The change in serum laminin (LN) level and its clinical significance in epithelial ovarian tumor were investigated. The LN levels in serum and ascites samples from 69 patients with epithelial ovarian tumor and 42 cases as control group before and after operation were analyzed by radioimmunoassay. The results showed that the serum LN levels in the patients with malignant tumors (157.85 +/- 14.37 ng/ml) were significantly higher than that in the control group (125.14 +/- 7.03 ng/ml) and in the patients with benign tumors (128.36 +/- 8.75 ng/ml) (both P < 0.01) before operation. The serum LN levels in the malignant group were decreased significantly after operation as compared with those before operation (P < 0.05). The serum LN levels in low-differentiated tumors was higher than those in moderate-differentiated tumors and high-differentiated tumors (P < 0.05). The LN levels in ascites (172.94 +/- 15.26 ng/ml) was significantly higher than in serum (161.34 +/- 6.59 ng/ml) (P < 0.05) in malignant tumors. The serum LN levels in the patients with lymph node metastasis (165.41 +/- 19.91 ng/ml) was obviously higher than those without lymph node metastasis (152.35 +/- 10.34 ng/ml) (P < 0.05). It was concluded that LN levels in serum and acistis were remarkably increased in malignant epithelial ovarian tumors, suggesting that LN might be one of important diameters reflecting tumor biological characteristics.
Ascitic Fluid/*metabolism ; Carcinoma/blood ; Carcinoma/metabolism ; Laminin/*blood ; Laminin/metabolism ; Ovarian Neoplasms/*metabolism ; Tumor Markers, Biological/*blood ; Tumor Markers, Biological/metabolism

BACKGROUND/AIMS: An impaired oxidative/antioxidative status plays an important role in the pathogenesis of many diseases, including cancer. The aim of this study was to evaluate the levels of the novel marker ischemia-modified albumin (IMA) and albumin-adjusted IMA (Adj-IMA) in patients with colorectal cancer (CRC) and look for the associations of these with the total antioxidant status (TAS), total oxidant status (TOS), and oxidative stress index (OSI). METHODS: Forty patients with CRC (19 females and 21 males; mean age, 56.5+/-2.1 years) and 39 age- and sex-matched healthy people (22 females and 17 males; mean age, 56.0+/-1.7 years) were included in this study. Serum levels of IMA, TAS, and TOS were analyzed, and the OSI was calculated. RESULTS: Serum IMA, TOS, and OSI levels were significantly higher in patients with CRC than in controls (p<0.0001), whereas TAS levels were significantly lower in CRC patients (p=0.03). There was no significant difference in serum Adj-IMA levels between groups (p=0.32). CONCLUSIONS: In this study, the oxidative/antioxidant status was impaired in favor of oxidative stress in CRC patients. This observation was not confirmed by IMA measurement. Further studies are needed to establish the relationship between IMA and oxidative stress parameters in CRC and other cancers.
Antioxidants/metabolism ; Biological Markers/blood ; Case-Control Studies ; Colorectal Neoplasms/*blood ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Oxidants/blood ; Oxidative Stress ; Prospective Studies ; Serum Albumin/metabolism ; Tumor Markers, Biological/*blood

PURPOSE: Tumor marker concentrations in a given specimen measured by different analyzers vary according to assay methods, epitopes for antibodies used, and reagent specificities. Although great effort in quality assessment has been instituted, discrepancies among results from different analyzers are still present. We evaluated the assay performance of the UniCel(TM) DxI 800 automated analyzer in measuring the alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), carbohydrate antigen (CA) 125, CA 15-3 and CA 19-9 tumor markers. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The linearity and precision performance of the five tumor marker assays were evaluated, and concentrations of the respective markers as measured by DxI were compared to those measured by other conventional analyzers (ADVIA Centaur(TM) and Vitros(TM) ECi) using 200 specimens collected from 100 healthy persons and 100 patients with respective cancers. RESULTS: The linear fits for all five tumor markers were statistically acceptable (F=4648 for AFP, F=15846 for CEA, F=6445 for CA 125, F=2285 for CA 15-3, F=7459 for CA 19-9; p<0.0001 for all). The imprecision of each tumor marker assay was less than 5% coefficient of variation, except for low and high concentrations of AFP. The results from UniCel(TM) DxI 800 were highly correlated with those from other analyzers. CONCLUSION: Our results demonstrate that UniCel(TM) DxI 800 has good linearity and precision performance for the tumor markers assayed in this study. However, there were discrepancies between assaying methods. Efforts to standardize tumor marker assays should be undertaken, and the redetermination of cut-off levels is necessary when developing methods of analyzing tumor markers.
CA-125 Antigen/blood ; CA-19-9 Antigen/blood ; Carcinoembryonic Antigen/blood ; Humans ; Immunoassay/*instrumentation/*methods ; Tumor Markers, Biological/*blood ; alpha-Fetoproteins/metabolism

