Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

I Elovaara

Publications and source records attributed to I Elovaara.

61 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed1986

Serum amyloid A protein, albumin and prealbumin in Alzheimer's disease and in demented patients with Down's syndrome.

The concentrations of serum amyloid A (SAA) protein, albumin and prealbumin were measured in 22 patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD), in 21 demented patients with Down's syndrome (DS), and in age-matched control subjects for both groups in a 2-year follow-up study. The concentration of SAA was initially elevated in 9 of 22 (41%) patients with AD and in 8 of 21 (38%) patients with DS. After 2-years, 10 of 12 (83%) AD patients and 11 of 14 (79%) DS patients had elevated SAA levels but with fluctuation of the values. None of the controls revealed increase in the SAA level. The concentration of SAA did not correlate with the duration of AD or AD-like process although the highest values were found in cachectic AD patients confined to bed. Although neoplasm or infection were not diagnosed, the presence of occult neoplasm or subclinical infection as a cause of SAA elevation, especially in the DS group susceptible to infection, could not be excluded. Moreover, the fluctuation of SAA values in DS seems likely to be associated with an infection. Albumin and prealbumin levels were decreased in both AD and DS; the prealbumin levels in AD was lower than that in DS.

Aged↗
PubMed1985

Glial filaments are a major brain fraction in infantile neuronal ceroid-lipofuscinosis.

Extremely severe gliosis develops at the end stage of infantile neuronal ceroid-lipofuscinosis (INCL), a fatal encephalopathy characterized by accumulation of autofluorescent storage material in the brain and other tissues followed by a terminal subtotal neuronal and myelin loss. A major fraction of highly enriched intermediate filaments was obtained with a density gradient centrifugation method from INCL brain tissue, whereas the storage material represented only a minor fraction. SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of the filament fraction showed a major protein with molecular weight of 51 kD and three to four polypeptides of 40-48 kD identified as glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and its degradation products by the immunoblotting technique with monoclonal antibodies against GFAP. Immunization experiments with the isolated INCL glial filament fraction produced antibodies reacting only with GFAP but not with other types of intermediate filament proteins, furthermore indicating a high content of GFAP in the isolated fraction. No significant amounts of vimentin or other types of intermediate filament proteins could be detected. These results document the extremely high content of glial filaments at the terminal stage of INCL and suggest that INCL brain may serve as a good human model for studies on the composition of glial filaments in vivo and on the pathogenesis of gliosis.

Brain↗
PubMed1985

CSF in Alzheimer's disease. Studies on blood-brain barrier function and intrathecal protein synthesis.

Serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from 22 ambulatory and 10 institutionalised patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and 22 age-matched controls were assayed nephelometrically for concentrations of IgG, IgA, IgM, haptoglobin, transferrin, prealbumin and albumin. The CSF/serum ratio and index were calculated for each protein. In the CSF of ambulatory patients IgG, transferrin and albumin were elevated while the institutionalised patients had higher IgG and IgA levels compared to the controls. The CSF haptoglobin was elevated in institutionalised AD patients compared to those who were ambulatory. The CSF/serum ratio for albumin was elevated in both groups. An increase in the IgG ratio was also found in both groups. The ratios for haptoglobin and prealbumin were markedly increased in the institutionalised patients. CSF indices gave no evidence for increased intrathecal synthesis of any of the proteins investigated. The increased CSF/serum ratios for IgG and albumin and also the higher CSF albumin in patients with AD suggest an increased blood-brain barrier permeability in this disease. The high prealbumin ratio may be related to amyloidogenesis often present in AD.

Aged↗
PubMed1984

Proteins in serum and cerebrospinal fluid in demented patients with Down's syndrome.

Serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of 19 Down's syndrome (DS) patients over 35 years old, were examined because of progressive dementia. Immunoglobulins, haptoglobin, transferrin, prealbumin and albumin were quantitated nephelometrically. The results were compared to those obtained for age-matched controls without neurological disease. The concentration of IgG was elevated in the DS serum and CSF, while that of IgA was elevated only in the serum. The level of transferrin was decreased in the DS serum and CSF, and that of albumin in the serum. IgM, haptoglobin and prealbumin concentrations were normal in the DS serum and CSF. No evidence of transudation of proteins into CSF and of their increased intrathecal synthesis was noted. These changes appear not to be associated with the development of dementia in DS.

Adult↗
PubMed1983

Immunocytochemical studies of Alzheimer neuronal perikarya with intermediate filament antisera.

Isolated neuronal perikarya from the brains of patients with Alzheimer's disease were examined in indirect immunofluorescence microscopy with different types of specific antisera against the subunit proteins of cytoskeletal intermediate filaments. From 30 to 50% of the neurofibrillary tangles were stained with antisera against each of the neurofilament triplet proteins, but not with antisera against glial fibrillary acidic protein, vimentin, desmin or cytokeratin. Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of Alzheimer perikaryal fractions showed polypeptide patterns markedly similar to control neuronal fractions. Our results thus suggest either that the Alzheimer neurofibrillary tangles and the antigenic neurofilament triplet protein fractions may contain related antigenic determinants or that unaffected perikaryal neurofilament material is associated with the tangles.

Alzheimer Disease↗
PubMed1982

Infantile neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis: isolation of storage material.

We used ultracentrifugation to isolate autofluorescent storage particles from the brains of patients with infantile type of neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis (Haltia-Santavuori). The particles differed from those of the late infantile (Jansky-Bielschowsky) and juvenile (Batten-Spielmeyer-Sjögren) types and retained the characteristic appearance--large, partly membrane-bound conglomerates of spherical globules with a uniform finely granular internal structure--despite the vigorous procedure. The sedimentation properties of the particles also differed from the two other forms, but dolichols are found in the particles of all three diseases.

Brain↗