Alinity hq

Venous blood samples were drawn from all patients in the emergency department before the initiation of any treatment as standard-of-care, and neutrophils, lymphocytes (Alinity hq, Abbott, USA), and serum glucose (Architect i2000SR, Abbott, USA) were measured by standard laboratory techniques. After receiving or not treatment, new blood samples were taken within the following 24 h and C-reactive protein (CRP) was measured with an autoanalyzer (Architect i2000SR, Abbott, USA). These second samples were centrifuged at 1200×g for 15 min, 4 °C within 2 h of collection, and stored at -80°C for further analysis. Citrated plasma samples were thawed on ice and thoroughly vortexed before measuring calprotectin levels (LEGEND MAX Human MRP8/14 ELISA Kit, BioLegend, USA) with an automated ELISA analyzer TRITURUS (Grifols, Spain). The inter- and intra-assay variability averages were 7.4% and 2.8%, respectively. All experiments were performed in a blinded manner following the manufacturer’s instructions.

Erythrocyte parameters were measured on routine blood analysis for every maternal-infant pair. A peripheral arterial blood sample was collected from each infant within the first twelve hours after birth and erythrocyte parameters [hemoglobin, hematocrit, reticulocytes, MCHr, MCV, percent (%) hypochromia, ferritin] were analyzed with an automated hematology analyzer (Alinity Hq, Abbott, Abbott Park, Illinois, USA). The percentage of hypochromic red blood cells (%hypochromia) can be derived from the hemoglobin concentration distribution curve and is usually defined as the percentage of red blood cells with a cellular hemoglobin content below 28.0 g/dL. In older children and adults, values above 1% are highly suggestive of iron deficiency (3). C-reactive protein, with a cut-off value of 1.0 mg/dL, was evaluated simultaneously as ferritin to exclude underlying infection. A venous blood sample for evaluating the complete set of the same erythrocyte parameters was also collected for each infant’s mother within the first twelve hours after birth.
Neonatal anemia during the first 24 hours of age was defined by hemoglobin lower than 13 g/dL based on standard criteria (14 (link)). Ferritin values below 75 μg/L were considered “low” and above 250 μg/L “high” (15 (link)); MCHr values below 29 pg were considered “low” and above 38 pg “high” (11 (link)).