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Biomedical subjects

H Jalanko

Publications and source records attributed to H Jalanko.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources
PubMed1984

Placental protein 12 (PP12) in primary liver cancer and cirrhosis.

Serum concentrations of the placental protein 12 (PP12), measured by radioimmunoassay, were found to be elevated in 15 out of 16 (94%) patients with primary liver cancer, 10 out of 68 (15%) patients with other gastrointestinal malignancies, 5 out of 10 (50%) patients with cirrhosis; and 1 out of 33 (3%) patients with benign gastrointestinal disease. No correlation was observed between the serum levels of alphafetoprotein (AFP) and PP12 in patients with primary liver cancer. Using immunoperoxidase staining, PP12 was localised in malignant hepatocytes and hyperactive nodules of cirrhosis, but rarely in malignant cells of other gastrointestinal cancers. Fetal liver was PP12 positive, while adult normal liver was negative. These results indicate that PP12 has certain oncodevelopmental characteristics.

Carcinoma, Hepatocellular↗
PubMed1983

gamma-Glutamyl transpeptidase in human amniotic fluid and in fetal tissues.

The activity of gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT) was measured in 360 amniotic fluid samples from second and third trimester pregnancies with fetal and maternal disorders. The enzyme level was within the normal range in all but one of the 18 second trimester pregnancies with congenital malformations. On cellulose acetate electrophoresis, GGT fractionated as an alpha 1-band in all mid-trimester samples tested. Highly elevated GGT values were found in five samples from the third trimester gestations with fetal gastroschisis, hydrops fetalis and Meckel's syndrome. The enzyme in these samples showed alpha 1-mobility while most of the third trimester amniotic fluids contained GGT with beta-mobility. Considerable GGT activity was observed in several fetal tissues that are in contact with the amniotic fluid. Highest levels were found in meconium and bile from a second trimester fetus. The total activity and electrophoretic mobility of GGT in late amniotic fluid and in urine from newborns was similar.

Amniotic Fluid↗
PubMed1983

Alkaline phosphatase activity in amniotic fluid in pregnancies with fetal disorders.

Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity was determined in 255 amniotic fluid samples collected by amniocentesis between 15 and 39 weeks of gestation. The samples were originally used for chromosomal analysis and/or alpha-fetoprotein measurements. The mean ALP activity in early amniotic fluid from pregnancies with fetal trisomy 18 and 21 syndromes was half of that found in the controls. Highly elevated ALP activity (over 10 times the median level) was found in 14 samples. Two of these pregnancies had normal outcome. Three samples were from pregnancies with intrauterine fetal death. Fetal disorders, including abdominal wall defect (four cases), Meckel's syndrome (two), hydrops fetalis syndrome (two) and genital anomaly (one), were observed in nine cases. Moderately elevated ALP activity (over three times the median) was found in 10 cases, including five pregnancies with a preterm labour shortly after the sample collection. The results indicate that elevated ALP activity in the third trimester amniotic fluid is often associated with fetal disorders.

Alkaline Phosphatase↗
PubMed1983

Etiology of mild acute infectious myocarditis. Relation to clinical features.

The etiology of mild myocarditis, diagnosed on the basis of serial ECG changes during an acute infection, was studied in 126 consecutive conscripts. A fourfold rise in the antibody titers in the paired serum samples was required for a positive etiologic diagnosis. An etiologic diagnosis was made probable in 47% of the patients. Adenovirus was incriminated in 19 patients, vaccinia in 12, influenza A in eight, beta-hemolytic Streptococcus in six, mononucleosis in five and Mycoplasma in three. Chlamydia, influenza B and Coxsackie B4 were each found in two patients; parainfluenza, mumps and adult Still's disease were each found in one patient. The incidence of vaccinia myocarditis was 1/10000 smallpox vaccinations. Clear-cut myopericarditis was usually noted during vaccinia, mononucleosis, Mycoplasma, Chlamydia and Coxsackie B4 infections. Adenovirus and influenza A myocarditis was most often subclinical, being mostly detected only because of ECG screening of patients without cardiac symptoms. Frequent recent ventricular extrasystoles were most often triggered by a beta-hemolytic Streptococcus infection. The etiology of infectious myocarditis seems to reflect the overall profile of viruses and other infective agents in the study population at that particular time. Cardiotrophic viruses such as Coxsackie B only rarely cause myocarditis outside epidemics.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1983

Developmental changes in gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase in human amniotic fluid.