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Oxidative stress increases the risk of cardiovascular complications of metabolic syndrome (MetS). This study was conducted to examine the difference in antioxidant capacity according to the presence of MetS, and to characterize the association between antioxidant capacity and MetS-related factors. METHODS: We used the biological antioxidant potential (BAP) test to estimate antioxidant capacity. The BAP test has recently been used as an indicator of antioxidant capacity. We measured BAP levels in 45 patients with MetS (mean age, 44.6 +/- 1.1 years) and 47 age- and sex-matched controls (mean age, 42.7 +/- 1.1 years). To evaluate the association between antioxidant capacity and MetS, adiponectin, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), interleukin-6, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, and homeostatic model assessment for insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), linear regression and logistic analyses were performed. RESULTS: The mean BAP of the MetS group (1,937.3 +/- 36.5 micromol/L) was significantly lower than that of the non-MetS group (2,101.7 +/- 29.5 micromol/L). Also, the mean BAP was low in persons having low high density lipoprotein and high triglyceride. Reduced antioxidant capacity was significantly associated with adiponectin, HOMA-IR and hs-CRP after adjusting for age and sex. The odds ratios for MetS with BAP, log adiponectin, log HOMA-IR, and log hs-CRP were 0.63 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.49 to 0.82), 0.22 (0.10 to 0.51), 14.24 (4.35 to 46.58), and 1.93 (1.36 to 2.75), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Persons with MetS showed reduced antioxidant capacity. We identified relationships between antioxidant capacity measured by BAP test and MetS, as well as MetS-related factors, such as insulin resistance, hs-CRP, and adiponectin.
Adipokines/blood ; Adult ; Antioxidants/*metabolism ; Biological Markers/blood ; C-Reactive Protein/metabolism ; Case-Control Studies ; Female ; Humans ; Insulin Resistance ; Interleukin-6/blood ; Male ; Metabolic Syndrome X/*blood ; Middle Aged ; Predictive Value of Tests ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha/blood

Ovarian cancer is a leading cause of death in women. Early detection of ovarian cancer is essential to decrease mortality. However, the early diagnosis of ovarian cancer is difficult due to a lack of clinical symptoms and suitable molecular diagnostic markers. Thus, identification of meaningful tumor biomarkers with potential clinical application is clearly needed. To search for a biomarker for the early detection of ovarian cancer, we identified human anterior gradient 2 (AGR2) from our systematic analysis of paired normal and ovarian tumor tissue cDNA microarray. We noted a marked overexpression of AGR2 mRNA and protein in early stage mucinous ovarian tumors compared to normal ovarian tissues and serous type ovarian tumors by Western blot analysis and immunohistochemistry. To further elucidate the role of AGR2 in ovarian tumorigenesis, stable 2774 human ovarian cancer cell lines overexpressing AGR2 were established. Forced expression of AGR2 in 2774 cells enhanced the growth and migration of ovarian cancer cells. AGR2 protein was detected in the serum of mucinous ovarian cancer patients by Western blot and ELISA analysis. Thus, AGR2 is a potential biomarker for the diagnosis of mucinous ovarian cancer and an ELISA assay may facilitate the early detection of mucinous ovarian cancer using patient serum.
Cell Line, Tumor ; Cell Movement/physiology ; Cell Proliferation ; Female ; Gene Expression Profiling ; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic ; HEK293 Cells ; Humans ; Ovarian Neoplasms/genetics/*metabolism/pathology ; Proteins/genetics/*metabolism ; Tumor Markers, Biological/blood/*metabolism

