Distribution Characteristics of ANA and ANCA in Patients with Hyperthyroidism.

BACKGROUND: Antinuclear antibody (ANA) and Antineutrophil autoantibodies (ANCA) are often used as markers for the diagnosis of autoimmune diseases. In clinical practice, we have found that ANA and ANCA often occur in sera of patients with hyperthyroidism. OBJECTIVE: The study aimed to discover the positive features of anti-nuclear antibodies (ANA) and anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (ANCA) in hyperthyroidism. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In sera samples from 171 patients with hyperthyroidism and 50 healthy controls, ANA and ANCA were detected with indirect immunofluorescence (IIF) method. RESULTS: ANA and ANCA positive rates were higher in hyperthyroidism (33.9% and 29.2%, respectively) than those in control (4.0% and 2.0%, respectively); the low titer (≤1:320)of ANA was dominated (86.2%) in 58 hyperthyroidism patients with positive ANA, the major pattern involved homogeneous (48.3%) and speckled patterns (48.3%). The low titer (≤1:32) of ANCA was dominated( 64.6%) in 50ANCA positive samples and the major pattern was perinuclear (p) ANCA (96%). CONCLUSION: The positive rates of ANA and ANCA were increased and mainly appeared of low titer in hyperthyroidism, which supplement the laboratory characteristics of hyperthyroidism.

Circulating RBP4 Increase and Its Diagnosis of Chronic Kidney Disease.

OBJECTIVE: Sera retinol binding protein 4 (RBP4) has been associated with renal function. We determined the concentration of sera RBP4 in chronic kidney disease (CKD) and found its diagnostic value for CKD. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The sera samples were collected from 51 patients with CKD and 30 healthy control. The presence of circulating RBP4 was quantified by Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), cystain C (CysC), urea, creatinine (CREA), uric acid (UA), total protein (TP), albumin (ALB) and 24 hours urinary protein (PRO) were examined by automatic biochemical analyzer. RESULTS: Levels of circulating RBP4 was significantly higher in CKD than in control (P<0.05). Serum RBP4 was positively related to serum urea, CREA and CysC (P<0.01). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis showed that the area under the curve (AUC) of RBP4 was 0.734. When the cutoff was 78.75ng/ml, the sensitivity and specificity were 52.9% and 100%, respectively. CONCLUSION: This is the first study to show that RBP4 could be usable for CKD diagnosis.

Potential Role of Soluble TNF-α Receptors in Diagnosis of Patients with Chronic Kidney Disease.

OBJECTIVE: Soluble tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) receptors contain two subclasses: soluble tumor necrosis factor receptor (sTNFR)1 and sTNFR 2. The aim of our study was to investigate whether serum levels of them are biomarkers for diagnosis of chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The serum samples were collected from 51 patients with CKD and 30 healthy controls. The presence of circulating sTNFR1 and 2 was quantified by ELISA and Cystain C (CysC), urea, creatinine (CREA), uric acid (UA), total protein (TP), Albumin (ALB), and 24 hours urinary protein (PRO) were examined by automatic biochemical analyzer. RESULTS: Levels of circulating sTNFR1 and sTNFR2 were significantly higher in CKD group than control (P<0.05). There was significant correlation between sTNFR1 and sTNFR2 (P<0.01). Both sTNFR1and sTNFR2 were positively related to serum urea, CREA, and CysC (P<0.01). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis showed that the area under the curve (AUC) of sTNFR1 and sTNFR2 were 0.987 and 0.986, respectively. CONCLUSION: This is the first study to show that combined detection of sTNFR1and sTNFR2 could be usable for CKD diagnosis.

Comparison of biomarkers between PLA2RAb+ and PLA2RAb- in patients with idiopathic membranous nephropathy.