Human amniotic fluid gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT) occurs in a high molecular weight form, as shown by G-200 gel chromatography. Papain treatment causes the formation of a GGT molecule with an approximate molecular weight of 98 000. Early amniotic fluid contains GGT which binds mostly to Con A-Sepharose and shows alpha-mobility on cellulose acetate electrophoresis. In late amniotic fluid, the major portion of the GGT activity is concanavalin A-nonreactive and is present in the beta-region on electrophoresis. Neuraminidase treatment abolishes the difference in the electrophoretic mobility between early and late amniotic fluid GGT. Papain treatment has no effect on the electrophoretic mobility or concanavalin A-binding of GGT. The results suggest that the carbohydrate moiety of amniotic fluid GGT undergoes developmental changes during gestation.

Amniotic Fluid↗
PubMed1983

Reactivity of amniotic fluid alpha-fetoprotein with concanavalin A-sepharose in pre-natal diagnosis of fetal malformations.

The proportion of concanavalin A-non-reactive alpha-fetoprotein was determined in 215 amniotic fluid samples from second trimester pregnancies. the median percentage for concanavalin A-non-binding alpha-fetoprotein was 35.5% at the 15th week and 32.2% at the 18th gestational week. Nineteen of the 23 pregnancies with various fetal malformations showed highly elevated total alpha-fetoprotein levels. In this group, the value for non-reactive alpha-fetoprotein was below the normal range in 12 out of 13 samples collected at 15-17 weeks of pregnancy and in four out of six samples at 18-19 weeks. Four pathological pregnancies had only moderately elevated total alpha-fetoprotein levels (5.3-7.9 SD above the mean) and two of these samples had a low percentage of the concanavalin A-non-binding fraction. The amniotic fluid alpha-fetoprotein concentration was between 3 and 5 SD and over 5 SD above the mean in four and seven normal pregnancies, respectively. The concanavalin A-fractionation classified correctly 10 out of these 11 cases. The results indicate that the determination of the proportion of concanavalin A-non-binding alpha-fetoprotein is a useful supplementary test to the total alpha-fetoprotein assay.

Amniocentesis↗
PubMed1981

Fibronectin from human germ-cell tumors resembles amniotic fluid fibronectin.

Three human germ-cell tumors established as xenografts in immunosuppressed mice were shown to produce fibronectin. Immunoperoxidase tissue staining with a specific antiserum revealed human fibronectin in some tumor cells. The cyst fluid which accumulated in the tumors contained human fibronectin as shown by a species-specific radioimmunoassay. Human fibronectin was isolated from two of the tumor fluids and compared to previously characterized fibronectins. Sodium dodecyl sulfate/polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and gel electrofocusing showed that the germ-cell fibronectins resembled amniotic fluid fibronectin with regard to subunit molecular weight and isoelectric point. The distinct features of the amniotic fluid and germ-cell tumor fibronectin suggest that such fibronectins may provide new oncodevelopmental markers.

Amniotic Fluid↗
PubMed1981

Viral and mycoplasmal antibodies in patients with myocardial infarction.

The suggestion that infection might provoke myocardial infarction prompted a controlled study among 49 patients with myocardial infarction for antibody titres to 22 viruses, and to Mycoplasma pneumoniae and Chlamydia psittaci. The frequency of significant rises in antibody titres was similar in patients with myocardial infarction, 7 (14%) out of 49, and in control patients, 8 (22%) out of 37. Thus, in our limited series we could not confirm the hypothesis that viral or mycoplasmal infection are significantly associated with myocardial infarction. Seven of 15 infections, evenly distributed within the two groups, were due to influenza A virus, which was epidemic in Finland at the time of survey January--March 1980. No acute Coxsackie B virus infections were observed.

Adult↗
PubMed1980

Differences in the nuclear proteins of normal and malignant liver cells.

