This study was performed to evaluate the adsorption of beta2-microglobulin(beta2 M) by blood dialysis membrane materials which are polyethersulfone (PES), sulfonated polyethersulfones, (PES-SO3Na-I and PES-SO3Na-I ) in vitro incubated in human serum and radiolabeled beta2M (125I-beta2 M) solution respectively. In these experiments, the materials were incubated in 125I-beta2 M solution and human serum at the appointed time ranging from 15 minutes to four hours at 37 degrees C, and then the amounts of 125I-beta2M and serum beta2M adsorbed by materials were measured by radioimmunoassay (RIA). In the 125I-beta2 M system, amounts of 125I-beta2M adsorbed by the materials decreased in sequence of PES-SO3 Na-II > PES-SO3Na-I > PES. In the serum system, amounts of beta2M adsorbed reached maximums at 30 minutes and the final adsorptions decreased in sequence of PES-SO3Na-II > PES-SO3Na-I > PES. Sulfonated PES removes beta2M more than PES does and the adsorption of beta2M increases with the increase in the degree of sulfonation. Its ability to remove significant amount of beta2M may result in less beta2M available for incorporation into amyloid. The use of PES-SO3Na membranes lessens the likelihood of dialysis-related amyloidosis (DRA) development, which remains a major source of morbidity for patients treated with long-term hemodialysis.
Adsorption ; Amyloidosis ; blood ; Humans ; Polymers ; chemistry ; Renal Dialysis ; adverse effects ; Sulfones ; chemistry ; beta 2-Microglobulin ; blood

OBJECTIVETo observe the clinical therapeutic effect of acupuncture on early metaphase diabetic nephropathy.

METHODSFifty-four cases of diabetes were randomly divided into an acupuncture group (n=30) and a control group (n=24). The patients in the two groups were all treated by oral administration of Gliguidon or subcutaneous injection of insulin with acupuncture at Ganshu (BL 18), Weiwanxiashu (EX-B 3), Shenshu (BL 23), Guanyuan (CV 4) and other acupoints added in the acupuncture group, for 30 days.

RESULTSThe total effective rate was 93.3% in the acupuncture group and 66.7% in the control group. After treatment, blood beta2-microglobulin (beta2-MG), and urine beta2-MG in the acupuncture group decreased significantly with a significant difference as compared with those in the control group; total cholesterol (TC) and triglyceride (TG) significantly decreased and high density lipoprotein (HDL) significantly increased in the acupuncture group with significant differences compared with the control group.

CONCLUSIONAcupuncture can improve lipid metabolism and protect the renal function of the patient with early metaphase diabetes.

Acupuncture Therapy ; Aged ; Diabetic Nephropathies ; blood ; therapy ; urine ; Female ; Humans ; Lipids ; blood ; Male ; Middle Aged ; beta 2-Microglobulin ; urine

This study was aimed to explore the expression of microRNA-21 (miR-21) in multiple myeloma (MM), and its correlation with plasma &beta;2-microglobulin (&beta;2-MG) and staging of MM by Durie-Salmon (D-S) classification. The expression level of miR-21 in bone marrow mono-nuclear cells (BMMNC) of 43 patients with MM and 20 healthy individuals was examined by real-time polymerase chain reaction (real-time PCR), and the correlations among the expression level of miR-21 and related clinical pathologic features, plasma &beta;2-MG and staging of MM by D-S classification were analyzed. The results showed that the expression of miR-21 in BMMNC of MM patients was obviously higher than that in normal controls (P < 0.05). The expression of miR-21 in BMMNC of relapsed/refractory MM patients was obviously higher than that in newly diagnosed MM patients. The expression of miR-21 in MM patients decreased after chemical therapy, especially in effective group (P < 0.05), there was no significant change of miR-21 expression level in ineffective/progressive group before and after chemical therapy (P > 0.05). The expression of miR-21 was related with staging of MM and plasma &beta;2-MG level. It is concluded that the expression levels of miR-21 in BMMNC of MM patients are significantly higher than in normal bone marrow, these data indicated that miR-21 may play an important role in the development of MM. Super expression of miR-21 is positively correlated with level of plasma &beta;2-MG and staging of MM by D-S classification.
Adult ; Aged ; Case-Control Studies ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; MicroRNAs ; metabolism ; Middle Aged ; Multiple Myeloma ; metabolism ; pathology ; beta 2-Microglobulin ; blood

