Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0011570 (depression)
 172,036 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The authors present a study of 50 patients with adenocarcinomas of the colon and rectum, patients with gastric adenocarcinomas, and 30 healthy individuals as a control group. In all subjects the following parameters were determined: total number of lymphocytes in the peripheral blood, T lymphocytes, T-active lymphocytes, and B lymphocytes. A study of the test for lymphoblastic transformation (TTL) with phytohemagglutinin (PHA) stimulation and the determination of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) and carcino-embryonic antigen (CEA) were also carried out. In patients with gastric adenocarcinoma the results revealed a lymphopenia, especially at the expense of T and T-active lymphocytes, as well as a depression (in 73 per cent) of the lymphocytic response to the PHA stimulation. Patients with carcinoma of the colon showed significant results in the T-active lymphocyte population. In both neoplastic situations the determination for alpha-fetoprotein was negative, while the CEA presented a clear correlation with the evolutive stage of the tumor, being more demonstrative in the tumors located in the colon and rectum.
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PMID:[Determination of the lymphocytic and oncofetal antigen subpopulations in patients with adenocarcinomas of the stomach and of the colon and rectum (author's transl)]. 9 70

The transcription rates of the albumin and alpha-fetoprotein (alpha FP) genes were reduced to marginally detectable levels in livers of newborn or fetal c14CoS albino deletion mutant mice, which lack the hepatocyte specific developmental regulation (hsdr-1) locus on chromosome 7 and die shortly after birth. However, steady-state levels of these two mRNAs in livers of mutant mice were similar to those in normal mice, where these genes are actively transcribed. In c14CoS mice, transcription rates of transcription factor genes HNF-1, C/EBP and HNF-4 were reduced, albeit to different extents. These effects are specific because transcription of the HNF-3, DBP, LAP and Jun-B genes remained normal in mutant mice. Steady-state levels of all of these mRNAs reflected the transcriptional activities. Levels of HNF-1 and HNF-4 mRNAs showed much greater depression than that of C/EBP in mutant liver. The availability of this group of transcription factors may be reduced in c14CoS hepatocytes and therefore caused depressed transcription rates of their target genes such as those encoding albumin and alpha FP. However, the normal steady-state levels of albumin and alpha FP mRNAs in mutant mice remains unexplained. Fetal c14CoS hepatocytes in primary culture did acquire competence for glucocorticoid inducible transcription of the albumin, alpha FP, HNF-4 and metallothionein genes but not of the tyrosine aminotransferase (TAT) gene. These results indicate that the hsdr-1 locus is dispensable for the glucocorticoid induced transcription of these genes but not of TAT. The effects caused by the c14CoS deletion are pleiotropic in controlling the expression of numerous genes at distinct levels in the liver.
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PMID:Transcriptional control in hepatocytes of normal and c14CoS albino deletion mice. 137 Dec 47

The purpose of this study was to assess the psychological impact of maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein screening on pregnant women with false positive elevations of maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein and on their male partners. Subjects with maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein elevations and their partners exhibited significantly heightened anxiety as measured by the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory following notification of the elevation, and this anxiety persisted until normal results were obtained by further testing. Heightened anxiety was not alleviated by counseling prior to definitive testing. Once normal results were obtained, anxiety returned to control levels and heightened anxiety was not observed throughout the remainder of pregnancy. Maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein elevations had little effect on maternal attitudes toward pregnancy as measured by the Maternal Attitudes to Pregnancy Inventory. Similarly, no differences were observed between subjects with normal and elevated maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein levels with regard to depression, marital discord, work attendance, or work productivity.
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PMID:The psychological impact of false positive elevations of maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein. 257 51

The effect of acute and chronic ethanol consumption on serum alpha-fetoprotein was studied in adult male rats with resting and regenerating livers. Unlike many hepatotoxins, ethanol consumed over both the long and short term suppressed serum alpha-fetoprotein concentrations (p less than 0.05). This suppression was not due to increased degradation, since the half-life of alpha-fetoprotein was not significantly altered by chronic ethanol treatment. However, liver cytosolic alpha-fetoprotein was markedly increased after ethanol consumption, suggesting the presence of impaired secretion or mobilization from the liver cells. During liver regeneration following partial hepatectomy, alpha-fetoprotein increased in both the control (390 ng-hr/ml) and ethanol-treated animals (288 ng-hr/ml). At no time did the ethanol animal values equal the control levels. The change in serum alpha-fetoprotein showed an inverse exponential correlation with the amount of liver removed at hepatectomy and a positive correlation with the amount of nuclear DNA present at sacrifice. However, in the ethanol-treated animals it required the removal of 1.9 times as much liver to stimulate the same degree of liver regeneration as in the controls (p less than 0.001). A significant inverse correlation was observed between 3H-thymidine uptake and the areas under the alpha-fetoprotein time curves in the controls (p less than 0.001). In the ethanol groups the correlation was not statistically significant (p less than 0.2). It is concluded that although changes in serum alpha-fetoprotein may be associated with liver injury and regeneration, they are not a direct result of the regenerative process. The direct correlation with available nuclear DNA indicates the need for existing cells to hypertrophy and produce the alpha-fetoprotein. The depression associated with acute and chronic ethanol ingestion appears to reflect a direct effect of ethanol on protein synthesis and/or release.
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PMID:Serum alpha-fetoprotein: changes associated with acute and chronic ethanol ingestion in the resting and regenerating rat liver. 615 15

