Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:3.1.6.12 (chondroitinase)
 2,183 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Two brothers, aged 40 and 38 years, suffered from dysplastic features, coarse facies, bone and skeletal abnormalities, deformities of spine, and joint impairments. Body heights were 168 and 164 cm, respectively. Enlargement of liver and spleen, cardiac insufficiency, marked corneal clouding, and hernias were absent. Both patients had signs of cervical and lumbar radiculopathy and cervical myelopathy (tetraspastic syndrome). Vacuoles, acid phosphatase-positive granules, and metachromatic inclusions were found in peripheral lymphocytes; granulocytes and monocytes contained azurophilic hypergranulation. By electron microscopy, clear membrane-bound vacuoles were noted in lymphocytes (but not in neurtrophils), fibroblasts, Schwann cells, mural cells of the vasculature, and epidermal cells. Leukocytes, urine, and cultured skin fibroblasts revealed a deficiency of arylsulfatase B (N-acetylgalactosamine 4-sulfate sulfatase). The 6-year-old daughter of one of the patients has an intermediate level of this enzyme. Fibroblasts exhibited a constant intracellular accumulation of 35S-labeled mucopolysaccharides. The urine of one of the brothers showed an abnormal mucopolysacchariduria; in both, the presence of urinary dermatan sulfate could be demonstrated. These findings conform to the mild B variant of Maroteaux-Lamy syndrome with high longevity.
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PMID:Deficiency of arylsulfatase B in 2 brothers aged 40 and 38 years (Maroteaux-Lamy syndrome, type B). 12 48

Back pain is the second leading cause of disability among American adults and is currently treated either with conservative therapy or interventional pain procedures. However, the question that remains is whether we, as physicians, have adequate therapeutic options to offer to the patients who suffer from chronic low back pain but fail both conservative therapy and interventional pain procedures before they consider surgical options such as discectomy, disc arthroplasty, or spinal fusion. The purpose of this article is to review the potential novel therapies that are on the horizon for the treatment of chronic low back pain. We discuss medications that are currently in use through different phases of clinical trials (I-III) for the treatment of low back pain. In this review, we discuss revisiting the concept of chemonucleolysis using chymopapain, as the first drug in an intradiscal injection to reduce herniated disc size, and newer intradiscal therapies, including collagenase, chondroitinase, matrix metalloproteinases, and ethanol gel. We also review an intravenous glial cell-derived neurotrophic growth factor called artemin, which may repair sensory nerves compressed by herniated discs. Another new drug in development for low back pain without radiculopathy is a subcutaneous monoclonal antibody acting as nerve growth factor called tanezumab. Finally, we discuss how platelet-rich plasma and stem cells are being studied for the treatment of low back pain. We believe that with these new therapeutic options, we can bridge the current gap between conservative/interventional procedures and surgeries in patients with chronic back pain.
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PMID:Treatment of chronic low back pain - new approaches on the horizon. 2854 69