BACKGROUND: Circulating cell-free nucleic acids are known to be a noninvasive diagnostic tool for cancer detection. Heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein (hnRNP) B1, a nuclear core complex, is overexpressed in early stage lung cancer. We intended to evaluate the usefulness of plasma hnRNP B1 mRNA in differentiating non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) from other benign lung diseases, especially pulmonary tuberculosis, which is highly prevalent in Korea and often difficult to distinguish from lung cancer. METHODS: Plasma RNA was extracted from 30 patients with NSCLC, 30 patients with benign lung diseases including pulmonary tuberculosis, and 10 healthy controls. Plasma hnRNP B1 mRNA was measured by TaqMan Gene Expression Assay (Applied Biosystems, USA), and pre-developed beta-actin (ACTB) mRNA was used for normalization. We analyzed the relative gene expression data using the delta-delta Ct method. RESULTS: Plasma hnRPN B1 mRNA was measurable in 93.3% (28/30) of NSCLC patients. Normalized 2-DeltaDeltaCt of plasma hnRPN B1 mRNA was 62.2 (95%Cl, 6.4-210.1) in NSCLC patients and 2.7 (95%Cl, 0.5-13.6) in benign lung disease patients (P<0.001, Mann-Whitney U test). CONCLUSIONS: Plasma hnRNP B1 mRNA was significantly increased in patients with lung cancer compared with that in patients with other benign lung diseases. Plasma hnRNP B1 mRNA may be useful as a potential marker for the detection of NSCLC.
Adult ; Aged ; Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung/*genetics ; Female ; Heterogeneous-Nuclear Ribonucleoprotein Group A-B/*blood/genetics ; Humans ; Lung Diseases/blood/genetics ; Lung Neoplasms/*genetics ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; RNA, Messenger/*blood/metabolism ; Tumor Markers, Biological

Neovascularization is an important factor in the prognosis of brain tumor and many angiogenetic factors have been evaluated for prognostic significance. Among them, basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) are known as potent angiogentic factors and mitogens. We evaluated seven cases of grade II brain astrocytoma. Four, group A, was diagnosed as anaplastic progression at their second operation, and three, group B, did not. Using monoclonal antibodies to bFGF and VEGF in paraffin embedded tissue from first operation, their immunoreactivity and differences between two groups were examined. The growth fractions of these tumor were also measured by Ki-67 monoclonal antibodies (MIB1). Immunostaining for bFGF in tumor cells were observed in both nuclei and cytoplasm, and for VEGF, mainly observed in the cytoplasm. Mean cell count number +/- standard deviation per high power field in each were as follows: 1) for bFGF, 20.08 +/- 6.38 in group A and 0.87 +/- 0.90 in group B (p< 0.01), 2) for VEGF, 43.75 +/- 17.09 in group A, and 0.8 +/- 1.06 in group B (p< 0.05) and 3) for the proliferation index with Ki-67 antibodies, 3.20 +/- 0.81 in group A and 0.77 +/- 1.03 in group B (p< 0.05). This data supports the assertion that angiogenetic factor such as bFGF and VEGF may contribute to progressive change of astrocytoma by tumor angiogenesis.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Astrocytoma/*pathology ; Brain/*blood supply ; Brain Neoplasms/*pathology ; Endothelial Growth Factors/*metabolism ; Female ; Fibroblast Growth Factor 2/*metabolism ; Human ; Lymphokines/*metabolism ; Male ; Middle Age ; Neovascularization, Pathologic/*genetics ; Prognosis ; Tumor Markers, Biological

