Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: EC:6.2.1.7 (BAL)
 1,977 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Procollagen III aminopeptide (P-III-P), a peptide released during the conversion of type III procollagen to type III collagen, is considered a potential marker of fibroblast activity in a variety of pulmonary and extrapulmonary diseases. The aim of the present article was to investigate the levels of P-III-P in serum samples (sP-III-P) from a large number of sarcoid patients, in particular looking at its relationship with other markers of disease activity and its presumed role as a marker of pulmonary fibrosis. sP-III-P has been radioimmunoassayed in an overall series of 57 patients and the levels were higher (19.18 +/- 9.17 ng/ml) than in 25 age- and sex-matched controls (11.32 +/- 2.15 ng/ml; p less than 0.001). The elevation was neither sex-related nor related to obvious liver sarcoid localization. Although sP-III-P levels were slightly higher in patients with stage II, there was no significant difference in patients with stage I or III. We found a positive relationship with serum angiotensin-converting enzyme (S-ACE) levels (p less than 0.04), but not with other markers of disease activity (67Ga uptake, bronchoalveolar lavage [BAL] lymphocyte percent, vital capacity, and lung diffusing capacity). The relationship with S-ACE was confirmed in a longitudinal follow-up study, where sP-III-P strictly paralleled the S-ACE behavior. Finally, the initial sP-III-P levels did not predict cases either with disease relapse or resistance to corticosteroid treatment. We conclude that, in our study, sP-III-P levels failed to characterize sarcoid patients with radiologic fibrotic pattern (stage III), and, in addition, were unable to predict which patients would have a poor prognosis. Rather, they reflect a metabolic activity of sarcoid granuloma cells. Thus, the usefulness of sP-III-P in the treatment of patients with sarcoid may be considered similar to that of S-ACE.
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PMID:Elevated serum procollagen III aminopeptide levels in sarcoidosis. 217 97

The lungs have an important role in the synthesis of ACE. In BAL fluid and serum the ACE activity was determined in 18 patients with sarcoidosis (11 with high intensity and 7 with low intensity alveolitis), 25 patients with atopic bronchial asthma and 17 with acute bronchitis. The activity of ACE was examined by a reagent set produced by Boehringer Mannheim Biochemica Test-Combination ACE cat. no. 789 011. In the high intensity alveolitis group of sarcoidosis patients the ACE activity was significantly increased in BAL fluid and serum in comparison to other observed patients. On the other hand, in patients with atopic bronchial asthma the ACE activity was also increased in comparison to acute bronchitis and referred norms. These findings suggest a role of atopic processes or administered therapy in ACE secretion in the airways.
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PMID:Activity of angiotensin I converting enzyme in sarcoidosis, atopic bronchial asthma and acute bronchitis. 217 61

The spontaneous production of interleukin-1 alpha and beta by alveolar cells obtained by BAL from 7 active pulmonary sarcoidosis and 5 normal volunteers was evaluated. The activity of disease in one case was considered to be highly active because of the chest X-ray pattern (diffuse micronodular shadows), highly intense Ga up take in lungs, increased number of BAL cells and high level of S-ACE. The contents of IL-1 alpha and beta were measured by ELISA in the culture supernatants of alveolar cells after 24 hours culture without any stimulus. Large amounts of IL-1 alpha and beta production were found in highly active case. No significant amount of IL-1 alpha and beta, however, was detected in 6 other active sarcoidosis cases and 5 normal volunteers. Therefore, spontaneous release of IL-1 alpha and beta in vitro from alveolar cells in sarcoidosis might be considered as an index for the necessity of systemic corticosteroid treatment and its relationship to the spontaneous remission of sarcoidosis in Japanese patients was discussed.
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PMID:[Spontaneous production of interleukin-1 alpha and beta by alveolar cells from patients with sarcoidosis]. 226 23

