Search results for "Assay"
showing 10 items of 2241 documents
Enzymatic modification of low-density lipoprotein in the arterial wall: a new role for plasmin and matrix metalloproteinases in atherogenesis.
2004
Objective— Functionally interactive proteases of the plasminogen/plasmin and the matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) system degrade and reorganize the extracellular matrix of the vessel wall in atherosclerosis. Here we investigated whether such proteases are able to confer atherogenic properties onto low density lipoprotein by nonoxidative modification. Methods and Results— Similar to the recently described enzymatically-modified low-density lipoprotein (E-LDL), native LDL exposed to plasmin or matrix MMP-2 or MMP-9 and cholesterylester-hydrolase (CEH) showed extensive deesterification, with ratios of free cholesterol to total cholesterol rising to 0.8 compared with 0.2 in native LDL. When the …
Evidence that the interaction between circulating IgA and fibronectin is a normal process enhanced in primary IgA nephropathy
1991
A solid-phase ELISA was set up to measure the direct binding capacity (BC) of different, commercially available, purified human IgA preparations to plates coated with human fibronectin (FN). It was found that secretory, polymeric, and, to a much lesser extent, monomeric IgA exhibited elevated FN-BC as compared to their BC to plates coated with bovine serum albumin. This binding was specific since not observed with human IgG or IgM antibodies. In addition, we noted that this interaction was dose dependent, Ca2+ dependent, saturable, and not covalent, was inhibited by soluble FN, but not by a prior incubation of FN-coated plates with anti-human fibronectin antibodies, and appeared to involve …
Increased intrahepatic and circulating levels of endoglin, a TGF-β1 co-receptor, in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus infection: relationship t…
2006
Endoglin, a transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta1 co-receptor, has been associated with renal and cutaneous fibrosis, as overexpression of this protein has been observed in biopsies from patients with glomerulosclerosis and scleroderma, respectively. Our aim was to evaluate whether endoglin may be associated with hepatic fibrosis featuring chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. Fifty-two anti-HCV+ patients, five anti-HCV- patients and 27 healthy subjects were studied. Western blot and immunohistochemistry were used to quantify the expression levels of endoglin and TGF-beta1 in liver biopsy samples, and serum concentrations of endoglin and hyaluronic acid were determined by enzyme-linke…
Alterations in circadian rhythm of serum thyrotropin in critically ill patients.
1992
To evaluate the 24-h pattern of serum thyrotropin (TSH) in critically ill patients, we measured serum concentrations of TSH in blood samples collected every 2 h for 24 h from nine patients (six with malignancy, two with liver cirrhosis, one with chronic renal failure), who had subnormal levels of both triiodothyronine (T3) and thyroxine (T4), in the absence of history, symptoms or signs of thyroid disease. Analysis of the data, performed using a second-order inferential statistical methodology for rhythmometry (cosinor method), demonstrated that critically ill patients still had daily oscillations of serum TSH which significantly adapted to the function approximating the circadian rhythms (…
The prognostic value of thyroid function tests in predominantly non-alcoholic cirrhotic patients: A prospective investigation
1985
The prognostic value of thyroid function parameters (T3, T4, rT3 and the rT3: T3 ratio) and common liver tests (serum bilirubin, albumin and prothrombin activity) was investigated on hospital admission in 100 consecutive patients with predominantly non-alcoholic liver cirrhosis. Twenty-nine out of 100 patients had a well compensated cirrhosis and their mean values of thyroid tests were similar to those of 40 healthy controls. A low T3 syndrome was found in the remaining 71 decompensated patients. In these thyroid function parameters were correlated with serum bilirubin and prothrombin activity. Moreover mean values of all thyroid and liver tests, except serum albumin, were significantly dif…
Cathepsin D serum mass concentrations in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma and/or liver cirrhosis
1996
Cathepsin D serum mass concentrations were determined by enzyme immunoassay in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (n = 51) and/or liver cirrhosis (n = 92) or benign steatosis (n = 16) and correlated with some biochemical and clinical properties of these diseases. Increased cathepsin D serum mass concentrations (P < 0.001) were observed in all these groups of patients as compared to normal subjects (n = 98). However, patients with steatosis had serum mass concentrations of this enzyme significantly lower (mean 2—3 fold) than those measured in cancer patients (P < 0.05) or cirrhotic patients (P < 0.001). Interestingly, significantly higher cathepsin D serum mass concentrations (m…
Guinea pig transglutaminase immunolinked assay does not predict coeliac disease in patients with chronic liver disease
2001
BACKGROUND—It has been suggested that serological screening for coeliac disease (CD) should be performed in patients with chronic unexplained hypertransaminasaemia. AIMS—To evaluate the specificity for CD diagnosis of serum IgA antitissue transglutaminase (tTG) determination in consecutive patients with chronic hypertransaminasaemia using the most widely utilised ELISA based on tTG from guinea pig as the antigen. PATIENTS AND METHODS—We studied 98 patients with chronic hypertransaminasaemia, evaluated for the first time in a hepatology clinic. Serum anti-tTG and antiendomysial (EmA) assays were performed. Patients positive for EmA and/or anti-tTG were proposed for intestinal biopsy. Finally…
Correlation of Clinical and Immunologic Parameters of the Inflammatory Activity of Pulmonary Sarcoidosis
1991
The evaluation of activation markers such as T4/T8 ratio and HLA-DR expression of lymphocytes of bronchoalveolar lavage (L-BAL) is an important clinical approach for the staging of sarcoidosis. However, it is not known to what extent this is paralleled by an exaggerated lymphocyte function. We investigated the dependence of L-BAL activation markers on the production of interleukin-2 (IL-2) by L-BAL and on the soluble IL-2 receptor serum level (sIL-2R) in 116 patients with sarcoidosis. In none of the combinations tested was a correlation between the two groups of parameters found; r less than 0.5, upper 90% confidence limit of r less than 0.8. Interestingly, IL-2 production is independent of…
Induction of antitoxin responses in Clostridium-difficile-infected patients compared to healthy blood donors
2016
According to the literature Clostridium difficile antitoxins are present in up to 66% of humans. In a survey of ∼400 plasma samples from healthy blood donors we found that less than 6% were positive for anti-TcdA or anti-TcdB antitoxins. Using the same standard immunoassay protocol, we looked for IgG and IgA antitoxins in the blood and stool samples from 25 patients with C. difficile infection (CDI). Some patients with CDI had no antitoxin detected at all, while others had high levels of specific IgG- and IgA-antitoxins against both TcdA and TcdB in blood and IgA-anti-TcdA and -anti-TcdB antibodies in stool. Systemic responses to TcdB and mucosal responses to TcdA predominated. Among patien…
Assessment of the cytotoxic potential of an aqueous-ethanolic extract from Thalassia testudinum angiosperm marine grown in the Caribbean Sea
2018
Abstract Objectives Reported antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective properties for one aqueous-ethanolic extract from Thalassia testudinum which grows in the Caribbean Sea compelled us to explore about extract cytotoxic effects. Methods Cell viability was assayed on tumour (HepG2, PC12, Caco-2 and 4T1) and non-tumour (VERO, 3T3, CHO, MCDK and BHK2) cell lines. The extract effects upon primary cultures of rat and human hepatocytes and human lymphocytes were assayed. Key findings The extract exhibited cytotoxicity against cancer cells compared to normal cells, and the IC50 values were 102 μg/ml for HepG2, 135 μg/ml for PC12, 165 μg/ml for Caco-2 and 129 μg/ml for 4T1 cells after 4…