PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

A Noske

Publications and source records attributed to A Noske.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

Expression of lysophosphatidic acid acyltransferase beta (LPAAT-beta) in ovarian carcinoma: correlation with tumour grading and prognosis.

Lysophosphatidic acid acyltransferase beta (LPAAT-beta) is an enzyme involved in lipid biosynthesis whose role in tumour progression has been of emerging interest in the last few years. We investigated the expression of LPAAT-beta by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction and immunohistochemistry in 10 ovarian cell lines as well as in a cohort of 106 ovarian tumours and normal ovaries. Lysophosphatidic acid acyltransferase beta mRNA was found in all cell lines and ovarian tumours examined. Expression of LPAAT-beta protein was significantly increased in ovarian carcinomas compared to benign ovarian tissue (chi2 test P-value=0.001, Kruskal-Wallis test P-value <0.0001). Furthermore, LPAAT-beta expression was positively associated with higher tumour grade (P=0.044), higher mitotic index (P<0.0001) and tumour stage (P=0.032). Expression of LPAAT-beta was significantly linked to reduced overall survival time (P=0.024) as well as to shorter progression-free survival time (P=0.012) in patients younger than 60 years. Our study shows that LPAAT-beta is upregulated in ovarian cancer and is more prevalent in poorly differentiated tumours. In addition, LPAAT-beta expression is a predictor of a worse prognosis in patients younger than 60 years. Further studies are needed to investigate if LPAAT-beta may serve as a therapeutic target for certain subgroups of patients.

Acyltransferases↗

Duodenal calcium in chronic pancreatitis: is it of diagnostic value?

Chronic pancreatitis has been reported to be associated with an increased secretion of calcium in pancreatic juice. To determine whether estimation of duodenal calcium may be useful for diagnosing chronic pancreatitis, we compared duodenal calcium output in patients with chronic pancreatitis and in subjects without pancreatic disease, during intravenous infusion of secretion alone, with calcium, or with cholecystokinin-pancreozymin (CCK-PZ). Duodenal calcium output increased during infusion of both calcium and CCK-PZ to a similar extent in chronic pancreatitis and controls. Overall, duodenal output of chymotrypsin was markedly lower in chronic pancreatitis; however, chymotrypsin output increased in response to both intravenous calcium and CCK-PZ in both groups. Bilirubin output increased in both groups during calcium infusion, but this increase was significantly reduced in chronic pancreatitis; in contrast, CCK-PZ caused a similar increase in both groups. The high calcium output observed in hypercalcemia in the presence of low enzyme output suggests increased pancreatic secretion of enzyme-independent calcium in chronic pancreatitis. However, the difference is obscured by biliary calcium, which is secreted in much higher concentrations. Thus, duodenal calcium determination does not appear to be a useful diagnostic test in chronic pancreatitis.

Bilirubin↗