Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0029713 (immaturity)
 4,335 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Thirteen biochemical parameters and five enzymatic activities were determined on sera of 63 normal human fetuses sampled by direct puncture under ultrasound guidance, between the 20th and the 26th wk of gestation, and on their mothers. They were referred to us for various prenatal diagnoses but were well and confirmed healthy at birth. Some parameters were found to be very similar in both groups, mainly creatinine, calcium, creatine kinase, aspartate aminotransferase, and gamma-glutamyl transferase. Some values were significantly higher in the fetuses, such as total bilirubin, direct bilirubin, phosphorus, lactic dehydrogenase and alkaline phosphatase activities, and alpha-fetoprotein. Urea, uric acid, glucose, triglycerides, cholesterol, total protein, and albumin levels were found to be lower in fetuses. These data indicate a slower metabolism in fetuses compared to their mothers, a lower level of energy requirement, and a relative liver immaturity. These normal values of fetal biochemistry will improve our knowledge of physiology and help to determine the specific values of a test in fetal pathology.
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PMID:Blood chemistry of normal human fetuses at midtrimester of pregnancy. 243 76

This article reports correlations among gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT), fetal haemoglobin (fH), alpha-fetoprotein, 5'-nucleotidase, ceruloplasmin, and direct, indirect, and total bilirubin in the serum of blood taken from the umbilical cords of 128 newborns delivered after 37-42 weeks of gestation. GGT was significantly correlated with alpha-fetoprotein, but not with direct bilirubin, indirect bilirubin, total bilirubin, fH, or %fH. Neither fH nor %fH were correlated with alpha-fetoprotein, but there was highly significant negative correlation between both fH and %fH on the one hand, and gestational age and weight at birth on the other. The %fH was also correlated negatively with ceruloplasmin, which in turn exhibited negative correlation with alpha-fetoprotein. The predominant forms of GGT in umbilical cord and adult sera were, respectively, those with alpha 1 and alpha 2 mobility. In cord sera, delipidation with n-butanol brought about loss of GGT activity and a shift from an alpha 1 to an alpha 2 position, whereas no significant effect of this kind was observed in adult sera. Affinity chromatography through Concanavalin A-Sepharose showed cord sera to contain a proportion of bound-GGT (68.5 +/- 5.5%) that was significantly greater (p less than 0.001) than that found in adult sera (59.8 +/- 10.2%). It is concluded that the high GGT activity of cord sera is probably due to hepatic immaturity rather than maternal sources, enzymatic induction or microsomal lesions; that the predominant form of GGT in cord serum may be a complex with HDL and less sialized than the adult enzyme; and that, of the factors examined, the best indicator of neonatal maturity is fetal haemoglobin.
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PMID:Cord serum gamma glutamyltransferase in newborns. 244 3

In this case report the diagnostic process is discussed leading to a rather late correct diagnosis of immature teratoma. The authors advice preoperative determination of alpha-fetoprotein in all women with ovarian tumours under 40 years of age. The limitations for pathologists to assess immaturity within a teratoma are stressed.
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PMID:Abdominal wall metastases after surgical resection of an immature teratoma of the ovary. 924

Extragonadal teratoma is the most common congenital tumor. The prognostic significance of the grade of immaturity and the presence of small foci of conventional yolk sac tumor (YST) in fetal and neonatal teratomas have not been determined. We report detailed histologic studies of 22 congenital teratomas, including eight tumors resected in utero for developing hydrops, and correlate the histologic features with initial serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) levels and clinical outcome. All fetal tumors that required in utero intervention were grade 3 immature teratomas, with admixed conventional YST in 44%. Among tumors resected postnatally, those presenting in utero were more commonly immature (71% vs. 50%). All initial post-surgical serum AFP levels were high, as expected in a neonate. No correlation was found between AFP elevation above the mean for gestational age and the presence of YST, hepatic differentiation, or immature endodermal glands in the tumor. Among 15 survivors with follow-up, 5 patients had malignant mixed germ cell tumors (immature teratoma with foci of conventional YST) and 5 had immature teratomas with foci of hepatic differentiation or immature endodermal glands with subnuclear vacuoles (so-called "well-differentiated YST"). No patient has developed recurrent or metastatic disease after treatment by complete surgical excision alone (mean follow-up, 37.6 months). The clinical behavior of congenital teratomas is determined predominantly by whether or not the tumor can be completely resected and in our study did not correlate with the grade of the teratoma or with the presence or absence of foci of hepatic tissue, immature intestinal glands, or foci of conventional YST.
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PMID:Congenital teratoma: a clinicopathologic study of 22 fetal and neonatal tumors. 1561 54

Although neuroepithelial tubules (NET) often are a component of immature teratoma (IT), they are not always required for diagnosis. Other somatic elements are sufficient and often verified with immunohistochemical stain. This study was designed to determine the definition of immaturity versus fetal ontogeny, using several molecular markers in IT. It is our contention that IT is equivalent to an embryonic stage less than a fertilization age (FA) of 8 weeks, and a mature teratoma (MT) to a fetal stage later than a FA of 8 weeks, whereas an embryonal carcinoma (Eca) matches a pre-embryonic stage earlier than a FA of 2 weeks. The teratomatous components used as a roadmap to evaluate maturity included: a lobular structure of primitive endodermal tubules (FA 4 to 6 weeks), a ventricle-lined cortical plate (FA 9 weeks), a complex papillary choroid plexus (FA 10 weeks), melanin deposition in hair follicles (FA 15 weeks), and the bell stage of odontogenesis (FA 19 weeks). The teratomatous components of 25 resected ovarian solid teratoma samples were compared with fetal ontogeny. For an immunohistochemical analysis, the CD30, CD34, CD99, bcl-2, alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), and placenta-like alkaline phosphatase (PLAP) were assessed. The AFP and Ki-1 were positive in the embryoid body, which was identified at a FA less than 4 weeks in Eca. The AFP was positive in the primitive endodermal components and some of the squamous epithelium in IT. The CD99 and bcl-2 were selectively stained in the primitive NET, which was detected no later than a FA of 6 weeks. The CD34 and bcl-2 were positive in the immature-looking precartilage blastomatous components, which proved useful for detecting immature cartilage, corresponding to a FA of 5 to 6 weeks. The ontogeny of IT was found to correspond to the embryonic stage at a FA of 2 to 8 weeks, and CD99, CD34, bcl-2, AFP, CD30, and PLAP could be used as supportive tools to define IT. This new grading system could be more scientific and more reproducible in any spectra of teratoma.
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PMID:Diagnostic challenge of fetal ontogeny and its application on the ovarian teratomas. 1578 74