Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

J Soria

Publications and source records attributed to J Soria.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources

Incubation of monocytes with adriamycin increases secretion of hepatocyte stimulating factor for fibrinogen biosynthesis.

This work provides evidence that the production by monocytes of hepatocyte stimulating factor(s) for fibrinogen biosynthesis was dramatically increased when monocytes were exposed to Adriamycin. This effect was related to an increased production of leukaemia inhibiting factor (LIF), a cytokine known to stimulate fibrinogen biosynthesis by hepatic cells. Adriamycin also induces an increase in membrane-associated urokinase on monocytes. These results are consistent with the clinical observation in patients with ovarian cancer that when the CA-125 tumour marker decreases during chemotherapy, an increased level of D-dimer is a marker of good prognosis.

Cells, Cultured↗

The polymerization of fibrinogen Dusart (A alpha 554 Arg-->Cys) after removal of carboxy terminal regions of the A alpha-chains.

The six polypeptide chains of normal fibrinogen are covalently linked by interchain disulphide bonds, and there are no free sulphydryl groups. Fibrinogen Dusart is a congenital fibrinogen variant in which A alpha 554 Arg is replaced by Cys; albumin is disulphide linked to these fibrinogen molecules, possibly at A alpha 554 Cys. Functionally, Dusart fibrinogen displays markedly abnormal fibrin polymerization, characterized by delayed lateral fibril association and matrix fibre bundles that are thinner than normal fibrin bundles. These observations are consistent with experiments suggesting that the carboxy terminal region of the A alpha-chain contains a polymerization domain that participates in lateral fibril associations. In order to investigate the location and the effect of albumin binding to Dusart fibrinogen, we examined the fibrinogen by electron microscopy, and compared the polymerization and ultrastructure of fibrin prepared from normal fibrinogen containing intact A alpha-chains (fraction I-2) or plasmin degraded fibrinogen molecules lacking carboxy terminal regions of A alpha-chains (fraction I-9D), with fibrin prepared from Dusart fraction I-2 and I-9D. Most bound albumin was released from Dusart fibrinogen by plasmin degradation involving the A alpha-chains. Nevertheless, we were able to visualize albumin molecules remaining covalently bound to Dusart I-9D as well as to Dusart I-2 fibrinogen, as distinct globular domains situated near the fibrinogen D domain. The presence of albumin in these fractions was confirmed by Western blotting using anti-albumin. Dusart fibrin polymerized much more slowly than normal I-2, as previously reported, whereas polymerization of Dusart I-9D fibrin was faster than Dusart I-2 and nearly the same as normal I-9D fibrin.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Albumins↗

Plasminogen activators in the neuromuscular system of the wobbler mutant mouse.

Wobbler, the neurological mutant mouse, carries an autosomal recessive gene (wr) and has been characterized as a model of lower motoneuron disorders with associated muscle atrophy, denervation and reinnervation. During normal murine neuromuscular development a decrease in muscle plasminogen activator (PA) activity accompanies synapse maturation. In contrast, experimental denervation in adult mice leads to an increase in muscle PA activity. The purpose of the present study was to determine the possible involvement of PAs in the denervation/reinnervation phenomena and motoneuron degeneration that characterize the wobbler mutant mouse. We determined the degree of innervation and its characteristics in wobbler mice by measuring choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) activity. We measured ChAT in the spinal cord as well as in two different muscles known to be differentially affected, biceps brachii and gastrocnemius. We found a sharp decrease of ChAT activity in both muscles but not in spinal cord extracts. We estimated the extent of sprouting by the silver/cholinesterase stain. Motoneuron terminal sprouting, not detected in normal animals, was present in 40% of the neuromuscular junctions in wobbler mice. We estimated specific PA activities in biceps brachii and gastrocnemius muscle extracts, as well as spinal cord extracts, using both an amidolytic assay and fibrin zymography. Increased PA, predominantly urokinase-PA (uPA), was observed in wobbler mouse muscle. A greater uPA was detected in biceps brachii muscle than in gastrocnemius muscle, which is less impaired by the mutation. There was no change in spinal cord PA, although tissue type PA (tPA) is the predominant PA type there.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Amides↗

D-dimer and CA 125 levels in patients with ovarian cancer during antineoplastic therapy. Prognostic significance for the success of anti-cancer treatment.