BackgroundAs a major complication after orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT), the occurrence of acute kidney injury (AKI) is frequently defined by serum creatinine (Cr); however, the accuracy of commonly used blood urea nitrogen (BUN), uric acid (UA), and &beta;-microglobulin (&beta;-MG) remains to be explored. This retrospective study compared the accuracy of these parameters for post-OLT AKI evaluation.

MethodsPatients who underwent OLT in three centers between July 2003 and December 2013 were enrolled. The postoperative AKI group was diagnosed by the Kidney Disease Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) criteria and classified by stage. Measurement data were analyzed using the t-test or Wilcoxon rank-sum test; enumerated data were analyzed using the Chi-square test or Fisher's exact test. Diagnostic reliability and predictive accuracy were evaluated using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis.

ResultsThis study excluded 976 cases and analyzed 697 patients (578 men and 119 women); the post-OLT AKI incidence was 0.409. Compared with the no-AKI group, the AKI group showed very significant differences in Model for End-stage Liver Disease score (14.74 ± 9.91 vs. 11.07 ± 9.54, Z = 5.404; P < 0.001), hepatic encephalopathy (45 [15.8%] vs. 30 [7.3%], χ = 12.699; P < 0.001), hemofiltration (28 [9.8%] vs. 0 [0.0%], χ = 42.171; P < 0.001), and 28-day mortality (23 [8.1%] vs. 9 [2.2%], χ = 13.323; P <0.001). Moreover, mean values of Cr, BUN, UA, and &beta;-MG in the AKI group differed significantly at postoperative days 1, 3, and 7 (all P < 0.001). ROC curve area was 0.847 of Cr for the detection of AKI Stage 1 (sensitivity 80.1%, specificity 75.7%, cutoff value 88.23 μmol/L), 0.916 for Stage 2 (sensitivity 87.6%, specificity 82.6%, cutoff value 99.9 μmol/L), and 0.972 for Stage 3 (sensitivity 94.1%, specificity 88.2%, cutoff value 122.90 μmol/L).

ConclusionThe sensitivity and specificity of serum Cr might be a high-value indicator for the diagnosis and grading of post-OLT AKI.

Acute Kidney Injury ; blood ; Adult ; Blood Urea Nitrogen ; Creatinine ; blood ; Female ; Humans ; Liver Transplantation ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Retrospective Studies ; Uric Acid ; blood ; beta 2-Microglobulin ; blood

OBJECTIVETo explore the values of detecting the serum levels of &beta;2-MG, TNF-α, CRP, IL-6 in the patients with multiple myeloma.

METHODSA total of 40 patents with multiple myeloma were included in the experiment group, and 40 healthy volunteers were selected as the control group. The levels of &beta;2-MG, TNF-α, CRP and IL-6 were detected and compared in 2 groups, the different durie-salmon (DS) stages of &beta;2-MG, TNF-α, CRP and IL-6 in the experiment group were analyzed.

RESULTSThe levels of &beta;2-MG, CRP, IL-6 in the experiment group were higher than those in control group (P < 0.05); the level of TNF-α in the experiment group was lower than that in control group (P < 0.05); the levels of &beta;2-MG, CRP, IL-6 at stage I, II, III in the experiment group was higher than those in control group (P < 0.05); the level of TNF-α at stage I, II, III in the experiment group was lower than that in the control group (P < 0.05); the levels of &beta;2-MG, CRP, IL-6 at stage I, II, III in the experiment group displayed an increasing tendency, the levels of TNF-α at stage I, II, III in the experiment group displayed a declining trend (P < 0.05); the levels of &beta;2-MG, CRP, IL-6 in the experiment group after treatment for 8, 16 weeks were higher than those in control group (P < 0.05); the level of TNF-α in the experiment group after treatment for 8, 16 weeks was lower than that in control group (P < 0.05); the levels of &beta;2-MG, CRP and IL-6 in the experiment group after treatment for 16 weeks were lower than those for 8 weeks (P < 0.05); the levels of TNF-α in the experiment group after treatment for 16 weeks were higher than those for 8 weeks (P < 0.05). The levels of APE1 after treatment in the experiment group were lower than that before treatment.

