ESTIMATION OF THE LOW-DENSITY (BETA) LIPOPROTEINS OF SERUM IN HEALTH AND DISEASE USING LARGE MOLECULAR WEIGHT DEXTRAN SULPHATE.
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Studies have been made of the factors affecting the specificity of the interaction between high molecular weight dextran sulphate and low-density lipoproteins, both in pure solution and in serum. The results have been used in the development of a simple assay method for the serum concentration of low-density lipoproteins in small volumes of serum. The results obtained by this assay procedure have been found to correlate acceptably with parallel estimations of low-density lipoproteins by an ultracentrifugal technique and by paper electrophoresis. The technique has been applied to a survey of serum levels of these proteins in a normal population. The results have been compared with data in the literature. Satisfactory agreement was found between mean levels, matched for age and sex, between the dextran sulphate method and those methods based ultimately on chemical estimation of one or more components of the isolated lipoproteins. A systematic difference was observed when the dextran sulphate method was compared with estimates based on analytical ultracentrifugation or turbidimetry using amylopectin sulphate.Some indication of the range of application of the dextran sulphate method in clinical chemistry is provided. (+info)
CHANGES IN SERUM ALPHA-2 GLOBULINS IN RETICULOSES.
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The total concentrations of alpha(2) globulin and two of its components, haptoglobin and caeruloplasmin, have been determined in the sera from 78 patients with primary malignant diseases of lympho-reticular tissue (reticuloses). The total alpha(2) globulin fraction was significantly raised only in Hodgkin's disease. The serum haptoglobin was also significantly increased in Hodgkin's disease and some other reticuloses, including acute leukaemia, lymphosarcoma, and reticulum cell sarcoma. The serum level of caeruloplasmin was raised in all reticuloses. There was possibly some correlation between the rise in haptoglobin and caeruloplasmin concentrations and the total alpha(2) globulin in Hodgkin's disease but this was not statistically significant. The significance of these results is discussed, and it is concluded that the increase in alpha(2) globulin which occurs in Hodgkin's disease is due to an increase in several of its components and not to a single component. (+info)
ATAXIA-TELANGIECTASIA.
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Ataxia-telangiectasia is a syndrome of progressive cerebellar ataxia and other neurological manifestations associated with conjunctival and cutaneous telangiectases and with recurrent sino-pulmonary infections. Immunological and endocrine abnormalities occur. Two girls with this disease are described. The first had only minor respiratory infections; her serum proteins and immunity responses appeared normal. The second had recurrent pulmonary infections and bronchiectasis; she also exhibited sclerodermatous changes, poor development of secondary sexual characteristics with low urinary excretion of 17-ketosteroids, and lymphopenia. Autopsy at 17 years showed bilateral ovarian dysgerminomata and excessive cutaneous collagen as well as atrophy, and perhaps hypoplasia, of adrenals, thymus, spleen and lymphoid tissue (after steroid therapy). The cerebellum exhibited cortical degeneration. Both lungs were fibrotic with old and recent bronchopneumonia and bronchiectasis. The left lung was studied by injection of a latex preparation; no arteriovenous aneurysms were found, but the smaller pulmonary vessels showed some unusual morphological characteristics. (+info)
SEROMUCOID IN LUPUS ERYTHRMATOSUS AND SCLERODERMA.
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Seromucoid levels in blood of 50 normal men and in 63 cases of cutaneous collagen diseases were studied. There was a marked rise in the seromucoid level in cases of systemic lupus erythematosus and also a significant rise in scleroderma. This rise in seromucoid level may be a reflection of the degenerative connective tissue. (+info)
STRUCTURAL STUDIES OF HUMAN 7S GAMMA-GLOBULIN (G IMMUNOGLOBULIN). FURTHER OBSERVATIONS OF A NATURALLY OCCURRING PROTEIN RELATED TO THE CRYSTALLIZABLE (FAST) FRAGMENT.
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1. Detailed physical, chemical, and immunologic studies of a protein closely related to the Fc fragment and heavy chain of G immunoglobulin (IgG), and elaborated by a subject with a lymphoproliferative disorder are presented. 2. The protein, which has a molecular weight of 51,000, was cleaved into two half molecules by reduction and alkylation. 3. The protein has few if any of the antigenic determinants of the antigen-binding (Fab) papain fragment of IgG, and has a striking similarity in its antigenic properties to the Fc fragment. 4. Fingerprint patterns resemble those of the crystallizable (Fc) fragment, and lack several peptides found in the heavy chain. 5. These findings suggest that the Fc fragment may be a real structural unit of IgG, and raise the possibility of the existence of three different types of polypeptide chains in G immunoglobulin. (+info)
PAPER ELECTROPHORESIS STUDY OF SERA OF DOGS IMMUNE TO WILD RABIES VIRUS.
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Three hyperimmune dogs were injected intramuscularly with canine wild rabies virus. The dogs showed no clinical evidence of rabies. Intramuscular injection of the wild rabies virus in susceptible puppies induced fulminating disease and mortality in 14 to 16 days. Investigation of the serum proteins of the hyperimmune dogs by a paper electrophoresis technique revealed conspicuous changes in the beta and gamma protein bands. (+info)
Abnormal haemoglobin electrophoresis caused by BW 12C.
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BW 12C, a substituted benzaldehyde, stabilises haemoglobin in the oxy-conformation and has attracted interest as an anti-sickling agent. The drug causes a left shift in the oxygen saturation curve and may induce tumour anoxia and enhance the effect of cytotoxic drugs. During clinical trials in patients with cancer abnormal bands on haemoglobin electrophoretic strips were observed. This made correct diagnosis of abnormal haemoglobins impossible. Solubility tests for sickling disorders (Itano) also proved unreliable. (+info)
ANTIHEPARIN ACTIVITY OF SOME HUMAN BLOOD PROTEIN FRACTIONS AND THEIR POSSIBLE RELATIONSHIP TO THROMBOSIS.
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In view of the possible relationship to thrombosis the ;anti-heparin' activity of blood protein fractions was studied. Serum and plasma were separated by continuous paper curtain electrophoresis and two different groups of fractions with anti-heparin activity found. One group was associated with the fast gamma globulins and the other with the alpha globulins. The fast gamma activity appeared to be identical with the contact activation product (activated factors XI and XII). The alpha globulin activity is different from any of the known serum clotting factors. This activity may be due to a previously unrecognized clotting factor or may be a coagulant property of certain blood proteins which act by binding heparin. The clinical implications of these findings are discussed. It is suggested that the fast gamma globulin anti-heparin fraction may be identical with Wessler's serum thrombotic accelerator and the alpha globulin activity is a separate entity. (+info)