Mitomycin C microcapsules (MMC-mc), which were developed as a novel drug carrier, have proved to exert a potential therapeutic effect due to both microinfarction and sustained drug action (chemo-embolization), when infused into a tumor supplying arteries. Experimental studies have demonstrated that chemo-embolization with MMC-mc produces a definitely marked and extensive cytotoxicity in target tissues as compared with traditional arterial chemotherapy, embolization or combination of both. Sixty-seven patients with advanced hepatoma were treated with intra-arterial MMC-mc during the period from 1978 to 1982. Since the majority of patients were in far advanced stages, 56 patients received only single or two infusions of an average dose of 20 mg MMC-mc. Objective tumor reduction greater than 25% in area was observed in 22 (40%) of measurable 55 tumors. Elevated serum alpha-fetoprotein in 26 patients improved in 22 (85%). Relative survival rates of 59 patients without distant metastasis were 64% at 3 months, 49% at 6 months and 26% at 12 months. Side effects such as bone marrow depression, decreased liver function, fever, anorexia, pain and infection were experienced in 9 to 39%, but the majority of them were mild and controllable. Our preliminary experience suggests that MMC-mc can be effectively used in treatment of liver tumors as a palliative but also as a preoperative measure. Further clinical trials including controlled study may well demonstrate the advantages of MMC-mc.
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PMID:[Chemo-embolization with mitomycin C microcapsules for hepatoma]. 620 39

The effects of 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA), all trans-retinoic acid (RA), 5-azacytidine (5-AC), and phenobarbital (PB) on the activities of seven enzymes and/or isozymes of a diploid rat liver epithelial cell line have been studied. At 0.1 microgram/ml, TPA depressed the specific activities of lactate dehydrogenase and gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase, whereas 2 mM PB depressed gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase and alkaline phosphatase. At 0.01 microgram/ml, RA markedly depressed the activity of NADH-diaphorase and lactate dehydrogenase but enhanced the activity of alkaline phosphatase. Only 2 microM 5-AC caused the most significant shift of lactate dehydrogenase isozyme toward the "muscle"-type isozyme. Histochemical studies revealed that PB and 5-AC induced focal areas of cells with glycogen deposits, but no significant changes in either ultrastructure or alpha-fetoprotein and albumin immunohistochemical staining pattern were observed to suggest hepatocytic differentiation. Although none of the enzymatic changes could be consistently correlated with the effects of these biological modifiers on the cellular growth rate, the effect of RA on NADH-diaphorase, lactate dehydrogenase, and alkaline phosphatase activities was the opposite of the changes observed during carcinogenesis of these rat liver epithelial cells by multiple treatments with N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine. The depression of gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase activity by PB is contradictory to that observed histochemically in hepatocytes in vivo, but such discrepancy may be related to the differences in cell type, growth conditions, or duration of exposure.
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PMID:Biochemical effects of 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate, retinoic acid, phenobarbital, and 5-azacytidine on a normal rat liver epithelial cell line. 620 84

Hepatocellular carcinomas 1 cm in diameter with high or low echogenicity can be detected on ultrasonography and confirmed on fine-needle biopsy, but it is still very difficult to detect small hepatocellular carcinomas with isoechogenicity. In this study, we assessed lymphokine-activated killer cell activity and interferon-gamma production prospectively every 1 to 3 mo for 23 +/- 4 mo (mean +/- 1 S.D.) in 227 patients with cirrhosis. Transient depression of lymphokine-activated killer activity was detected in 43 patients (defective lymphokine-activated killer group), and hepatocellular carcinoma was detected in 24 cases before the end of the 18-mo follow-up. Twenty-one (87.5%) of the 24 hepatocellular carcinoma patients were included in the defective lymphokine-activated killer group. Defective lymphokine-activated killer activity was detected more than 6 mo before detection of a space occupying lesion in the liver or elevation of alpha-fetoprotein level above 400 ng/ml. Serum alpha-fetoprotein level was elevated above 400 ng/ml in only five cases in which hepatocellular carcinoma was detected as a space-occupying lesion. Our results indicate that sequential assessment of lymphokine-activated killer activity may be a predictor of hepatocellular carcinoma and that the depression of immune function in cirrhotic patients is a serious risk factor for hepatocellular carcinoma emergence.
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PMID:Depressed immune function in patients with cirrhosis before emergence of hepatocellular carcinoma. 768 81