Immunological tests and 2-dimensional gel electrophoresis revealed differences between the nuclear proteins from normal and malignant liver cells. Immunization of rabbits with a nuclear nonhistone protein fraction isolated from normal mouse liver resulted in antisera that in immunofluorescence gave nuclear staining in sections of normal liver, but did not stain nuclei of a transplantable mouse hepatoma. Antisera prepared against a nuclear protein fraction from the hepatoma allowed immunofluorescent staining of hepatoma nuclei but did not stain nuclei from normal liver. Nuclei in liver regeneration after injury caused by administration of carbon tetrachloride stained with antiserum against normal nuclei but not with antisera against hepatoma nuclei. Neither antiserum stained nuclei in fetal liver cells. The presence of differing sets of nuclear proteins in the normal and malignant liver cells was indicated by 2-dimensional gel electrophoresis. Approximately 300 polypeptides were resolved by this technique. Most of these were quantitatively different in the normal and hepatoma nonhistone protein preparations. Several qualitative differences also seemed to be present. Nonhistone proteins from regenerating liver shared some polypeptides with hepatoma that were absent in normal liver. Nuclear proteins characteristic of malignant tissues may provide clues toward the understanding of gene regulation in malignant cells, and some of them could become useful tumor markers.

Animals↗
PubMed1979

Alpha-fetoprotein and gamma-glutamyltranspeptidase in mice. Effect of Raf gene.

The regulation of the high physiological level of serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) in BALB/c/J mice was studied. Serum AFP concentration in 7- to 12-week-old BALB/c/J mice varied from 460 ng/ml up to 2,790 ng/ml and in other strains tested from 10 ng/ml to 400 ng/ml. In contrast to the difference in serum AFP level, activity of the fetal enzyme gamma-glutamyltranspeptidase (GGT) in the liver of BALB/c/J mice was similar to that found in other mice. In all newborn mice, the initially high GGT activity decreased almost 100-fold during the first 10 days. The serum AFP concentration stayed relatively stable during this period. AFP decreased to the adult level between the 10th and 30th days. Partial hepatectomy and administration of carbon tetrachloride increased the serum AFP level in all mice. The elevation of AFP was 10 times higher in BALB/c/J mice than in mice with low basal AFP level. A slightly elevated GGT activity in the liver was observed in only 10 out of 40 mice after carbon tetrachloride treatment, but none of the mice after partial hepatectomy showed an elevation. These results suggest that the gene ("Raf" gene) controlling the reduced decrease of serum AFP level in young BALB/c/J mice enhances the "turning on" of production of AFP in the regenerating liver. This gene does not, however, control the expression of the other carcinofetal liver marker, GGT.

Animals↗
PubMed1979

Differential expression of alpha-fetoprotein and gamma-glutamyltranspeptidase in chemical and spontaneous hepatocarcinogenesis.

The expression of two markers of fetal liver, alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) and gamma-glutamyltranspeptidase (GGT), was studied in chemical and spontaneous hepatocarcinogenesis in mice. Serum AFP concentration increased within 3 weeks 3 weeks from the commencement of feeding of o-aminoazotuluene. This early elevation subsided about 3 months after the beginning of the administration of the carcinogen. A new, sustained elevation of the serum AFP level followed at 5 to 6 months accompanied by the appearance of liver tumors. In immunofluorescence, some small oval cells and scattered adult-type hepatocytes contained AFP during the early stage of chemical carcinogenesis. During the later phase, AFP was detected in a few of the nodular areas, in solitary hepatocytes, and in groups of carcinoma cells. GGT activity in the liver increased within 1 week after the carcinogen regimen was started, preceding the early increase of AFP production. At the final stage, the chemically induced hepatomas contained about 80 times more GGT than did normal liver. In histochemical staining, proliferating oval cells and small areas of hepatocytes stained for GGT during the early weeks, and later most nodules, small areas of nonnodular parenchyma, and carcinomas contained GGT. During spontaneous carcinogenesis in male C3HeB/FeJ mice, premalignant lesions, accompanied by a slight increase of serum AFP, precede the appearance of liver tumors. No cells staining for AFP were detected during this early stage. Once overt liver cancers had developed, AFP was readily detectable in the tumors and was localized to some but not all carcinoma cells. The corresponding serum AFP levels were highly elevated. In contrast to the high levels of GGT found during chemical carcinogenesis, no elevation of GGT was found in livers at various stages of spontaneous carcinogenesis, including cancers in eight individual mice. These results indicate that the production of AFP and GGT is not turned on as a single "genetic package," and that these two markers differ in their behaviour in liver carcinogenesis.

Animals↗
PubMed1978

Early increase of serum alpha-fetoprotein in spontaneous hepatocarcinogenesis in mice.