CONCLUSIONThe serum levels of &beta;2-MG, TNF-α, CRP and IL-6 can be as index for diagnosis of multiple myeloma, can effectively evaluate the disease severity; their combination with APE1 expression level can evaluate the therapeutic efficacy; thus the detection of above-mentioned indexes is possessed of higher value for clinical applications.

C-Reactive Protein ; metabolism ; Case-Control Studies ; Humans ; Interleukin-6 ; blood ; Multiple Myeloma ; blood ; diagnosis ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha ; blood ; beta 2-Microglobulin ; blood

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Serum ferritin is a marker of acute phase reactions and iron storage. In addition, hematologic malignancies are associated with elevated serum ferritin levels. Other studies have suggested that ferritin is a surrogate for advanced disease and has an impact on relapse, because elevated serum ferritin predicts overall survival (OS) and relapse-free survival following autologous stem cell transplantation for lymphomas. METHODS: We studied 89 consecutive patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma to determine the value of serum ferritin in comparison with known prognostic factors. RESULTS: The OS in the elevated serum ferritin group (> or =300 ng/mL) was shorter than that in the normal serum ferritin group (<300 ng/mL, p<0.001) after a median follow-up of 25 months. In univariate analysis, elevated ferritin was correlated with poor survival in the patients (relative risk [RR], 2.588; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.536 to 4.358; p<0.001). Furthermore, multivariate analysis showed that elevated serum ferritin was an independent predictor of mortality in patients with multiple myeloma (RR, 2.594; 95% CI, 1.403 to 4.797; p=0.002). CONCLUSIONS: The serum ferritin can a prognostic parameter of survival as well as disease activity in patients with multiple myeloma.
Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; C-Reactive Protein/analysis ; Female ; Ferritins/*blood ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Multiple Myeloma/*blood ; Prognosis ; Proportional Hazards Models ; beta 2-Microglobulin/blood

The myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) is a group of hematopoietic stem cell-clonal disease. The International Prognostic Scoring System (IPSS) is mainly used for its prognostic classification, but still remains some unrepeatable results in the same group of patients with MDS. This study was aimed to compare the levels of peripheral blood mean corpuscular volume (MCV), serum lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), &beta;2-microglobulin (&beta;2-MG), ferroprotein (SF), Vit B12 in patients with MDS classified by IPSS and to explore the relationship between the prognosis and laboratory indexes above mentioned in MDS patients. 116 patients with MDS were divided into 4 group: low-risk, intermediate risk-I, intermediate risk-II and high-risk according to IPSS. The index of MCV, serum LDH, &beta;2-MG, SF and Vit B12 in MDS patients prior treatment and in normal control group were detected. Data with normal group and each groups of MDS were compared. The results showed that the levels of MCV, LDH, &beta;2-MG, SF were Vit B12 in patients with MDS were significantly higher than those in normal control group (P < 0.05). There were significant differences of serum LDH among the 4 groups of MDS (P < 0.05), and the levels of serum LDH increased in turn: low-risk, intermediate risk I, intermediate risk II and high-risk. Serum &beta;2-MG level in the high-risk group was significantly higher than that in the groups of low risk, intermediate risk I and intermediate risk II (P < 0.05), the difference among the latter three groups was not statistically significant (P > 0.05). There were no significant differences in MCV, SF and Vit B12 levels of all groups compared with each other. It is concluded that the level of serum LDH and &beta;2-MG seems to have a certain correlation with the progress and prognosis of the MDS, which may be useful for predicting the prognosis of the MDS besides IPSS scoring system.
Case-Control Studies ; Female ; Humans ; L-Lactate Dehydrogenase ; blood ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Myelodysplastic Syndromes ; blood ; diagnosis ; Prognosis ; beta 2-Microglobulin ; blood