The value of BAL in three groups of diseases (sarcoidosis, lung fibrosis, inflammatory diseases of the bronchi) compared with a control group is described. The cellular components and total protein and glycoprotein as well as electrolyts and angiotension-converting enzyme were examined. In patients with sarcoidosis a higher retention of sodium ions was stated. ACE in BAL was without any hint to the activity of the disease. But for glycoproteins a higher permeability was proved. In several fractions of the BAL fluid were differences according to all examined parameters.
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PMID:[Cell and fluid permeability of the alveolar wall in sarcoidosis]. 283 38

Fifty-eight contributors from 12 European and 2 American sarcoidosis centers have collaborated in a survey to define many questions concerning the use of 67Ga lung scan in sarcoidosis. The new quantitative scoring methods based on digital evaluation seem better in detecting lung activity. In 20.1% of untreated patients, the 67Ga lung scan appeared to be the only noninvasive method with which clinical activity could be detected. 67Ga scans may be useful in guiding lung biopsy and in choosing pulmonary segments for BAL. Of 382 patients studied during follow-up (154 patients with three to nine scans at intervals of 2 to 12 months), the 67Ga scan was far more sensitive than chest radiography, both in detecting improvement and in foreseeing relapses. Steroid therapy appears to suppress ACE levels more than 67Ga uptake, and 67Ga uptake more than the alveolitis detectable by BAL. Gallium-67 uptake rebounds to positivity occur in about 40% of patients after steroid discontinuation and in about 20% of patients after steroid reduction to daily doses of 10 mg or less of prednisone. The 67Ga dose of 1.5 mCi seems appropriate for clinical purposes and is recommended for the subjective scoring method in order to reduce the cost and the radiation burden.
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PMID:A European survey on the usefulness of 67Ga lung scans in assessing sarcoidosis. Experience in 14 research centers in seven different countries. 301 60

Present status of Ga lung scan in sarcoidosis is reviewed: accumulation of radionuclide in the lung fields seems better quantified by computer methods; low doses (1.5 mCi) may be enough in the centres using subjective scoring methods; Ga positivity shown on four-view segmental maps of each lung could be useful in guiding BAL or lung biopsy. Ga lung scan appears more sensitive than both Chest X-ray and ACE in evaluating the response to therapy and in foreseeing relapses. The comparison with BAL is difficult due to the difficulty of comparing BAL data from different laboratories. Anyway, Ga, ACE and BAL are markers of different phenomena and all help our understanding of the disease and should guide our interventions. Ga scoring during steroid therapy has a strong clinical meaning only when positive, while negativity could be due to drug-induced uptake suppression.
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PMID:Ga lung scan has come to stay. 610 Sep 23

The aim of this study was to evaluate whether markers of collagen synthesis, hyaluronan (HA) and procollagen type III aminoterminal peptide (PIIINP) in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) and serum (S) were correlated to paraclinical markers of disease activity (S-ACE, S-IgG S-IgA S-calcium, chest X-ray (CXR) profusion score, pulmonary function tests (FEV1, FVC, TLC, DLCO)) in pulmonary sarcoidosis. The material comprised 48 patients with biopsy proven sarcoidosis (35 male, 13 female, median age 31 years) and 24 controls (16 male, 8 female, median age 60 years). BAL was performed in the right middle lobe with 250 ml saline. Patients had higher BALF-HA, mean 88 +/- 13 (SEM) micrograms/l, than controls, 39 +/- 2 micrograms/l (p < 0.01), higher BALF-albumin, 121 +/- 13 mg/l, than controls 58 +/- 4 mg/l (p < 0.01), and higher BALF/S-HA ratio, 3.35 +/- 0.51, than controls, 1.23 +/- 0.60 (p < 0.01). There were no significant differences for S-HA, BALF-PIIINP, or S-PIIINP. In patients significant correlations were found between BALF-HA, S-HA, and BALF-albumin; between S-HA and S-ACE; between BALF/S-HA and BALF-albumin; between CXR profusion score and S-HA, S-ACE, S-IgG, S-IgA, FEV1, FVC, TLC and DLCO. The results indicate that measurement of S-HA, BALF-HA, and BALF-albumin may be of value in the monitoring of disease in pulmonary sarcoidosis.
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PMID:Hyaluronan and procollagen type III aminoterminal peptide in serum and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid in patients with pulmonary sarcoidosis. 761 74

