At BioVendor Group, we develop new tests and technologies that, together with automation and bioinformatics data processing, increase the accuracy and speed of examinations and enable the optimal treatment of patients. Because people’s health gives the best meaning to the efforts made.
CLIA pushes the trend of laboratory automation one step further towards efficient and high-quality clinical diagnostics. We develop modern laboratory tests for the diagnostics of infectious and inflammatory diseases, autoimmune disorders, diseases of the cardiovascular system and kidneys. Our tests for the KleeYa® platform combine the determination of established and innovative biomarkers based on the principle of chemiluminescence immunoassay.
Microblot–Array (MBA) belongs to a new generation of unique immunoblot array in the format of ELISA microtiter plate. It is designed for efficient multiplex diagnostics, which enables the detection of multiple markers simultaneously, saving time and cost and providing unbeatable testing capacity. Simple processing can be done manually or automatically using any open ELISA analyzer.
NGS in conjunction with subsequent bioinformatics analysis provides a high amount of clinically relevant data that simplify diagnostics and personalization of treatment. Our development projects are focused on fast and accurate sequencing of relevant genes with fastGEN technology. We are also developing kits for microbiome sequencing or whole exome sequencing. The data is processed by the custom-designed GENOVESA software.
The use of short non-coding RNAs is an increasing diagnostic trend. Detection of the pathogenesis of cancer, cardiovascular or neurodegenerative diseases works with a sensitive and standardized detection method, which we obtained through a license for the so-called Two-tailed qRT-PCR. On this platform, we develop tests for the diagnostics of tumors and cardiovascular diseases.
LAMP technology enables rapid amplification of nucleic acids with high specificity and efficiency comparable to RT-qPCR under isothermal conditions, easily achievable under normal conditions. It enables direct analysis of samples without the need for viral RNA isolation. Thanks to the simple detection system, the technology finds use in the development of rapid tests for the determination of pathogens in veterinary medicine.
Only a few European cities can be proud of a comparable concentration of innovative companies and scientific institutions. “Made in #brnoregion” has become a hallmark for top quality and technological advancement in a wide range of industries. It is our greatest honor to be able to shape the Regional Innovation Strategy of the South Moravian Region in close cooperation with the JIC and contribute to the spread of the good name of our region.
The PERMED project takes place within the National Competence Centre under the leadership of the Institute of Molecular and Translational Medicine, which is part of the Palacký University in Olomouc. The project combines personalized diagnostics with personalized therapy, especially in oncological diseases. Project TN02000109 Personalised Medicine: From Translational Research into Biomedical Applications is co-financed with the state support of the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic as part of the National Centers of Competence Program.
The NaCeBiVet project supports research focused on the application of biotechnology in veterinary diagnostics, therapies and nutrition. Together with partners, BioVendor is developing rapid diagnostic tests based on the principle of LAMP technology within the project.
International research on Alzheimer’s disease, connecting leading academic and scientific institutions with industrial partners from all over Europe.
International project for the sharing of know-how in the field of Alzheimer’s disease in the form of internships and workshops. Scientists from all over the world are involved in this project, among others from Ireland, Lithuania, Indonesia or Argentina.
Research focused on the automated diagnostics of inflammatory and cardiovascular diseases.
Research on new uses of PCSK9 protein detection in the monitoring of hypolipidemic therapy.
Project focused on the use of microRNAs and SNP in the differential diagnostics of cardiomyopathies and cardiotoxicity in oncology patients.
A project focused on the development of a new generation of innovative diagnostic tests based on the Microblot-Array principle, in which the development team from TestLine participates.
Research in the field of stroke diagnostics and treatment. BioVendor is particularly involved in the development of new recombinant proteins with a thrombolytic effect.
Research on the use of non-coding RNAs in the field of oncology diagnostics, co-financed by the Horizon 2020 RISE grant, connecting CEITEC, Biovendor R&D, the Anderson Cancer Center in Texas and the universities of Graz, Hamburg and Ferrera.
Small noncoding RNAs (miRNA) have been described as important regulators of several physiological and pathophysiological processes in cardiology. Acute coronary syndrome (ACS) leads to alterations in circulating vascular and myocardial miRNA expression profiles. miR-126-3p is one of the abundant cardiac specific miRNA with significant positive association to acute coronary syndrome. Levels of miR-126-3p in circulation are responsive to antiplatelet therapy; therefore, results of mir-126-3p measurement could be reduced in samples from these patients. Heparin is a potentially confounding factor that may influence miRNA measurements in patients with acute cardiovascular disease because antiplatelet therapy (administrations of intravenous heparin) increases its endogenous levels. Interaction between heparin and antithrombin III in vivo cause improvement of the anticoagulant effect. It is a well-known fact that commonly used qPCR methods for miRNA detection do not recommend heparinised samples for testing due to its interference with enzymatic reaction. However, the heparin effect on endogenous mirRNAs cannot be fully explained by interference with DNA polymerases or magnesium ions. The reason could be based on heparin’s ability to disrupt already formed enzyme-template complexes with sequence-dependent displacement or miRNAs compartmentalization. Several different methods to minimize the effect of heparin on qPCR reactions were described. It seems to be beneficial to use heparinase treatment as an additional step in the sample preparation procedure because it is difficult to adjust the heparin interference threshold of cardiology patients unlike the physiological range of healthy individuals (0.10 – 0.24 IU/mL). The type of collection tube also contributes to external influence of miRNA measurement. Similar to heparin, other commonly used anticoagulants have been shown to interfere with RT-qPCR miRNAs measurement, with EDTA plasma yielding the best miRNAs profiles compared to others sample types. In our pilot study we demonstrate the effect of endogenous and exogenous heparin interference to miR-126-3p quantification in two methods – RT-qPCR and enzyme immunoassay for miRNA quantification (miREIA). The difference between methods is that miREIA does not require reverse transcription which is a critical step for heparin interference.