In patients with ovarian cancer before they receive chemotherapy, the level of fibrin degradation products (D-dimer), is correlated with the tumor load. In this study, the evolution of D-dimer was compared in patients receiving antineoplastic therapy with the evolution of the disease. The patients could be classified into three groups. In Group 1 (nine patients), both plasma CA 125 (a tumor-associated antigen) and D-dimer remained elevated; the prognosis was always poor. In Group 2 (eight patients), CA 125 and D-dimer decreased simultaneously, complete remission was observed in two patients, and significant residual tumor was observed in the others. In Group 3 (nine patients), despite an important decrease in CA 125, D-dimer remained elevated during therapy. In this group, complete remission was observed in six patients, and three others showed a large decrease in their tumor load. The combination of a decrease in CA 125 levels with a continuous enhanced level of D-dimer during chemotherapy identified a subgroup of patients with a favorable prognosis.

Antigens, Tumor-Associated, Carbohydrate↗

Effect of heparin and enoxaparin on platelet interaction with fibrin clots.

It has been recently shown that platelet-rich thrombi are particularly resistant to thrombolysis. Since unfractionated heparin was reported to enhance fibrinogen binding to platelets responsible for the hyperaggregating effect of this drug, the purpose of this work was to determine whether or not heparin could also modulate platelet interaction to whole blood clot. We have therefore investigated the retention to a standard clot of 111In-labelled platelets suspended in plasma in presence of saline (control), heparin or a low molecular weight heparin (Enoxaparin). We have shown that the platelet interaction to the clot was significantly increased by heparin but not by enoxaparin used at the same anti Xa activity. In conclusion, this difference may favor the use of enoxaparin over heparin in clinical situation associated with platelet retention to fibrin clot, such as thrombolysis.

Blood Platelets↗

[Deficiency polyneuropathy secondary to immunoproliferative disease of the small intestine].

We report a new case of immunoproliferative small intestinal disease with neurological involvement expressed as deficiency polyneuropathy. In spite of non identifiable plasmatic paraprotein, the use of immunohistochemical techniques showed the characteristic proliferation in the intestinal mucosa of plasma cells with a prevalence of IgA cells, which define this disease.

Biopsy↗

Hemostasis in patients undergoing extracorporeal circulation: the effect of aprotinin (Trasylol).

The administration of aprotinin during extracorporeal circulation (ECC) reduces blood loss. To explore the mechanism of this effect, a placebo-controlled double-blind study was performed in 20 patients (10 were administered with a high dose of aprotinin, 10 with placebo) undergoing a primary, elective operation of coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) with ECC. Biological tests were performed at 4 different time points during the operation. A marked reduction in the placebo group of ristocetin-induced platelet agglutination (binding of von Willebrand factor [vWF] to platelet glycoprotein [GP] Ib) was shown during ECC and at the end of surgery, but not in the aprotinin group. This abnormality is not related to the hydrolysis of vWF or GP Ib, since washed platelets were resuspended in pooled normal plasma which provided a constant amount of vWF in this test and since the plasma concentration of the fragment of GP Ib (glycocalicin) did not correlate with this abnormality. Despite a high concentration of heparin (5-7 IU/ml) in patient's plasma during bypass, activation of blood coagulation in both groups was evidenced by an increase in ATm (thrombin-modified antithrombin III) level. The level of ATm in the placebo group reached a maximum at the end of ECC during rewarming, while in the aprotinin group, ATm level at this time point was significantly lower than in the control group. In comparison to the placebo group, the generation of the fibrin degradation products (DDE complexes) was inhibited by aprotinin during ECC, but the level of DDE complexes in the aprotinin group was slightly elevated after ECC, although much less than in the placebo group.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Antithrombin III↗

Temperature dependence of plasmin-induced activation or inhibition of human platelets.

It is known that at 37 degrees C plasmin may have two opposite effects on platelets: at high concentrations (greater than 1.5 caseinolytic units [CU]/mL), plasmin activates platelets; at lower concentrations (0.1 to 1.0 CU/mL) it inhibits platelet activation induced by thrombin, collagen, or calcium ionophore A23187. In this study, we report that when lowering the incubation temperature to 22 degrees C, plasmin at low concentrations (0.1 to 0.5 CU/mL) fully activated platelets. When platelets were treated with 0.2 CU/mL of plasmin, lowering the incubation temperature from 37 degrees C to 22 degrees C resulted in an increase in the expression of fibrinogen receptors, in platelet release and aggregation. Thromboxane A2 was not generated by plasmin treatment at either temperature. Ultrastructural studies showed that platelets responded to low-dose plasmin at 37 degrees C by forming pseudopods, centralizing granules without fibrinogen release, whereas at 22 degrees C the same dose of plasmin caused platelet degranulation with the appearance of alpha-granule fibrinogen within the lumen of the surface connected canalicular system. In addition, at 22 degrees C plasmin at doses insufficient to induce platelet aggregation potentiated platelet response to thrombin. Thus, we suggest that plasmin may initiate both activating and inhibitory processes within platelets and that the change of temperature could influence this balance. These results may be of clinical relevance, because the fibrinolytic system was found activated during cardiopulmonary bypass in which the temperature of patient's blood circulation was reduced. This temperature-dependent behavior is also an interesting model for a further study on platelet response to serine proteinases.

