Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UNIPROT:P01189 (beta-endorphin)
 21,003 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Levels of immunoreactive (IR) human NH2 terminal (HNT) of pro-opiomelanocortin were determined serially in 80 patients with various pulmonary carcinomas, 20 patients with various pulmonary diseases without proven carcinoma, and 32 normal control subjects. Sixty +/- 14% (S.E.) (95% confidence interval) of the patients with proven pulmonary carcinoma had elevated values of IR HNT in plasma (greater than 100 pg/ml); the highest frequency of elevated IR HNT was found in patients with small-cell carcinoma [74 +/- 14.5% (95% confidence interval)]. In eight patients with pulmonary tumor who underwent surgical thoracic exploration, the plasma level of IR HNT in the pulmonary vein was 50.6 +/- 21.4% (95% confidence interval; N = 8) higher than that in the pulmonary artery. The levels of IR HNT correlated well with those of plasma adrenocorticotropic hormone (IR ACTH) (r = 0.988; p less than 0.001); however, the level of IR HNT was 3- to 4-fold higher than that of IR ACTH. Gel permeation chromatography of plasma of patients with pulmonary carcinoma revealed a major peak of IR HNT coinciding with the elution volumes of authentic HNT (Mr 12,000) and a minor peak of IR HNT near the void volumes. These results suggest that HNT originating from pulmonary carcinoma is chemically and immunologically similar to that from human pituitary gland and that measurement of plasma IR HNT may indicate the state of secretion and/or metabolism of peptides related to the expression of the pro-opiomelanocortin gene in human pulmonary carcinoma. The HNT immunoassay is a simple procedure which, contrary to that of ACTH, does not require plasma extraction prior to the assay. This suggests the possibility that measurement of IR HNT alone and in conjunction with other biochemical markers could be a useful parameter for diagnosis and follow-up of patients with pulmonary carcinoma.
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PMID:Human NH2 terminal of pro-opiomelanocortin as a potential marker for pulmonary carcinoma. 630 75

The role of radioimmunoassay (RIA) in the diagnosis and management of endocrine tumors, such as pituitary tumors, insulinomas, and gastrinomas, has long been well established. A variety of nonendocrine tumors are capable of elaborating one or more humoral substances that resemble immunologically well-known, well-characterized biologically active hormones or their prohormone precursors or metabolic products. The possible value of mass screening for carcinoma of the lung by the detection of precursor adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) in plasma was tested. However, the usefulness was limited by the potential for false-positive, i.e., elevation of marker concentration in the plasma of heavy smokers even in the absence of invasive carcinoma. Although on occasion a dramatic decrease of plasma ACTH after surgical resection or on some chemotherapeutic schedules has been observed, this does not occur with sufficient regularity to serve definitely as an objective measure of efficacy of therapy. The limitations of nonhormonal tumor markers, such as carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), are also considered.
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PMID:The society of Surgical Oncology Lucy Wortham James Research Award 1983. Radioimmunoassay in oncology. 631 63

This report details clinical and pathologic aspects of a case of small cell undifferentiated carcinoma of the esophagus. Transmission electron microscopic examination demonstrated neurosecretory granules, and indirect immunoperoxidase stain for adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) was positive. However, the authors detected no abnormal hormone levels in urine or blood. The calculated tumor doubling time was approximately 2 days. The fulminant nature of this carcinoma was also evident from the rapid clinical progression in spite of surgical excision, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy.
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PMID:Small cell undifferentiated carcinoma of the esophagus. Case report with hormonal studies. 632 Oct 14