Through regulation of signaling pathways, microRNAs (miRNAs) can be involved in sepsis and associated organ dysfunction. The aims of this study were to track the 7-day time course of blood miRNAs in patients with sepsis treated with vancomycin, gentamicin, or a non-nephrotoxic antibiotic and miRNA associations with neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipokalin (NGAL), creatinine, procalcitonin, interleukin-6, and acute kidney injury (AKI) stage.
Although the link between microbial infections and Alzheimer's disease (AD) has been demonstrated in multiple studies, the involvement of pathogens in the development of AD remains unclear. Here, we investigated the frequency of the 10 most commonly cited viral (HSV-1, EBV, HHV-6, HHV-7, and CMV) and bacterial (Chlamydia pneumoniae, Helicobacter pylori, Borrelia burgdorferi, Porphyromonas gingivalis, and Treponema spp.) pathogens in serum, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and brain tissues of AD patients. We have used an in-house multiplex PCR kit for simultaneous detection of five bacterial and five viral pathogens in serum and CSF samples from 50 AD patients and 53 healthy controls (CTRL). We observed a significantly higher frequency rate of AD patients who tested positive for Treponema spp. compared to controls (AD: 62.2 %; CTRL: 30.3 %; p-value = 0.007). Furthermore, we confirmed a significantly higher occurrence of cases with two or more simultaneous infections in AD patients compared to controls (AD: 24 %; CTRL 7.5 %; p-value = 0.029). The studied pathogens were detected with comparable frequency in serum and CSF. In contrast, Borrelia burgdorferi, human herpesvirus 7, and human cytomegalovirus were not detected in any of the studied samples. This study provides further evidence of the association between microbial infections and AD and shows that paralleled analysis of multiple sample specimens provides complementary information and is advisable for future studies.
A number of microRNAs are involved in the pathophysiological events associated with heart disease. In this review, we discuss miR-21, miR-1, miR-23a, miR-142-5p, miR-126, miR-29, miR-195, and miR-499 because they are most often mentioned as important specific indicators of myocardial hypertrophy and fibrosis leading to heart failure. The clinical use of microRNAs as biomarkers and for therapeutic interventions in cardiovascular diseases appears highly promising. However, there remain many unresolved details regarding their specific actions in distinct pathological phenomena. The introduction of microRNAs into routine practice, as part of the cardiovascular examination panel, will require additional clinically relevant and reliable data. Thus, there remains a need for additional research in this area, as well as the optimization and standardization of laboratory procedures which could significantly shorten the determination time, and make microRNA analysis simpler and more affordable. In this review, we aim to summarize the current knowledge about selected microRNAs related to heart failure, including their potential use in diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment, and options for their laboratory determination.
Hypoxia induces changes in the secretion of extracellular vesicles (EVs) in several non-neuronal cells and pathological conditions. EVs are packed with biomolecules, such as microRNA(miR)-21-5p, which respond to hypoxia. However, the true EV association of miR-21-5p, and its functional or biomarker relevance, are inadequately characterised. Neurons are extremely sensitive cells, and it is not known whether the secretion of neuronal EVs and miR-21-5p are altered upon hypoxia. Here, we characterised the temporal EV secretion profile and cell viability of neurons under hypoxia. Hypoxia induced a rapid increase of miR-21a-5p secretion in the EVs, which preceded the elevation of hypoxia-induced tissue or cellular miR-21a-5p. Prolonged hypoxia induced cell death and the release of morphologically distinct EVs. The EVs protected miR-21a-5p from enzymatic degradation but a remarkable fraction of miR-21a-5p remained fragile and non-EV associated. The increase in miR-21a-5p secretion may have biomarker potential, as high blood levels of miR-21-5p in stroke patients were associated with significant disability at hospital discharge. Our data provides an understanding of the dynamic regulation of EV secretion from neurons under hypoxia and provides a candidate for the prediction of recovery from ischemic stroke.
Tumor DNA testing of POLE gene, which is component of DNA polymerase epsilon, is a prerequisite for tumor risk-group assessment and personalized treatment in endometrial carcinoma. POLE mutated tumors are low risk and adjuvant chemotherapy should be deescalated. POLE mutations occur in 7 - 12% of endometrial cancers and have been associated with high tumor mutation burden, neoantigen load. Retrospective analysis showed that pathogenic POLE mutations are associated with clinical benefit to immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy, thus further thorough studies are warranted to validate POLE mutation as a predictive biomarker. Deep amplicon next-generation sequencing (NGS) has a potential to be a suitable method for simultaneous direct detection of all somatic mutation within tested regions. Aim of the study was to develop and verify a fast NGS library preparation of tumor DNA samples for the detection of mutations in clinically relevant codons of POLE gene.
The early distinction between viral and bacterial infections in patients is difficult based on clinical or routinely available biological findings only. Due to this fact, patients are often unnecessarily treated with antibiotics, which results in the emergence of antibiotics resistance. Myxovirus resistance protein A (MxA) is mentioned in number of studies as an important antiviral factor that inhibits the multiplication of RNA and DNA viruses. It is an intracellular protein produced by cells of the immune system after stimulation by type I and III interferons in response to a viral infection. Rhedin et al. used MxA to differentiate between bacterial and viral infection in children with lower respiratory tract infection. The highest MxA values were achieved in samples positive for influenza and respiratory syncytial virus. A study by Toivonen et al. demonstrated that some types of viral respiratory disease agents (respiratory syncytial virus, influenza A and B viruses, parainfluenza virus, etc.) induced significantly higher levels of MxA than others (rhinovirus, coronaviruses).