A search for control mechanisms involving embryonic genes is explored reviewing a variety of subject areas including, a) the methylation status of DNA and the globin gene, b) ethionine and steroid effects on expression of embryonic genes, c) alpha-fetoprotein gene activity induced by carcinogens and in hepatomas. Also taken into account are transcriptional and cytogenetic aspects. Theories of heterochromatin dynamics are developed in connection with certain contributions from chromatin experimental findings, especially regarding the status of methylation. The potential importance to control theory of the inverse correlation between ATP:L-methionine S-adenosyltransferase activity and alpha-fetoprotein synthesis is emphasized. Several generalizations were derived during the study. It appears that the depression mechanisms may act only on genes that have been active in embryonic stages and have become repressed during differentiation. Another idea concerned heterochromatin. Any heterochromatic segment of DNA may represent at its associated ends a certain amount of euchromatin that would be in a quasi-heterochromatic state. Such pseudoheterochromatin is hypothesized to be induced by the true heterochromatin (eigenheterochromatin).
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PMID:Biochemical formulations of embryonic gene control. 768 50

N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase (GnT) III catalyzes the addition of N-acetylglucosamine through a beta 1-4 linkage to the mannose of the trimannosyl core, resulting in conversion of the concanavalin-A-(ConA)-reactive glycan into the ConA-nonreactive one. In this study, we measured GnT III levels in serum, tumor, and surrounding normal tissues together with a glucosaminylation index of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), which is defined as the percentage of the ConA-nonreactive species in total AFP, in a case of AFP-producing renal cell carcinoma. The glucosaminylation index was determined by affinoelectrophoresis in the presence of ConA. GnT III was measured by using a pyridylaminated asialoagalactobiantennary sugar chain as a substrate by high-performance liquid chromatography. The glucosaminylation index of serum AFP, the concentration of which was 68 ng/ml, was 60%. This value is much higher than observed in hepatocellular carcinomas. The tumor tissue level of GnT III was 55.34 pmol/mg/h which was about six fold higher (9.50 pmol/mg/h) than in normal surrounding tissues. The serum level of this enzyme before surgery was 27.65 pmol/ml/h and decreased to 5.38 pmol/ml/h thereafter in association with a depression of serum AFP from 68 to 5.4 ng/ml. Thus, an increased level of GnT III in tumor tissues could account for the elevated conversion of a biantennary complex type sugar chain of AFP into a bisecting glucosaminylated biantennary one resulting from the addition of an N-acetylglucosamine residue at the trimannosyl core. This is, to our knowledge, the first report explaining the change in the carbohydrate structure of AFP with different affinity to ConA on the enzymatic basis in a renal cell carcinoma.
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PMID:Alpha-fetoprotein-producing renal cell carcinoma with increased activity of N-acetylglucosaminyl-transferase III. 889 65

Although gastric cancer occurs frequently in Japan, few cases of hepatoid adenocarcinoma, a cancer with an extremely poor prognosis, have been reported. Here, we describe a 67-year-old Japanese man referred to our hospital with suspected gastric cancer. Gastrointestinal fiberscopy revealed an elevated lesion with a central depression on the lesser curvature, extending from the antrum to the body of the stomach. On the preoperative examinations, abdominal computed tomography scan, magnetic resonance imaging, and abdominal ultrasonography revealed multiple metastases to the liver and no cirrhotic change. The serum level of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) was markedly elevated (10,084 ng/ml). After a diagnosis of AFP-producing gastric cancer with multiple liver metastases was made, total gastrectomy, without liver resection, was performed. Microscopically, the tumor showed two main histological features. The main part of the tumor resembled moderately differentiated hepatocellular carcinoma, and the rest showed fetal-type adenocarcinoma. Some parts of the hepatoma-like lesion showed periodic acid-Schiff (PAS)-positive granules. Furthermore, the tumor showed diffuse immunohistochemical positivity for AFP, alpha-1 antitrypsin, and alpha-1 antichymotrypsin. According to these histopathological findings, the tumor was diagnosed as hepatoid adenocarcinoma of the stomach. Although anastomotic leakage occurred postoperatively and the liver metastases have increased in size, the patient remains alive 11 months after the operation. Because of the poor prognosis for this histological type of tumor, accurate diagnosis of hepatoid adenocarcinoma is important, and long-term follow-up is required. We describe this rare case of hepatoid adenocarcinoma of the stomach, and review the literature concerning the clinicopathological aspects.
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PMID:Hepatoid adenocarcinoma of the stomach. 1170 27


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