Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0020639 (hypoproteinemia)
 1,134 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

A 66-year-old woman with systemic scleroderma developed pancytopenia (white blood cell 750/microliter, neutrophilic cell 201/microliter, red blood cell 166 x 10(4)/microliter, hemoglobin 5.3 g/dl, hematocrit 18.1%, platelet cell 8.2 x 10(4)/microliter) 7 months after the initiation of intravenous hyper-alimentation for chronic ileus. Serum copper and zinc levels were 3 and 46 micrograms/dl, respectively. Provision of trace elements led to increase blood cell counts as well as serum copper and zinc levels. She also developed watery diarrhea frequent times a day and hypoproteinemia during the lack of trace elements. Evidence of protein-losing gastroenteropathy was shown by gastrointestinal scintigraphy using 99mTc-human serum albumin half a year after provision of trace elements and it was not shown one and a half years after continuous provision of trace elements. As patients with scleroderma sometimes develop gastrointestinal problems and are needed intravenous nutrition of long duration, they should be paid attention to lack of trace elements that can be a cause of hematologic complications.
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PMID:[A case of scleroderma with pancytopenia due to lack of trace elements]. 1263 10

A 44-year-old woman noticed edema of the lower limbs in May 1999 and visited our hospital in September 1999 to undergo further examination. On admission, severe hypoalbuminemia (1.9 g/dl) was detected with a negative urinary protein level. Protein leakage into the gastrointestinal tract and deposition of immune complex in the colonic mucosa were shown by the fluorescent antibody method. In addition, anti-centromere antibody, sclerodactyly, and findings indicative of histological sclerotic changes on a skin biopsy were observed. These findings supported a diagnosis of protein-losing gastroenteropathy complicated by scleroderma. Administration of oral corticosteroids was begun one month after admission and the patient experienced diminished visual acuity immediately after steroid pulse therapy in November. Central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC) was diagnosed at the Department of Ophthalmology of our hospital, and the administration of corticosteroids was suspected as a possible cause of CSC. Considering the severity of hypoproteinemia, the corticosteroid treatment was continued despite corticosteroids being strogly suspected as the primary cause of CSC. A complete disappearance of CSC was achieved in 30 days after the onset of symptoms despite continuation of the steroid therapy, and her serum albumin and complement levels both normalized. We concluded that damage to the retinal pigment epithelium secondary to the vascular lesion at the choroidal level plays a causative role in CSC. In the present case, the findings suggested that the deposition of immune complex in choroidal tissues as well as the gastrointestinal tract caused hyperpermeability of choroidal vessels and led to the development of CSC.
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PMID:[Case of protein-losing gastroenteropathy associated with scleroderma in which central serous chorioretinopathy developed]. 1657 64