Intestinal ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) is an important event in the pathogenesis of multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS). The aim of this study is to determine the effects of ginsenoside Rb1 on liver injury induced by intestinal I/R in rats. Adult male Wistar rats were randomly divided into four groups: (1) a control, sham-operated group (sham group); (2) an intestinal I/R group subjected to 1 h intestinal ischemia and 2 h reperfusion (I/R group); (3) a group treated with 20 mg/kg ginsenoside Rb1 before reperfusion (Rb1-20 group); and (4) a group treated with 40 mg/kg ginsenoside Rb1 before reperfusion (Rb1-40 group). Liver and intestinal histology was observed. Aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) level in serum and malondialdehyde (MDA) level in intestinal tissues were measured. Myeloperoxidase (MPO), TNF-alpha, MDA level and immunohistochemical expression of NF-kappa B and intracellular adhesion molecale-1 (ICAM-1) in liver tissues was assayed. In addition, a western blot analysis of liver NF-kappa B expression was performed. Results indicated intestinal I/R induced intestinal and liver injury, which was characterized by increase of AST and ALT in serum, MDA level in intestine, MPO, TNF-alpha and MDA level and ICAM-1 and NF-kappa B expression in the liver tissues. Ginsenoside Rb1 (20, 40 mg/kg) ameliorated liver injury, decreased MPO, TNF-alpha and MDA level, NF-kappa B and ICAM-1 expression in liver tissues. In conclusion, ginsenoside Rb1 ablated liver injury induced by intestinal I/R by inhibiting NF-kappaB activation.
Alanine Transaminase/blood ; Animals ; Aspartate Aminotransferases/blood ; Biological Markers/metabolism ; Ginsenosides/*pharmacology ; Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1/metabolism ; Intestines/*blood supply/metabolism/pathology ; Ischemia/metabolism/pathology ; Liver/enzymology/pathology ; Liver Diseases/etiology/*pathology ; Male ; Malondialdehyde/metabolism ; NF-kappa B/*antagonists & inhibitors/metabolism ; Peroxidase/metabolism ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Reperfusion Injury/complications/*pathology ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha/metabolism

Hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs) show genomic alterations, including DNA rearrangements associated with HBV DNA integration, loss of heterozygosity, and chromosomal amplification. The genes most frequently involved are those encoding tumor suppressors. The p16INK4A tumor suppressor gene frequently displays genetic alteration in HCC tissues. The present study was performed to examine the incidence of methylated p16INK4A in the sera of liver cirrhosis (LC) and HCC patients, and to evaluate its role as a tumor marker of HCC. The sera of 23 LC patients and 46 HCC patients were examined in this study. The methylation status of p16INK4A was evaluated by methylation-specific PCR of serum samples. Methylated p16INK4A was detected in 17.4% (4/23) of LC patients and in 47.8% (22/46) of HCC patients. No association was demonstrated between p16INK4A methylation and serum AFP level. As the status of p16INK4A methylation was not associated with serum AFP level, it may have a role as a tumor marker of HCC.
Aged ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular/*genetics ; DNA/metabolism ; *DNA Methylation ; Female ; Fibrosis ; *Genes, p16 ; Human ; Liver/pathology ; Liver Cirrhosis/*genetics ; Liver Neoplasms/*genetics ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Predictive Value of Tests ; Protein p16/*blood ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Time Factors ; Tumor Markers, Biological

The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship of plasma resistin levels with determinants of the metabolic syndrome (MetS) and anthropometric parameters in healthy Korean subjects. Plasma resistin levels were determined in 276 subjects. In subjects with MetS, the plasma resistin levels were not significantly increased compared to those without MetS (8.3+/-4.3 ng/mL vs. 8.5+/-3.6 ng/mL, respectively, P=0.84). In addition, the plasma resistin levels were not correlated with the body mass index, the waist circumference, homeostasis model assessment-insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), fasting plasma glucose or insulin levels. However, the plasma resistin levels were positively correlated with the abdominal subcutaneous fat (r=0.18, P<0.01) in all subjects and correlated with TNF alpha(r=-0.16, P<0.05) and hsCRP (r=0.15, P<0.05) in subjects without MetS but not with MetS. With multiple linear regression analysis, these linear associations remained to be significant. The results of this study show that plasma resistin levels in humans were not associated with markers of insulin resistance, obesity or other determinants of the MetS.
Adult ; Aged ; Anthropometry ; Biological Markers/blood ; Blood Glucose/analysis ; Body Mass Index ; C-Reactive Protein/metabolism ; Female ; Humans ; Insulin/blood ; *Insulin Resistance ; Male ; Metabolic Syndrome X/diagnosis/*metabolism ; Middle Aged ; Obesity/diagnosis/metabolism ; Resistin/*blood ; Subcutaneous Fat/*chemistry ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha/metabolism