Antibodies, Monoclonal↗

Role of active center and lysine binding sites of plasmin in plasmin-induced platelet activation and disaggregation.

Previous studies have shown that plasmin can activate platelets and can also disperse platelet aggregates by degradation of fibrinogen bound to platelets. In this study, the role of the active center and the lysine binding sites (LBS) of human plasmin in activating platelets and in dispersing platelet aggregates is investigated using aprotinin and the tripeptide Val-Phe-Lys-CH2Cl to inhibit the active center and using epsilon-aminocaproic acid (EACA) to specifically block the LBS. Our results show that the catalytic activity of plasmin is indispensable both for activating platelets and for dispersing platelet aggregates. Binding of plasmin to platelets through the LBS enhances its activating potential, since both EACA (1 mM) and Lys-plasminogen (molar ratio of plasminogen:plasmin at 2:1 to 4:1) inhibit plasmin-induced platelet activation, whereas Glu-plasminogen at a molar ratio of 15:1 had no effect. Furthermore, plasmin which lacks the LBS (miniplasmin), is about 3 fold less effective in activating platelets. However, plasmin binding through the LBS is not absolutely required to disperse platelet aggregates, since EACA at 30 mmol/l was unable to prevent disaggregation by plasmin (half disaggregation time: 40 min in the presence of EACA against 27 min in its absence). It also appeared that fibrinogen receptors on activated platelets are resistant to plasmin degradation, and that disaggregation of plasmin-induced platelet aggregates was much slower than the degradation of fibrinogen by plasmin.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Modulation of endothelial cells fibrinolytic activity by platelets.

Interaction between endothelial cells (EC) and platelets in culture was shown to regulate the fibrinolytic system of the aortic EC. Untreated porcine EC from aorta exhibited almost no net fibrinolytic activity and zymographic assay have shown a single fibrin lysis band of 105 kDa corresponding to a tPA-PAI complex. Incubation of aortic EC with intact platelets stimulated a cell-associated fibrinolytic activity of the urokinase type as evidenced by a plasminogen-dependent fibrin independent amidolytic activity, and the appearance of a new 48 kDa lysis band on zymography. However, in the culture medium of platelet-treated aortic EC, a new lysis band of 92 kDa appeared with no associated amidolytic activity suggesting that the 48 kDa plasminogen activator secreted by the aortic EC after treatment with platelets is complexed to the inhibitor PAI1. This modulation of fibrinolytic activity depends on the EC origin since it is not observed with pulmonary artery EC, and represents a new concept in fibrinolysis regulation by cell-cell interaction.

Animals↗

Detection of undegraded fibrin and tumor necrosis factor-alpha in venous leg ulcers.

The pathogenesis of venous leg ulcers is based on the leakage of fibrinogen leading to pericapillary fibrin cuff and plugging of capillaries by white blood cells. Eight patients with venous leg ulcers have been studied with a panel of antibodies reactive for fibrinogen, fibrin, fibrin degradation products, and various cell-associated markers for polymorphonuclear cells, monocytes, and B and T lymphocytes. Our results showed that pericapillary fibrin cuff was mainly composed of undegraded fibrin and that, in the granulation tissue, tumor necrosis factor-alpha and elastase activities were detectable in monocytes and polymorphonuclear cells, respectively. Only few activated lymphocytes were present. On the basis of these results, it is assumed that inflammation generated by activated white blood cells that accumulate under unrelieved pressure is the key event. Tumor necrosis factor-alpha synthesized by activated monocytes may therefore induce the formation of pericapillary fibrin cuffs. Pericapillary fibrin cuffs and toxic metabolites released by polymorphonuclear cells may explain the absence of wound repair.

Aged↗

Dysfibrinogenemia and thrombosis.

A thrombotic tendency (venous or arterial) has been reported in some cases of dysfibrinogenemia. We report here the mechanism by which these thrombosis may occur. It may be related either to a defective clot lysis due to a poor reactivity toward fibrinolytic enzymes or to a defective thrombin binding capacity of the abnormal clot. Acquired fibrin clot structure anomalies may also be responsible for a defective thrombolysis.

Fibrin↗

The role of fibroblasts in organization and degradation of a fibrin clot.