A 36 year old woman with hypercorticism and markedly elevated blood ACTH levels underwent pituitary ablation because of suspected hypophysial Cushing's disease. Since no adenoma was detected in the anterior lobe and the hypercorticism persisted, a bilateral adrenalectomy was performed. Four months later lymph node and mediastinal metastases of an anaplastic small cell carcinoma, with the presence of argyrophil granulation, as well as immunoreactive 19-39ACTH, beta-LPH and alpha-endorphin, were found. The primary site of ectopic ACTH production was not revealed. A light and electron microscopic study of the adrenals, in addition to cortical hyperplasia, disclosed numerous small cells associated with nonmyelinated sympathetic nerve fibers and containing cytoplasmic inclusions indistinguishable from Reinke crystals. The Leydig-like cell-nonmyelinated nerve complexes, noted in both the adrenal cortex and medulla, showed perivascular localization, and their morphologic features were similar to those of hilus cells of the ovaries or extraglandular Leydig cells of the testis. The underlying mechanism accounting for the development of Leydig-like cells remained obscure; cytodifferentiation from pluripotent mesenchymal cells, possibly mediated by secretory products of sympathetic nerve fibers, may provide an explanation for their formation.
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PMID:Leydig-like cells in the adrenals of a woman with ectopic ACTH syndrome. 719 May 43

One case of breast neuroendocrine primary small cell carcinoma with light microscopic and immunohistochemical findings is reported. The patient died of unrelated disease 21 months after diagnosis and treatment by modified radical mastectomy, radiotherapy and subsequent chemotherapy. Immunohistochemical studies revealed cytokeratin and neuroendocrine markers (chromogranin, neuron-specific enolase) immunostaining on tumoral cells. Expression for neuropeptides (met-enkephalin, leu-enkephalin, beta-endorphin) and CALLA antigen was found. Based on this case report and six other previously reported cases, breast neuroendocrine primary small cell carcinoma appears to be a very aggressive tumor for which no firm conclusions regarding treatment can be drawn.
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PMID:Neuroendocrine primary small cell carcinoma of the breast. Report of a case and review of the literature. 863 51

A large number of lung cancers contains and releases a variety of neuropeptides such as adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) and beta-endorphin (beta-EP). Although the plasma levels of these peptides have been extensively investigated as possible markers that may help in the early diagnosis of the disease, the data collected have shown their limited clinical usefulness. The present study was undertaken to evaluate whether corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH), ACTH or beta-EP levels in the bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid of patients with lung cancer might have been more helpful. To accomplish this, bronchial lavages were carried out in 25 patients affected by lung cancer (17 squamous carcinomas, 4 adenocarcinomas, 2 small cell carcinomas, and 2 not classified) and 18 controls. After centrifugation, BAL fluid was extracted using cartridges of SepPak C-18 and CRH, ACTH and beta-EP levels were measured by radioimmunoassay. CRH and ACTH BAL levels in patients with lung cancer were not significantly different from those of controls. beta-EP concentrations in the BAL fluid were about 200-fold higher than those of ACTH and showed a downward trend (p = 0.08, Mann-Whitney test) in patients with cancer. No histologic tumor type was associated with particularly elevated levels of any of the peptides measured, not even the two patients with small cell carcinoma, a tumor type which tends to release higher peptide levels. Therefore we conclude that measurements of CRH, ACTH and/or beta-EP in the BAL fluid are not useful diagnostic tumor markers of lung cancer.
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PMID:Measurements of hormonal peptides in the bronchoalveolar fluid as tumor markers of lung cancer. 759 23

Renal phosphate wasting related to a tumor (oncogenous osteomalacia) is a rare disorder usually associated with benign mesenchymal tumors. In this article, the authors describe a man with renal phosphate wasting and the syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone associated with small cell carcinoma. Chemotherapy markedly reduced tumor burden and was associated with normalization of renal phosphate handling and serum sodium. With recurrence, renal phosphate wasting and the syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone developed again, with the additional complication of hypercortisolism secondary to ectopic corticotropin production. The authors report the rare occurrence of renal phosphate wasting with small cell carcinoma (5 previously reported cases) and the unique co-existence of this paraneoplastic syndrome with the syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone and ectopic corticotropin production.
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PMID:Case report: renal phosphate wasting, syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone, and ectopic corticotropin production in small cell carcinoma. 760 39