Soluble interleukin-2 receptor (sIL-2R) concentration is considered to reflect disease activity in patients with sarcoidosis. However, it remains to be evaluated whether or not the sIL-2R concentration reflects the total burden of granulomatous lesions, or if it can be a useful marker for other interstitial lung diseases such as IPF, the lesions of which are restricted to the lungs. In this study, we demonstrated that sIL-2R concentrations in 16 patients with active sarcoidosis increased (2031 +/- 1222 U/ml), compared to those in 29 patients with inactive disease (796 +/- 313), 24 with IPF (859 +/- 694) and 33 healthy controls (467 +/- 174). sIL-2R concentrations in patients with IPF also increased, more than those in healthy subjects. sIL-2R concentrations in 10 patients with extrathoracic lesions (ETL) were not different from those in 6 patients without ETL. Correlation between serum sIL-2R concentrations and serum ACE activity, BAL macrophage %, and BAL lymphocyte % was shown in patients with sarcoidosis. In patients with IPF, a correlation between sIL-2R concentrations and BAL macrophage % was found but there was no correlation between sIL-2R concentrations and BAL lymphocyte %. In conclusion, serum sIL-2R concentrations seem to reflect total inflammatory lesions. In addition, they reflect total inflammatory lesions of the lungs in sarcoidosis and IPF. For clinical purposes, its measurement may be more useful than that of BAL fluid concentrations in patients with sarcoidosis and IPF.
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PMID:Soluble interleukin-2 receptor in blood from patients with sarcoidosis and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. 780 92

Biochemical markers in sarcoidosis are closely related to the immunological events and the activity of inflammatory effector cells at sites of granuloma formation. The markers can be measured in serum, then reflecting whole body concentration, or in BAL fluid, then indicating activity in the lung. Only calcium and ACE serum levels have gained a proven value in the clinical field.
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PMID:Biochemical changes in sarcoidosis. 941 61

The pulmonary granulomatous diseases may be staged using clinical examination, pulmonary function tests, <sup>67</sup>Ga scans, chest X-rays, BAL and serum ACE levels; furthermore, these disorders are clearly associated to changes in lymphocyte subpopulations, CD4+/CD8+ ratio and surface receptors; in particular, T cell activation characterizes early alveolitis phase, while activated macrophages and related cytokines prevail in granulomata and fibrosis development. In this study, we dosed the serum and blood concentrations of IL-6 (a well-known pro-inflammatory cytokine), sIL-2R (marker of T-cell activation), TNF-alpha and IFN-gamma (associated with the granuloma development), in patients affected by active or inactive sarcoidosis, primary tuberculosis, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and healthy control subjects, using the ELISA method. Cytokines assay showed significant changes only in subjects with primary tuberculosis and active sarcoidosis; infact, primary tuberculosis was characterized by high values of IL-6 and IFN-gamma both in peripheral blood and in BAL, with high values of sIL-2R in BAL; patients with active sarcoidosis showed high levels of IFN-gamma and TNF-alpha both in BAL and in peripheral blood, associated to an increase of serum sIL-2R levels. Our data confirm that the compared assay of these cytokines in peripheral blood and BAL specimens, may be useful to diagnose and to assess the disease activity in pulmonary granulomatous diseases; in particular, the levels of sIL-2R are a marker of the alveolitis phase, while TNF-alpha and IL-6 levels discriminate patients with sarcoidosis or tuberculosis granulomata, respectively.
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PMID:Cytokines assay in peripheral blood and bronchoalveolar lavage in the diagnosis and staging of pulmonary granulomatous diseases. 1265 92


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