CRF patients). PTH levels were above normal when creatinine clearance was below 45 ml/min in the intact PTH assay and 66 ml/min in the i-PTH assay. I-PTH levels were well correlated with the severity of osteitis fibrosa evaluated by the degree of periosteal resorption in the digits of hemodialysis patients. Since special handling of the sample is required for the intact PTH assay, i-PTH assay is the most suitable method for diagnosing secondary hyperparathyroidism in patients with CRF.

Genome-wide associations for multiple pest resistances in a Northwestern United States elite spring wheat panel

Northern areas of the western United States are one of the most productive wheat growing regions in the United States. Increasing productivity through breeding is hindered by several biotic stresses which slow and constrain targeted yield improvement. In order to understand genetic variation for stripe rust (Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici), Septoria tritici blotch (Mycosphaerella graminicola), and Hessian fly (Mayetiola destructor) in regional germplasm, a panel of 408 elite spring wheat lines was characterized and genotyped with an Illumina 9K wheat single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) chip to enable genome-wide association study (GWAS) analyses. Significant marker-trait associations were identified for stripe rust (38 loci), Septoria tritici blotch (8) and Hessian fly (9) resistance. Many of the QTL corresponded with previously reported gene locations or QTL, but we also discovered new resistance loci for each trait. We validated one of the stripe rust resistance loci detected by GWAS in a bi-parental mapping population, which confirmed the detection of Yr15 in the panel. This study elucidated well-defined chromosome regions for multiple pest resistances in elite Northwest germplasm. Newly identified resistance loci, along with SNPs more tightly linked to previously reported genes or QTL will help future breeding and marker assisted selection efforts.