2020 · Clinical chemistry and laboratory medicine · paywalled
Diverse fragment lengths dismiss size selection for serum cell-free DNA: a comparative study of serum and plasma samples
Huang et al.
The finding, in our words
Serum contains roughly four times more cell-free DNA than plasma, yet the fragment length profiles differ substantially, so size-selection methods effective for plasma are unsuitable for serum. This finding is critical for decentralised liquid biopsy protocols because sample type directly impacts analytical performance.
A paraphrase to the Library’s standard, never the abstract. The source is one link away and is always the authority.
This review summarises how emerging HPV detection methods including CRISPR/Cas systems, droplet digital PCR and isothermal amplification, combined with self-collected vaginal swabs and liquid biopsy from urine or blood, could improve screening acceptability and enable point-of-care testing compared with conventional approaches that require invasive sampling and centralised laboratory infrastructure.
Shi et al., Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · source ↗
Capillary blood collected by non-medical personnel and saliva both showed elevated cell-free nuclear DNA after psychosocial and physical stress in women and men, while mitochondrial DNA fragments did not respond consistently. This supports cf-nDNA as a potential decentralised biomarker for acute stress responses, though mechanisms of release remain unclear.
Limberg et al., Translational psychiatry · source ↗
This study found that the yield of cell-free DNA from blood plasma depends on the collection tube used and the time before processing. High yields were obtained with EDTA tubes processed immediately or Streck tubes processed within a week, demonstrating that specific pre-analytical conditions are necessary for accurate liquid biopsy results.
Plasma donor-derived cell-free DNA measured at home identified acute lung allograft dysfunction in asymptomatic transplant recipients with 71% sensitivity and 84% specificity, potentially reducing need for surveillance bronchoscopy. This demonstrates decentralised biomarker monitoring can detect rejection and infection early, enabling timely intervention.
Keller et al., The Journal of heart and lung transplantation : the official publication of the International Society for Heart Transplantation (paywalled) · source ↗
Serum cell-free DNA methylation levels of GCK, IAPP and KCNJ11 distinguished type 2 diabetes patients from healthy controls with an AUC of 0.927. This demonstrates that a minimally invasive blood draw can yield clinically actionable biosignatures for diabetes diagnosis and monitoring, supporting decentralised diagnostic approaches.
Karaglani et al., Journal of clinical medicine · source ↗