The most common bacterial sexually transmitted disease (STD) in the US, Chlamydia is more common among people 15-25 years of age. An estimated 3 million Americans or more are infected with Chlamydia each year. Many people do not experience any symptoms, so cases often go undiagnosed and unreported but over 1 million new cases are reported each year. Diagnosis and treatment of Chlamydia is very important to prevent long-term complications and spread of the infection to others. Chlamydia is usually transmitted through sexual contact (oral, vaginal, or anal) with an infected partner. Risk factors include having co-infection or previous infection with another STD, multiple sex partners, and not using barrier contraception consistently. An infected mother may spread the disease to her baby during childbirth. These infants are in danger of developing conjunctivitis, an inflammation that can threaten eyesight, and pneumonia.
Gonorrhea is an easily treated STD, but left untreated can cause severe reproductive and health problems.
RPR, Qualitative - tests for the bacterium that causes syphilis, Treponema pallidum. Syphilis is an infectious disease most often spread by sexual contact, including direct contact with a syphilis sore (chancre). Syphilis is easily treated but left untreated can cause severe health problems. Infected mothers can also pass the disease to the fetus, with serious and potentially fatal consequences for the baby.
RPR, Quantitative - False-positive reactions for the RPR can occur due to pregnancy, drug addiction, collagen vascular disease, and advanced age. False-positive results have also been noted in the presence of many nonsyphilis infectious diseases and inflammatory states. False-positive RPR results have also been reported in patients vaccinated against influenza and hepatitis C.
Hepatitis B Surface Antigen (HBsAg) is a protein antigen that is produced by HBV. It is the earliest indicator of acute hepatitis B and often identifies infected people before symptoms appear. During the recovery period, HBsAg disappears from the blood. In certain people (particularly those infected as children or those with a weak immune system, such as those with AIDS), chronic infection with HBV may occur and HBsAg remains positive.
Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV 1/O/2), is the etiologic agent of the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and a cytopathic retrovirus. This test uses recombinant antigen sources and detects antibodies by specific immune binding and the subsequent chemiluminescent reaction (ICMA technology). Sensitivity and specificity of this assay are respectively 100% and 99.9%. Sera which are found repeatedly reactive in two out of three tests are subject to confirmatory HIV-1 testing by the Western blot method. Certain individuals may be initially reactive by the preliminary test and negative or indeterminate by Western blot, which may be caused by other viral antibodies or autoantibodies which cross react with the viral antigens, although this is rare.
Hepatitis C Antibody - Following the development of specific and sensitive testing for hepatitis B, 90% of post-transfusion hepatitis is now hepatitis C. A gene product (c100) of hepatitis C virus (HCV) was isolated and an assay for anti-HCV was then developed. The assay detects antibody to a presumptive flavivirus or togavirus which may be an etiologic agent of non-A, non-B hepatitis (which may not be a unitary disease entity).
Hepatitis C serology will correlate with surrogate tests for non-A, non-B hepatitis (ALT and anti-HBc) for blood donors. Since hepatitis C serology identifies a broader group of infected individuals than surrogate testing does, it reduces risk of HCV during transfusion. Studies conducted in hemophiliacs indicate that antibody to HCV is a reliable marker of HCV.
CMP-14 Includes:
Glucose-Blood sugar level, the most direct test to uncover diabetes, may be used not only to identify diabetes, but also to evaluate how one controls the disease.
Kidney Profile
Bun or Urea Nitrogen— By-product of protein metabolism that is eliminated through the kidneys. BUN is an indicator of kidney function.
Creatinine, Serum— An indicator of kidney function.
Bun/Creatinine Ratio— Calculated by dividing the BUN by the Creatinine.
Glomerular Filtration (eGFR)— Provides an assessment of the filtering capacity of the kidney.
Fluids & Electrolytes
Sodium— One of the major salts in the body fluid, sodium is important in the body's water balance and the electrical activity of muscles and nerves.
Potassium— Helps to control the muscles and nerves.
Chloride— Similar to sodium, aids in maintaining the body's electrolyte balance.
Carbon Dioxide, Total— Used in detecting, evaluating, and monitoring electrolyte imbalances.
Calcium- A mineral essential for development and maintenance of healthy teeth and bones, also important for the normal function of muscles, nerves and blood clotting.