To evaluate the prognostic value of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and beta2-microglobulin (beta2-MG) in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), a total of 141 cases of CLL had been investigated retrospectively. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to estimate the overall and failure-free survival distributions. Cox regression was used in univariate and multivariate analysis of potential predictors for overall survival. In multivariate analysis, the expression levels of LDH and beta2-MG were divided into 3 groups: (1) elevation of both LDH and beta2-MG levels; (2) elevation of LDH or beta2-MG levels alone; (3) normal levels of both LDH and beta2-MG. The results showed that serum LDH and beta2-MG levels of patients in Binet C were significantly higher than those in Binet A (p=0.034 and p=0.035). The level of serum beta2-MG was not correlated with lymphocyte count (p=0.756). Binet C and high LDH level were associated with significantly shorter overall survival. beta2-MG was not proved to have any association with overall survival. The overall survival time in group of elevation of both LDH and beta2-MG levels was shorter than that in group of normal levels of both LDH and beta2-MG. It is concluded that serum LDH level and Binet stage are important prognostic factors for CLL.
Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Female ; Humans ; L-Lactate Dehydrogenase ; blood ; Leukemia, Lymphocytic, Chronic, B-Cell ; blood ; diagnosis ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Prognosis ; Retrospective Studies ; beta 2-Microglobulin ; blood

OBJECTIVETo use the data of occupational epidemiology to estimate the benchmark dose (BMD) of renal dysfunction induced by lead.

METHODSBlood lead was considered as an exposure biomarker, while urinary total protein (TP), urinary beta(2)-microglobulin (beta(2)-MG) and urinary N-Acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminidase (NAG) were considered as effect biomarkers reflecting the damage of renal function. The dichotomized (binary) data was used as effect endpoints. The BMD and BMD lower limit (BMDL) of blood lead were estimated at the 10% benchmark response using BMDS version 1.3.1.

RESULTSThere was an increased prevalence of hyper-TP-uria, hyper-beta(2)-MG-uria and hyper-NAG-uria with an increasing blood lead concentration. There was obviously dose-response relationship between blood lead and TP, beta(2)-MG and NAG, respectively. The BMD and BMDL of blood lead affecting renal function were estimated to be 323.6 - 754.3 microg/L and 274.2 - 541.5 microg/L. The BMDL of blood lead was ranged from low to high as NAG, TP and beta(2)-MG. The urinary NAG activity might be served as a sensitive biomarker in detecting early renal dysfunction.

CONCLUSIONIt should be feasible to use the BMD approach to set up the reference dose (RfD) and reference concentration (RfC). BMD approach might provide a new and better way for setting up the RfD/RfC.

Acetylglucosaminidase ; urine ; China ; epidemiology ; Clinical Chemistry Tests ; methods ; standards ; Humans ; Lead ; blood ; Lead Poisoning ; blood ; epidemiology ; urine ; Occupational Exposure ; analysis ; Prevalence ; Proteinuria ; urine ; beta 2-Microglobulin ; urine

A new staging system for multiple myeloma (MM) has utilized serum concentrations of beta 2-microglobulin (S beta2 M) and albumin as important prognostic factors for survival. Since S beta2 M is an indicator of glomerular filtration rate, we compared the prognostic values of S beta2 M and 24-hr urinary creatinine clearance (Ccr) in patients with MM. We retrospectively reviewed the records of 170 MM patients from January 1996 to November 2003 whose 24-hr urinary Ccr was available at the time of diagnosis. We found that pretreatment S beta2 M was inversely related to Ccr (Spearman's correlation coefficient=-0.787). In univariate analysis, the hazard ratio (HR) of death was 1.043 (p<0.001) for S beta2 M and 0.985 (p<0.001) for Ccr. Multivariate analysis showed that S beta2 M (HR 1.030, p=0.010) and Ccr (HR 0.993, p=0.059) were significant prognostic factors in patients' survival. In conclusion, 24-hr urinary Ccr may be utilized for staging of patients with MM.
beta 2-Microglobulin/*blood ; Survival Analysis ; Retrospective Studies ; Prognosis ; Neoplasm Staging/methods ; Multivariate Analysis ; Multiple Myeloma/drug therapy/metabolism/*pathology ; Creatinine/*urine