Serum alpha-fetoprotein in chronic liver disease

The serum alpha-fetoprotein level was measured by radioimmunoassay in 20 normal subjects and in 118 patients with chronic liver disease. The highest concentrations were found in the group of hepatocellular carcinoma. Compared with the controls, higher values were demonstrable in the other groups of liver disease as well. This is attributed to the more or less marked regeneration of liver tissue, which is never absent in any type of liver disease studied, and in the case of fatty degeneration, to the alpha-fetoprotein inducing effect of alcohol. The importance of alpha-fetoprotein estimation in the diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma and monitoring of its therapy, as also in the assessment of activity and regeneration in other forms of chronic liver disease, are pointed out. Countercurrent electrophoresis has been found unreliable for the measurement of alpha-fetoprotein.     

Serum lincRNA-p21 expression in primary liver diseases and liver metastatic diseases

Background

LincRNA-p21 is involved in the initiation and progression of many human diseases. We aimed to investigate the expression of LincRNA-p21 in different types of liver diseases.

Detection of a microsomal antigen and its antibody in human liver diseases.

Sera of 173 patients with various forms of liver disease along with serum precipitates produced by polyethylene glycol were screened for the presence of a microsomal antigen referred to as ubiquitous tissue antigen (UTA) and its antibody by double diffusion precipitation in agarose gel. UTA was detected in 7 or 26 patients with chronic active hepatitis, 1 of 5 with alcoholic hepatitis, 2 of 14 with alcoholic cirrhosis and 18 of 98 with hepatoma. Antibodies to UTA were found only in 2 patients with chronic active hepatitis, 1 with alcoholic cirrhosis and 1 with hepatoma. No UTA or its antibody were noted in sera of 5 patients with alcoholic fatty liver, 10 patients with hepatitis B, and 15 asymptomatic carriers of HBsAg. Positivity for the UTA or its antibody was restricted to severe, chronic cases irrespective of diagnosis, indicating that persistent tissue destruction might be necessary for antigen release or antibody formation.     

Serum alpha-fetoprotein levels in patients with acute and chronic liver disease. Relation to hepatocellular regeneration and development of primary liver cell carcinoma.

Using a radioimmunoassay technique serum alpha-fetoprotein could be detected in healthy adults in concentrations of less than 20 microgram/l. Of patients with acute, viral hepatitis 43% exhibited a transient rise of serum alpha-fetoprotein, the peak occurring eight to nine days after the maximum recorded serum aspartate transaminase activity. Patients with hepatic damage due to paracetamol poisoning were also shown to have transiently raised levels, the peak occurring earlier than in subjects with viral hepatitis. Six subjects with fatal fulminant hepatitis were studied; the three with the more protracted illness were noted to have increased levels before death. Twenty of 163 cases of chronic liver disease also had raised serum alpha-fetoprotein concentrations. In four, primary liver cell cancer developed; in two of these the serum alpha-fetoprotein levels rose progressively, and in two it remained raised but at low levels.     

Phaseolus vulgaris leukoagglutinating lectin-binding reactivity in human diffuse large B-cell lymphoma and its relevance to the patient's clinical outcome: lectin histochemistry and lectin blot analysis

Many reports have suggested a strong correlation between certain lectin-binding patterns and biological behavior in various tumors. To clarify a relationship between lectin-binding reactivity and survival of patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (B-DLCL), 57 cases with B-DLCL were analyzed by lectin histochemistry and lectin blot method with or without treatment of neuraminidase or acidic hydrolytic conditions. B-DLCL cases were grouped into three types based on the data on lectin-binding reactivity under neuraminidase-treated or untreated conditions: (i) Group A (non-reactive type); (ii) Group B (sialylated type); and (iii) Group C (non-sialylated type). Among various lectins, Phaseolus vulgaris-L (L-PHA) binding reactivity showed that the survival of patients with Group A + B or Group B was significantly shorter than that of patients with Group C. Lectin blot analysis revealed failure of L-PHA-binding to 32 kd and 29 kd glycoproteins, which may be attributable to the masking of L-PHA-binding sites by sialylation or the lack of L-PHA-binding sites, leading to the short survival of patients with B-DLCL. L-PHA-binding reactivity may be a useful marker for the evaluation of survival of patients with B-DLCL.     