Older clots become less sensitive to fibrin degradation than newly formed ones. A possible role for fibroblasts in this defective thrombus lysis was studied. A system has been developed in which different clones of fibroblasts were incorporated into a floating whole blood clot. The effect of the incorporated fibroblasts on clot lysis has been analyzed in relation to their basic characteristics: clot retraction, production of plasminogen activators (PAs) and their inhibitors (PAIs), and secretion of collagen. In neoplastic fibroblast-enriched clots, secretion of PA was associated with spontaneous lysis of a whole blood clot. Normal fibroblasts, secreting levels of PA and PAI similar to those of the cancer cells, did not induce spontaneous lysis of the clot. Moreover, these cells protected whole blood clot from thrombolysis by added PA. Our data show that the resistance to fibrin clot degradation induced by normal fibroblasts was mainly mediated by collagen secretion and deposition rather than PAI secretion or retraction of the clot. We suggest a key role for normal fibroblasts in the acquisition of resistance to proteolytic fibrin degradation of whole blood clots through the secretion of collagen.

Collagen↗

A new hemoglobin variant found during investigations of diabetes mellitus: Hb Pavie [alpha 135 (H18) Val----Glu].

Hb Pavie [alpha 135 (H18) Val----Glu], found during HbA1c measurement in a patient of Italian origin investigated for diabetes mellitus, exemplifies how the presence of an abnormal hemoglobin interferes with the measurement of glycated hemoglobin. This variant hemoglobin migrates as Hb A1c on polyacrylamide gel isoelectric focusing (IEF) and therefore hindered the estimation of glycated hemoglobin by this method. By ion-exchange high-performance liquid chromatography (IE-HPLC) Hb Pavie was eluted as a shoulder of the major component and the corresponding glycated fraction together with Hb A1b. Hb Pavie was purified in order to determine how its functional properties may modify red cell survival. The only functional abnormality observed was a slight decrease of the oxygen affinity, and therefore the total amount of glycated hemoglobin was not expected to be decreased by a shortening of the red cell survival.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Degradation of fibrinogen by tissue plasminogen activator. Consequences for fibrin polymerization.

In patients treated with tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA), there was a marked increase in concentration of fibrinopeptide A (fpA). The purpose of this study was to analyse the activation of coagulation in plasma treated in vitro by pharmacological doses of t-PA. From our results, it appears that fpA release due to direct interaction of fibrinogen with t-PA, in the absence of plasminogen, is very low and not observed with pharmacological doses of t-PA. In contrast in the presence of plasminogen, the release of fpA is much higher and induces fibrin formation concomitantly to fibrinogen degradation.

Biopolymers↗

Evolutionary stability of fibrinogen epitopes implicated in fibrin polymerization and in fibrinolysis.

In this work, fibrinogen evolution was analysed by testing the reactivity of fibrinogen from different species with monoclonal antibodies against human fibrinogen fragment D. One epitope concerning the fibrin polymerization site 'a' and two epitopes responsible for tPA binding to fibrin were conserved in all mammalian fibrogens tested but not in crab coagulogen or pleurodella fibrinogen. In these two species, some epitopes which are not implicated in fibrinogen function were conserved. Therefore, we can conclude that polymerizing site 'a' and tPA binding sites have not been modified for at least 80 million years.

Animals↗

Pentoxifylline, fibrinogen and leukocytes.

Pentoxifylline has been reported to induce a decrease in plasma fibrinogen level in patients with arteritis. We report here ex vivo experiments in both healthy volunteers and patients with arteritis. In patients we have confirmed the decrease in plasma fibrinogen level during pentoxifylline therapy, and shown that the decrease is correlated with the improvement of the clinical symptoms, whereas no significant modification was noted in the healthy volunteers taking pentoxifylline. Therefore it is suggested that the decrease in fibrinogen induced in patients was due to an indirect mechanism, probably related to the pentoxifylline-induced decrease in TNF synthesis.

Adult↗

Fibrin degradation products generation and fibrinopeptide A release in normal plasma incubated with thrombolytic agents: proposed mechanisms.

Clinical data have shown that the evaluation of fibrin degradation products (FbDP) does not reflect the efficiency of thrombolytic therapy in vivo. In this study, we found that the addition of plasminogen activators to normal plasma resulted in generation of FbDP and release of fibrinopeptide A (FpA) as shown by ELISA and HPLC. This FpA release was concomitant with fibrinogen degradation, and was not inhibited by thrombin inhibition or by prothrombin depletion in plasma. Thus, the increase in FpA did not result from coagulation activation and may result from the plasmin-induced release of FpA from fibrinogen degradation product E1. The generation of cross-linked FbDP after tPA addition occurred in normal plasma as well as in factor-XIII-deficient plasma and quickly reached a plateau. It was not inhibited by hirudin. Therefore FbDP in these plasmas probably derived from the plasmin degradation of cellular transglutaminase cross-linked fibrin/fibrinogen derivatives present in plasma.

Aprotinin↗