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- Elmstahl, S., et al.
(author)
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Body composition in patients with Alzheimer's disease and healthy controls
- 1992
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In: Journal of Clinical and Experimental Gerontology. - 0192-1193. ; 14:1, s. 17-31
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In Alzheimer's disease (AD), decreased physical activity and nutritional problems are parts of the natural course with probable implications on body composition. Body fat and lean body mass were measured with a bioelectrical impedance method in 25 women who had AD according to the criteria of NINCDS- ADRDA and in 63 health age-matched controls. The patients with AD had 9.5 kg lower body weight (p<0.01), due to almost 4.0 kg lower body fat and 6.0 kg lower lean body mass (p<0.001). This might imply a higher risk for morbidity and mortality. Body weight and lean body mass decreased with age in AD patients but not in the healthy control women. In the control group, the unmarried women had more than 13 kg lower body weight and 9 kg lower body fat than the mean values of all other marital status groups (p<0.01). The maintenance of lean body mass in the very healthy old indicate the possibilities for physical activity.
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- Stamey, T. A., et al.
(author)
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Tumor markers. Consensus Conference on Diagnosis and Prognostic Parameters in Localized Prostate Cancer. Stockholm, Sweden, May 12-13, 1993
- 1994
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In: Scandinavian Journal of Urology and Nephrology, Supplement. - 0300-8886. ; :162, s. 73-87
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This chapter mainly deals with biochemical aspects on prostate specific antigen (PSA) and its clinical value. To a limited extent, also other tumor markers, which might be of importance in the evaluation of patients with prostate cancer are discussed. In serum, PSA exists in a free form or bound to antichymotrypsin. Interestingly, only 10% of PSA secreted from cancer cells seems to exist in a free form, as compared to 30% of PSA secreted from cells in benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). PSA seems to be closely, but not absolutely, related to tumor grade and stage. The mean value of PSA in patients with tumors dominated by Gleason grades 3 or below, was 10 ng/ml, compared to 29 ng/ml in those with higher grades. Patients with PSA values of 50 ng/ml or above almost exclusively had tumor of Gleason grades 4 or 5, and this limit usually reflected a generalized disease. Patients with PSA-values below 10 ng/ml almost exclusively had tumors confined to the prostate gland. In countries where screening for prostate cancer is believed in, it is important to understand that normal cut-off values are related to patient's age. The upper normal limit of males below 50 years of age should be set at 2.5 ng/ml, as compared to 6.5 ng/ml for men over 70 years of age. To improve the value of PSA determination and for scientific purposes, the standardization of the assay is urgently needed and under way. Prostate acid phosphatase (PAP) has in most centres been replaced by PSA. An elevated PAP value, as measured by the enzymatic method, invariably indicates a generalized disease and could thus be used as a complementary informative assay to PSA. Other markers have been used mainly to achieve additional prognostic information. In a multivariate analysis, the non-specific tumor marker neopterin, which reflects the host response to tumor antigens, was closely related to short-term prognosis. Neopterin was followed by thymidine kinase, a protein reflecting the cell turn-over and tumor grade. Also PSA at diagnosis seemed to add some prognostic information, whereas other markers did not.
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3. |
- Christensson, A, et al.
(author)
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Serum prostate specific antigen complexed to alpha 1-antichymotrypsin as an indicator of prostate cancer
- 1993
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In: Journal of Urology. - 1527-3792. ; 150:1, s. 100-105
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Prostate specific antigen (PSA) in serum has recently been shown to occur in complex with alpha 1-antichymotrypsin and as an approximately 30 kDa. noncomplexed molecular form. We characterized PSA by 3 different assays in samples from 144 patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and 121 with carcinoma of the prostate. One of these noncompetitive assays measured total PSA by detecting PSA complexed to serine proteinase inhibitors and the noncomplexed molecular form, a second measured only PSA in complex with alpha 1-antichymotrypsin, whereas a third detected the noncomplexed form. PSA in complex with alpha 1-antichymotrypsin was the predominant form in all patient sera. Noncomplexed PSA constituted a minor fraction that was significantly smaller in patients with untreated prostate cancer than in those with BPH (p < 0.0001). The proportion of noncomplexed PSA does not correlate to the serum concentration of PSA or that of alpha 1-antichymotrypsin. In men with a serum PSA concentration of less than 10 micrograms./l. the combination of assays measuring total PSA immunoreactivity, the noncomplexed molecular form and PSA in complex with alpha 1-antichymotrypsin may facilitate discrimination between prostate cancer and BPH.