环状RNA及其在肝病中的作用

环状RNA（circRNA）是一种不具有5’末端帽子结构和3’末端的poly（A）尾巴的新型非编码RNA,是由非共价键形成的反向连接的闭合环状结构。circRNA由于其具有作为miRNA分子海绵及生物标志物的作用,可用于肝脏疾病的治疗和诊断,因此,circ RNA已逐渐成为当今的研究热点。我们针对circRNA以及circRNA在肝病中的研究进行了综述,以期对未来的肝脏疾病的研究和治疗提供理论基础和新思路。     

Fatty liver diseases in the domestic fowl--a review

The metabolic disorders known as fatty liver and kidney syndrome and fatty liver-haemorrhagic syndrome are described, and their pathogenesis and aetiology are discussed in relation to current knowledge of the lipid metabolism of the fowl and dietary, environmental and physiological factors which can cause hepatic steatosis.     

Serum alpha-fetoprotein: I. Evaluation of quantitative assays adapted to automated immunoassay systems.

Serum alpha-fetoprotein (s.AFP) has been established as a useful tool in monitoring of high-risk pregnancies, as an indicator of fetal neural tube defects, and has been used as an adjunct tumor marker and for monitoring therapeutic efficacy in the treatment of certain tumors. To date, the methods for measuring s.AFP are based upon the immunologic principle and are manual methods. The purpose here is to relate the evaluation of two automated systems for the assay of s.AFP. The automated systems are based upon the following immunoassay methods: a microparticle capture enzyme separation and final quantitation by reflectance fluorescence, and a solid phase 'sandwich' separation coupled with enzyme activity measurement (EIA). The reference method is a competitive binding radioimmunoassay. It has been found by us that the automated methods directly transfer analytically with the manual assay. All methods are referenced to the same standard (WHO 1st Intl. Std. for AFP 72/225).     

Renal cystic diseases: a review

This review aims to assist in the categorization of inherited, developmental, and acquired cystic disease of the kidney as well as to provide a pertinent, up-to-date bibliography. The conditions included are autosomal-dominant polycystic kidney disease, autosomal-recessive polycystic kidney disease, unilateral renal cystic disease (localized cystic disease), renal simple cysts, multicystic dysplastic kidney, pluricystic kidney of the multiple malformation syndromes, juvenile nephronophthisis and medullary cystic disease, medullary sponge kidney, primary glomerulocystic kidney disease, and glomerulocystic kidney associated with several systemic disorders mainly of genetic or chromosomal etiology, cystic kidney in tuberous sclerosis, and in von Hippel-Lindau syndrome, cystic nephroma, cystic variant of congenital mesoblastic nephroma, mixed epithelial stromal tumor of the kidney, renal lymphangioma, pyelocalyceal cyst, peripylic cyst and perinephric pseudocyst, acquired renal cystic disease of long-term dialysis, and cystic renal cell carcinoma and sarcoma. Whereas the gross and histologic appearance of some of these conditions may be diagnostic, clinical and sometimes molecular studies may be necessary to define other types.     

Serum alpha-fetoprotein: II. Clinical evaluation of two automated immunoassays for maternal serum screening.

A prospective clinical evaluation is reported for analysis of maternal serum alpha fetoprotein (s.AFP) testing by recently developed enzymeimmunoassay automated systems. The reference method for the study was a manual competitive binding radioimmunoassay which has been utilized by us in the Maternal Serum AFP Screening Program at the Medical University of South Carolina for the past five years. The patients were classified by weeks of gestation, 16 to 20. Mean concentrations of s.AFP increased with the increase in gestational week for each method; calculated multiples of median (MoM) values remained relatively constant regardless of the week of gestation. Mean and median concentrations of s.AFP measured by the radioimmunoassay and the coated tube enzymeimmunoassay methods showed close agreement, indicating the direct transferability of the methods for clinical purposes. The microparticle capture enzymeimmunoassay yielded higher results of s.AFP indicating the necessity for a correction if the method transfer is to be considered for sequential patient testing. (Multiples of median values for each method were uncorrected for maternal age, weight, or diabetes mellitus; lack of correction would not affect comparison of methods for clinical application.     

Differential reactivity of Agaricus bisporus lectin with human IgA subclasses in gel precipitation.

The interaction between purified Agaricus bisporus lectin and several human proteins was studied using the Ouchterlony double diffusion and immunoelectrophoresis techniques. Only one precipitation line was observed with normal human serum, normal human colostrum, IgA1 myeloma serum, both serum monoclonal and secretory IgA1 and monoclonal IgD. No reaction was observed with monoclonal and secretory IgA2, IgG, IgM, alpha 2 macroglobulin or pregnancy-associated alpha 2 glycoprotein. These results were confirmed by hemagglutination inhibition assays when IgA1, IgA2 and IgD were tested. On the basis of this reactivity, ABL could be a useful tool for distinguishing and isolating human IgA subclasses.