The concentration of serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) was followed in C3H mice having a high incidence of spontaneous liver-cell cancer. No general elevation of serum AFP level with age was seen in mice without tumor. With a single exception, mice bearing hepatocellular carcinomas had increased serum AFP levels. In some mice this increase followed a biphasic course. Mice killed within 1 month of the time when an elevation of serum AFP was first observed had small tumors or no detectable tumor. Premalignant lesions were present in the livers of 11 out of 16 mice that had elevated AFP but no cancer, while only one out of 14 mice with normal AFP had such alterations. Our results strongly suggest that spontaneous hepatocarcinogenesis proceeds through almost the same premalignant lesions as chemically induced carcinogenesis, and that an increase in AFP production occurs early during this process, often preceding macroscopic lesions. Autologous antibodies to AFP were produced in a group of C3H mice by immunization with rat AFP. These anti-AFP antibodies reduced the amount of serum AFP but had no effect on the incidence of spontaneous hepatomas.

Animals↗
PubMed1978

Detection of trophoblastic tumour activity by pregnancy-specific beta-1-glycoprotein.

Pregnancy-specific beta-1-glycoprotein (PSBG) and human chorionic gonagotrophin (hCG) were measured by specific radioimmunoassays in 73 serum samples from eight patients treated for gestational choriocarcinoma. Both markers were initially present in all cases, but at the time of writing both had levelled off in six cases and decreased markedly in two. Usually hCG was detectable for longer than PSBG during the course of chemotherapy. Both PSBG and hCG reappeared on clinical recurrence. However, at times during the follow-up period one trophoblastic marker only was expressed. This was hCG in most cases, but in one case PSBG alone was encountered. These results suggest that PSBG may serve as an additional marker for the detection of residual tumour growth in patients with trophoblastic tumours.

Choriocarcinoma↗
PubMed1978

Pregnancy-specific beta 1-glycoprotein and chorionic gonadotropin-like immunoreactivity during the latter half of the cycle in women using intrauterine contraception.

In a cross-sectional study, the serum levels of pregnancy-specific beta 1-glycoprotein (PSBG), hCG, human LH, and progesterone were measured by RIAs during 94 mid or late luteal phases of 69 women using oral contraceptives. Subsequent spontaneous menstruation took place in every cycle. None of the women using oral contraceptives had any PSBG or hCG-like immunoreactivity in serum. In women with intrauterine devices, PSBG was found in six cycles (6.4%) and hCG-like immunoreactivity was demonstrated in one cycle only, where PSBG also was present. In two out of six PSBG-positive cycles, menstruation was delayed by 5 and 16 days. Although rare, the transient occurrence of trophoblastic antigens in women using intrauterine contraception is taken as evidence for an occult pregnancy in these apparently infertile cycles.

Chorionic Gonadotropin↗
PubMed1978

Immunochemical properties of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) and antibodies to autologous AFP.

Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) is a strong immunogen when injected into another species, but does not elicit an immune response in the species of origin of the AFP. AFPs from different mammalian species are crossreactive. AFP and albumin show sequence homology. They do not crossreact in their native state, but their unfolded (reduced and carboxamidomethylated) forms are immunologically crossreactive. Antibodies to autologous AFP can be induced in animals by immunization with heterologous or modified homologous AFP. These antibodies eliminate the AFP normally measurable in the serum and delay the elevation of serum AFP caused by hepatomas, but do not protect against such tumors.

Amniotic Fluid↗
PubMed1978

Pregnancy-specific beta-1-glycoprotein levels in cholestasis of pregnancy.

Plasma concentrations of pregnancy specific beta-1-glycoprotein (PSBG) were measured by specific radioimmunoassay in 211 samples from 123 normal women during the third trimester of pregnancy and in 166 samples from 68 patients with cholestasis of pregnancy. At 37--38 weeks of gestation patients with cholestasis had significantly lower PSBG levels than the normal pregnant women (P less than 0.005), whereas the levels in patients in the cholestasis had not been significantly different from those for normal pregnant women before 37 weeks. At 37--38 weeks of gestation patients with cholestasis showed a slight correlation between placnetal weight and plasma PSBS levels (r = 0.362; P less than 0.05), whereas this was not found in patients with normal pregnancy. No correlation was found between infant weight or length at birth and the PSBG concentrations in either group, and no difference was noted in PSBG concentrations between cases with and without fetal distress.

Cholestasis↗