OBJECTIVE: The presence of antibodies against the M-type phospholipase A2 receptor (PLA2RAb) is considered to be a promising serological diagnostic biomarker of idiopathic membranous nephropathy (IMN). We compare the change in serum Cystain C (CysC), urea, creatinine (CREA), uric acid (UA), total protein (TP), albumin (ALB), IgG4 and 24-h urinary protein (proteinuria, PRO) between PLA2RAb+ and PLA2RAb- of IMN patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The serum and urine samples were collected from 120 patients with IMN. The presence of circulating PLA2RAb was determined by indirect immunofluorescence, and their titer was quantified by ELISA. CysC, urea, CREA, UA, TP, ALB and 24-h PRO were examined by automatic biochemical analyzer. RESULTS: Serum IgG4 level was determined by specific protein analyzer. PLA2RAb-positive percentage by ELISA was higher than that by IIF, but no significant difference was found by McNemar's Chi-square test. Serum IgG4 level and 24-h PRO level were significantly higher in PLA2RAb+ than in PLA2RAb- (P < 0.05). In PLA2RAb+ group, PLA2RAb is positively related to serum IgG4 and 24-h PRO and negatively related to serum TP and ALB (P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: This is the first study to show that combined detection of IgG4 concentration and PLA2RAb was usable for IMN patients.

Potential role of adenosine deaminase in the diagnosis of adult-onset Still's disease.

Adult-onset Still's disease (AOSD) is a systemic inflammatory autoimmune disorder of unknown etiology and pathogenesis. There are no specific laboratory tests for AOSD. To investigate the potential role of adenosine deaminase (ADA) in the diagnosis of AOSD and analyze the correlation among ADA, LDH and WBC (white blood cell count), the serum levels of ADA and LDH in 26 patients with active untreated AOSD, 40 patients with active systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) as disease control and 48 healthy volunteers as healthy control were determined using automatic biochemical analyzer (Olympus AU2700, Japan). WBC was examined by automatic blood cell analyzer (Beckman Coulter Hmx, America). Significantly higher levels of serum ADA, LDH and WBC were found in active untreated AOSD patients than in active SLE patients and healthy volunteers (F = 27.823; P = 0.000; F = 28.458, P = 0.000; F = 51.929, P = 0.000). Serum ADA were related to LDH level in patients with AOSD patients (r = 0.786, P = 0.000 < 0.01). Both ADA and LDH were not related to WBC (r = 0.244, P = 0.229 > 0.01; r = 0.054, P = 0.794 > 0.01). This is the first study to show that serum ADA could play an important role in AOSD and may be an important biomarker for the diagnosis of AOSD. Serum ADA could be another diagnostic marker independent from whole blood WBC.

Comparison of serological markers between ACPA⁺ and ACPA⁻ of RA patients.

UNLABELLED: Anti-citrullinated protein/peptide antibodies (ACPA) have recently emerged as sensitive and specific serological markers of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), providing superior alternative of the rheumatoid factor (RF) test in the laboratory diagnostics of RA. We compare the change of serum RF, CRP, IgG, IgM, IgA, total complement, C3 and C4. The sera sample was collected from 123 patients with RA. ACPA were detected with ELISA, and RF, CRP and total complement (Ct), C3 and C4 were examined by automatic biochemical analyzer. Serum RF and total complement concentrations were significantly higher in ACPA+ than in ACPA-, but there were no correlation between ACPA and RF and Ct. Between ACPA+ and ACPA-, there were no significant difference of CRP, IgG, IgM, IgA, total complement, C3 and C4. While there were significant correlation between the concentration of C3 and IgM and ACPA in ACPA+. CONCLUSION: This is the first study to show that ACPA concentration in ACPA+ patients with RA is positively related to serum IgM and C3 levels.

Expression of hepaCAM and its effect on proliferation of tumor cells in renal cell carcinoma.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate hepaCAM (hepatocyte cell adhesion molecule) gene expression in patients with renal cell carcinoma (RCC) and to explore its effect on proliferation of 786-0 cells. hepaCAM is a tumor suppressor gene, which has been identified as a member of immunoglobulin superfamily cell adhesion molecule. METHODS: Two-step reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction was used to determine hepaCAM expression in 30 paired (RCC and the adjacent non-RCC) renal specimens. Transfection studies were carried out by expressing green fluorescent protein and green fluorescent protein-fused hepaCAM in 786-0 cells. RESULTS: Significant downregulation of hepaCAM was detected in 25 of 30 RCC patients tested. When transfected into 786-0 cells, the number of colony formation was reduced by 5-fold according to colony formation assay. MTT (3-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) showed the inhibition rates on the fourth, fifth, and sixth days of culturing were 26.5%, 38.1%, and 35.7%, respectively. CONCLUSION: Our data show that hepaCAM is frequently downregulated in RCC, and that exogenous hepaCAM exhibits antiproliferative effect on 786-0 cells, suggesting that silencing of hepaCAM may be associated with carcinogenesis of RCC.