Liver panel
Protein, Total— Used together with albumin, a measure of the state of nutrition in the body.
Albumin— Serum a major protein in the blood and a reflection of the general state of nutrition.
Globulin, Total— A major group of proteins in the blood that comprises the infection fighting antibodies.
Albumin/Globulin Ratio— Calculated by dividing the albumin by the globulin.
Bilirubin, Total— A chemical that is involved with liver functions. High concentrations may result in jaundice.
Alkaline Phosphatase— A body protein that is important in diagnosing proper bone and liver functions.
Aspartate Aminotransferase (AST or SGOT)—an enzyme that is found in skeletal and heart muscle, liver and other organs. Abnormalities may represent liver disease.
Alanine Aminotransferase (ALT or SGPT)— an enzyme that is found primarily in the liver. Abnormalities may represent liver disease.
TIBC - The percent saturation is at times more helpful than is the iron result for iron deficiency anemia. Evaluate possible sideroblastic anemia and thalassemia; work-up hemochromatosis, in which the iron is increased and iron saturation is high. Decrease in the iron level after performance of Schilling supports the diagnosis of vitamin B12 deficiency, vide infra. Evaluate overload and iron poisoning (toxicity) in renal dialysis patients, or transfusion dependent anemia patients. Use of TIBC in iron toxicity may be less useful than previous believed.1 TIBC or transferrin is a useful index of nutritional status.
Ferritin - used to check the amount of ferritin in the blood. Ferritin is a protein in the body that binds to iron and the majority of the iron stored in the body is bound to ferritin. Ferritin is found in the spleen, liver, skeletal muscles, and bone marrow, with only a small amount of ferritin found in the blood. The amount of ferritin in the blood shows how much iron you have stored in your body.
Antinuclear Antibody (ANA) test measures the pattern and amount of antibodies in your blood that work against your own body (autoimmune reaction).
Ceruloplasmin is a copper-containing enzyme that aids in the body’s iron metabolism. Copper is an essential mineral that is absorbed into the body through the diet. It is absorbed in the intestines, then transported to the liver, and there it is stored or used in the production of a variety of enzymes. The liver binds copper to apoceruloplasmin in order to produce Ceruloplasmin, then releases it into the bloodstream. Approximately 95% of the copper in the blood is bound to Ceruloplasmin, thus, the Ceruloplasmin test can be used along with one or more copper tests to help diagnose Wilson's disease and evaluate copper metabolism.
Prothrombin time (PT) test measures the length of time it takes for a clot to form in a sample of blood. The PT test is normally measured in seconds and compared to values in healthy individuals. Because the reagents used to perform the PT test vary depending on the laboratory and even within the same laboratory over time, the normal values also will fluctuate. In order to standardize results across the U.S. and the world, a World Health Organization (WHO) committee developed and recommended the use of the Internationalized Normalized Ratio (INR) with the PT test for patients who are receiving the blood-thinning medication warfarin (Coumadin). The INR is a calculation that adjusts for changes in the PT reagents and allows for results from different laboratories to then be compared. In most cases, laboratories now report both PT and INR values when a PT test is performed.
Urinalysis - Used to detect abnormalities of urine, to diagnose and manage renal diseases, urinary tract infection, urinary tract neoplasms, systemic diseases, and inflammatory or neoplastic diseases adjacent to the urinary tract
Herpes simplex viruses -- known as herpes -- are categorized into two types: herpes type 1 (HSV-1, or oral herpes) and herpes type 2 (HSV-2, or genital herpes). Herpes type 1 commonly causes sores around the mouth and lips (sometimes called fever blisters or cold sores). HSV-1 may cause genital herpes, although most cases of genital herpes are caused by herpes type 2. In HSV-2, the infected person may have sores around the rectum or genitals. Usually found below the waist, HSV-2 sores may occur in other locations.
Alpha-1 antitrypsin testing may be ordered when a newborn or infant has jaundice that lasts for more than one week or two, ascites, an enlarged spleen, pruritus, and other signs of liver injury. It may also be ordered when a person under 40 years of age develops a chronic cough or bronchitis, wheezing, is short of breath after exertion and/or shows other signs of emphysema. This is especially the case when the patient is not a smoker, has not been exposed to known lung irritants, and when the lung damage appears to be located low in the lungs. AAT testing may be done when you have a close relative with alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency as well.