Primary small cell carcinoma of the renal pelvis is rare. We report a case of combined small cell and transitional cell carcinoma of the renal pelvis. The patient was a 78-year-old man with macrohematuria. He was diagnosed with right pelvic tumor by right retrograde pyelography and computerized tomography. A right radical nephroureterectomy was performed. Histological sections of the tumor showed a mixture of small cell and grade 2 transitional cell carcinoma. Positivity for Grimelius was noted in the small cell component. Masson-Fontana, chromogranin A, serotonin, keratin, leucocyte common antigen (LCA), neuron specific enolase (NSE), adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), growth hormone (GH) and somatostatin were negative. Ultrastructurally, the tumor cells were tightly packed and attached together by scattered desmosomes. There were no neurosecretory granules. Seven months after operation, the patient died with peritonitis carcinomatosa. At autopsy, a metastatic tumor was found in the liver and retroperitoneal lymph node. Other organs were not involved. Especially, there were no abnormalities in the lungs.
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PMID:[Combined small cell and transitional cell carcinoma of renal pelvis: a case report]. 790 May 68

Neuroendocrine cells are thought to have a regulatory role in prostatic epithelial growth and may be prognostically useful in prostatic adenocarcinoma. To determine the extent of neuroendocrine differentiation in high-grade prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (PIN), a putative precursor of cancer, we studied the immunohistochemical expression of 10 markers in 26 radical prostatectomy specimens with PIN and adenocarcinoma. Expression was measured as mean percent of positive cases and positive high-power (x40) fields. The highest percentage of cases showed immunoreactivity for serotonin (73%, PIN; 54%, carcinoma), neuron-specific enolase (NSE) (67%, PIN; 46%, carcinoma), chromogranin (62%, PIN; 65%, carcinoma), and human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) (30%, PIN; 22%, carcinoma); the remaining markers showed immunoreactivity in fewer than 5% of cases (somatostatin, calcitonin, corticotropin) or in no cases (thyrotropin, prolactin, and glucagon). At least one of the markers was present in 88% of cases of PIN and 92% of carcinoma. Non-neoplastic epithelial cells expressed serotonin, NSE, chromogranin, and hCG in every case, and the expression was significantly greater than in PIN and cancer. Stepwise regression analysis revealed the following positive correlations: chromogranin expression in PIN and patient age, NSE expression in cancer and number of lymph node metastases, and hCG expression in cancer and percentage of Gleason pattern 5; serotonin expression in PIN and cancer did not correlate with any of the clinical and pathologic factors. Neuroendocrine differentiation is downregulated in prostatic carcinogenesis, with intermediate levels of expression in PIN compared with normal cells and carcinoma.
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PMID:Neuroendocrine differentiation in prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia and adenocarcinoma. 797 47

Proopiomelanocortin (POMC), the precursor for melanotropic, corticotropic, and opioid peptides such as alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (alpha MSH), ACTH, and other related peptides, was originally identified as a product of the pituitary gland. However, recent evidence shows that POMC products can also be produced by nonpituitary tissues. Because keratinocytes, the major constituent of the epidermis exhibit the capacity to release a variety of proinflammatory and immunomodulatory mediators, the present study was performed to investigate whether human keratinocytes are able to produce POMC-derived peptides. Supernatants of human normal keratinocytes and an epidermal carcinoma cell line (A431) contained significant levels of immunoreactive alpha MSH and ACTH. Upon immuneprecipitation and size-exclusion chromatography, keratinocyte-derived alpha MSH exhibited a molecular mass of approximately 1 kD and was biologically active as demonstrated in a tyrosinase bioassay. Northern blot analysis revealed the expression of POMC-specific transcripts (1.3 kb) in both normal keratinocytes and A431 cells. The production of alpha MSH and ACTH could be significantly upregulated both at the protein and mRNA level upon treatment with phorbol myristate acetate, ultraviolet light, or interleukin 1. These data provide first evidence that human keratinocytes produce POMC-derived peptides such as alpha MSH and ACTH. Because POMC-derived peptides recently have been recognized as potent immunomodulatory mediators, their presence in the epidermis may have a major impact on the skin immune system.
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PMID:Proopiomelanocortin-derived peptides are synthesized and released by human keratinocytes. 818 58


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