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5. |
- Laurell, M, et al.
(author)
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Protein C inhibitor in human body fluids. Seminal plasma is rich in inhibitor antigen deriving from cells throughout the male reproductive system
- 1992
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In: Journal of Clinical Investigation. - 0021-9738. ; 89:4, s. 101-1094
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- An assay was developed for the measurement of human protein C inhibitor antigen (PCI) in blood plasma and other biological fluids. Both native PCI, modified inhibitor, and complexes of inhibitor with activated protein C or plasma kallikrein could be measured with the assay. Inhibitor antigen concentrations were found to be very high in seminal plasma (greater than 200 mg/liter), more than 40 times the concentration of PCI found in blood plasma. The inhibitor in seminal plasma was unable to form complexes with activated protein C. Gel filtration and immunoblotting findings indicated that the inhibitor in seminal plasma is present in a high molecular mass complex or cleaved to its modified form. As PCI antigen was absent from seminal plasma of patients with dysfunctional seminal vesicles, the seminal vesicle glands would appear to be the major source of seminal plasma PCI, a conclusion supported by immunohistochemical demonstration of the presence of PCI epitopes in the secretory epithelium of the seminal vesicles. Specific PCI immunoreactivity was also shown to be present in the testes, the epididymis glands, and the prostate, suggesting the inhibitor to have a complex or multiple function in the male reproductive system. Conclusive evidence of a local synthesis of PCI in the four male sex glands was provided by Northern blot analysis of RNA from these organs.
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6. |
- Lilja, H, et al.
(author)
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Prostate-specific antigen in serum occurs predominantly in complex with alpha 1-antichymotrypsin
- 1991
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In: Clinical Chemistry. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0009-9147 .- 1530-8561. ; 37:9, s. 25-1618
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Immunologic measurements of the serum concentration of prostate-specific antigen (PSA), an abundant prostatic-secreted serine proteinase, are frequently used to monitor patients with prostate cancer, though it has not been ascertained whether this immunoreactivity represents a PSA zymogen, the active proteinase, or PSA complexed to extracellular proteinase inhibitors. To characterize the PSA immunoreactivity in serum, we used monoclonal antibodies produced against PSA and a polyclonal rabbit IgG against alpha 1-antichymotrypsin in the design of three noncompetitive PSA assays: assay T, which detected PSA both when present as the active proteinase and when complexed to alpha 1-antichymotrypsin; assay F, which recognized the active proteinase but most poorly detected PSA complexed to alpha 1-antichymotrypsin; and assay C, which was specific for PSA complexed to alpha 1-antichymotrypsin. We used the three assays to measure PSA immunoreactivity in 64 patients' sera and in the effluent after gel chromatography of sera from four patients. This identified an 80- to 90-kDa complex between PSA and alpha 1-antichymotrypsin as the predominant fraction of the PSA immunoreactivity in blood plasma; an immunoreactive 25- to 40-kDa compound was the minor fraction.
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7. |
- Ulvsbäck, M., et al.
(author)
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Gene structure of semenogelin I and II. The predominant proteins in human semen are encoded by two homologous genes on chromosome 20
- 1992
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In: Journal of Biological Chemistry. - 0021-9258. ; 267:25, s. 4-18080
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The genes for semenogelin I and II, the major protein constituents of the human seminal fluid, have been characterized by three overlapping clones in bacteriophage lambda, encompassing 31.5 kilobases (kb) of genomic DNA. The two genes are located 11.5 kb apart in the region q12-q13.1 on chromosome 20. Both genes are relatively compact, spanning only 2.7 and 3.1 kb, respectively. The transcription units are composed of three exons, of which the first encodes the signal peptide, the second encodes the secreted protein, while the third solely contains 3'-noncoding nucleotides. The nucleotide sequences exhibit a similarity of close to 90% in the exons and exceeding 80% in the introns and flanking nucleotides.
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