This study was undertaken to determine tissue and serum ferritin levels in different stages of breast carcinoma. Eighty-nine cases have been evaluated, the groups investigated being breast carcinoma, benign breast disease and healthy controls. Ferritin levels in both the sera and the tissue cytosols were measured by an enzyme immunoassay method, while total proteins were assayed by Lowry's procedure and the ferritin concentrations given in ng ferritin/mg cytosol protein. No significant difference has been determined for serum ferritin between any of the groups studied, while the tissue cytosol ferritins were found to be 91.6 +/- 50.9, 565.0 +/- 48.3, 142.7 +/- 93.3, 683.3 +/- 212.9 and 655.5 +/- 100.4 ng/mg cytosol protein for the benign, malign (global), malign (stage I), malign (stage II) and malign (stage III) groups, respectively. The differences between the malign groups and the benign group were found to be highly significant (P < 0.001) except for the stage I subgroup, which was fairly significant (P < 0.05). A sensitivity of 90% was evaluated for tissue cytosol ferritin in breast carcinoma, the 'intra-patient' sensitivity being 100%. In conclusion, we state that tissue ferritin is more valuable than serum ferritin as a tumour marker of diagnosis for breast carcinoma.

Biomarkers, Tumor↗

PubMed1985

Hydrogen peroxide detoxication by catalase in subcellular fractions of human brain tumors and normal brain tissues.

Hydrogen peroxide detoxication by catalase was found to be significantly lower in human brain tumoral tissue as compared with normal brain tissue. As to the subcellular distribution of catalase activity, the tumoral tissue showed a decrease in the nuclear and mitochondrial fractions and an increase in the supernatants.

Brain↗

PubMed1985

Acid and alkaline phosphatase activities in homogenates and subcellular fractions of human brain tumors.

This study is a quantitative analysis of acid and alkaline phosphatase activity in human brain tumor homogenates and subcellular fractions, in parallel with normal brain tissue. Glioblastoma multiforme, meningioma, astrocytoma and normal tissue samples were separated by ultracentrifugation into five subcellular fractions: nuclei (N), mitochondria (M), microsomes (P), ribosomes (R) and supernatant (S). These two phosphatases showed significant increase in astrocytoma and meningioma tissue homogenates, compared with normal brain tissue. Alkaline phosphatase levels were determined to increase significantly in glioblastoma multiforme tissue homogenates as compared with normals, while those of acid phosphatase were observed to decrease. The results of this investigation also indicate that the subcellular distributions of acid and alkaline phosphatase show differences in the different tumor types. This observation is evidence against metabolic uniformity in tumoral tissue.

Acid Phosphatase↗

PubMed1984

Human brain tumor phosphoglycerides.

This study is a qualitative and quantitative comparative analysis of the phosphoglycerides found in human brain tumors and normal brain tissue. Astrocytomas, glioblastomas, meningosarcomas and ependymomas were studied and, in all of these, the total phosphoglyceride levels were found to be significantly lower than in normal controls. Fractionation of the phosphoglycerides by thin-layer chromatography showed definite qualitative and/or quantitative differences in the phosphoglyceride fractions of tumor tissues in comparison with normal brain tissue.

Brain Chemistry↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Effects of basic fibroblast factor (bFGF) on MMP-2, TIMP-2, and type-I collagen levels in human lung carcinoma fibroblasts.

Matrix metalloproteinases (MMP's) and tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases (TIMP's) possess a preponderant role in the metabolism of the major extracellular matrix protein, collagen, and are thought to be important in the mechanism of tumor invasion. Lung cancer occupies the first position in mortality and the second position in incidence, among all cancers. In the present investigation, we studied the effect of basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) on collagen, matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2), and tissue metalloproteinase inhibitor-2 (TIMP-2) levels in normal and carcinoma lung tissue fibroblast cultures. MMP-2 was selected because of its high specificity in the degradation of type IV collagen, major component of the basal membrane. The effect of bFGF on MMP-2, TIMP-2, total collagen, and type I collagen levels of normal and carcinoma lung fibroblast cultures was investigated at 0, 10, and 100 ng/ml. Statistical analysis was carried out using the Mann-Whitney-U test and possible correlations were searched using the Spearman correlation analysis method. MMP-2, TIMP-2, total collagen, and type-1 collagen levels based on cell counts (10(3) cells) showed no statistically significant differences between the carcinoma and normal fibroblast cultures. However, positive correlations were found between MMP-2 and TIMP-2 in normal (P = 0.016) and carcinoma (P = 0.001) tissue fibroblast cultures. Positive correlations were also found between total collagen and TIMP-2 levels in normal and carcinoma tissue fibroblast cultures (P = 0.002 and P = 0.032). Total collagen and TIMP-2 levels also showed positive and strong correlations in all cultures except in 100 ng/ml bFGF concentrations. In addition, type I collagen and MMP-2 levels showed positive significant correlations only in normal and carcinoma control cultures, while type I collagen and TIMP-2 levels showed positive correlations in all cultures except carcinoma fibroblasts at 100 ng/ml bFGF. It may be concluded that bFGF does not affect MMP-2, TIMP-2, total collagen, and type-1 collagen levels in fibroblast cultures grown from human carcinoma and normal lung tissues. However, bFGF was noted, in vitro, to disturb the equilibrium which normally exists between the four parameters, both in normal and carcinoma tissue fibroblasts.

Carcinoma↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Lipoprotein profile in long term theophylline administration in children with asthma.

Atherosclerosis in childhood has a slowly progressive course and its clinical features usually become prominent in middle ages. Hypercholesterolemia is one of the major risk factors for the development of atherosclerosis. A clear correlation exists between hypercholesterolemia in childhood and atherosclerotic lesions extending into adulthood.In this study, we evaluated the effect of slow release theophylline (SRT) treatment on plasma lipid profile and assessed the risk for atherosclerotic coronary heart disease in children with bronchial asthma. Group 1 consisted of 15 children with a mean age of 10.8 3.19 years who received SRT for bronchial asthma for a mean period of 9.13 2.17 months. Group 2 was composed of 15 children with a mean age of 11.40 3.78 years and followed up for bronchial asthma, who received no SRT treatment. Group 3 comprised 15 children with a mean age of 9.00 3.76 years and no history of asthma or wheezing. In all patients lipid profiles were assessed by measuring levels of plasma triglyceride, total cholesterol, high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) apolipoprotein A (Apo-A) and apolipoprotein B (Apo-B). In group 1, the mean total cholesterol level was 175.53 24.36 mg/dl, LDL-C level was 91.00 24.07 mg/dl and Apo-B level was 87.27 12.74 mg/dl after SRT treatment. In group 1, group 2 (control group with asthma) and group 3 (the non-asthmatic control group), the mean plasma lipid level after SRT treatment was significantly higher than that before SRT treatment. In conclusion, long-term SRT treatment in children with bronchial asthma may alter lipid profile and may increase the risk for developing atherosclerotic coronary heart disease.

Anti-Asthmatic Agents↗