Serum beta 2-microglobulin in chronic diseases of the pancreas

Diagnostic and prognostic value of galectin-3, serum creatinine, and cystatin C in chronic kidney diseases

OBJECTIVES

This study was undertaken to determine the diagnostic and prognostic values of galectin-3 (Gal-3) in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD).

METHODS

Patients with CKD (n=150) were enrolled as the CKD group, which was divided into six groups according to glomerular filtration rates (GFR) indexes. At the same time, 50 healthy adults were chosen for the control group (NC). Measured data included the levels of serum Gal-3, serum creatinine (SCr), β₂ -microglobulin (β₂ -MG), 24-hour urinary protein, cystatin C (CysC), serum albumin (Alb) and other related indicators.

RESULTS

There was no significant difference between CKD and NC group in age, gender and the level of Alb. CKD group had lower estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) but higher Gal-3, CysC, SCr, β₂ MG and 24-hour urinary protein excretion than control group (P<.001). Moreover, the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis of Gal-3, CysC and SCr revealed that the corresponding areas under the curve (AUC) were 0.89, 0.83 and 0.85, respectively, and the AUC value of joint ROC curve of Gal-3, CysC and SCr was 0.96. In addition, the 6-year kidney survival rates of low Gal-3 group and high Gal-3 group were 47.3% and 22.8% respectively (HR=2.65; P<.01).

CONCLUSIONS

Our study verified Gal-3, CysC and SCr were negatively related to eGFR. Besides, it is suggested that Gal-3 can be used as an indicating factor in the diagnosis of CKD; the joint analysis of Gal-3, CysC and SCr for CKD may distinctly improve diagnostic accuracy.

The serum levels of soluble interleukin-2 receptor alpha and lactate dehydrogenase but not of B2-microglobulin correlate with selected clinico-pathological prognostic factors and response to therapy in childhood soft tissue sarcomas

PURPOSE

To establish the clinical utility of serum soluble IL-2 receptor (sIL-2R alpha), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) [corrected] and B2-microglobulin [corrected] (B2-M) as markers for diagnosis, prognosis and treatment monitoring in childhood soft tissue sarcomas (STS).

METHODS

The markers[corrected] were measured prospectively before treatment, in complete remission (CR) during and after therapy and at relapse [corrected] in 35 children with STS and in 50 healthy children [corrected] (once).

RESULTS

Serum sIL-2R alpha and LDH [corrected] correlated with age thus they were [corrected] presented as multiplications [corrected] of the upper normal ranges [corrected] for age. Pre-treatment levels [corrected] of sIL-2R alpha and LDH [corrected] but not of B2-M exceeded significantly those of controls. [corrected] Elevated [corrected] sIL-2R alpha levels correlated with more [corrected] advanced stages, poor-risk histology and poor response to chemotherapy, higher LDH with incomplete primary tumour [corrected] resection and increased B2-M with poor-risk histology. [corrected] Patients' age >10 years, male gender and unfavourable tumour localisation were not accompanied by the markers' elevation. [corrected] None of the markers predicted EFS and OS. [corrected] Good response to chemotherapy was paralleled by significant decline of sIL-2R alpha and LDH pre-treatment levels while relapse--by sIL-2R alpha and LDH increase to values similar to those at diagnosis. [corrected] Monitoring of B2-M did not reflect the disease course. [corrected]

CONCLUSIONS

sIL-2R alpha and LDH were [corrected] proven to be promising markers [corrected] for diagnosis and treatment monitoring in children with STS. The markers [corrected] correlated also with some [corrected] important prognostic clinico-pathological factors for childhood [corrected] STS; however, they [corrected] failed to predict EFS and OS. Measurements of serum [corrected] B2-M were shown [corrected] to have no clinical value in the diagnostics, prognostics and treatment monitoring in paediatric STS.

Decreased blood level of beta 2-microglobulin in the employees of a factory which produced polychlorinated biphenyls

Under the project of evaluating the health status of the employees of CHEMKO factory (East Slovakia) which produced PCBs between 1955 and 1985, the level of beta 2-microglobulin (beta 2-m) was measured in the serum of 242 subjects from CHEMKO (Group A) and two control groups from much less polluted areas: 1,277 females from a small mountainous village (Group B), 2,179 adults from the area of a large city of Kosice (Group C). The level of thymidine kinase (TK) was measured in the groups A and B only. In addition, age-matched groups of 155 women each from all areas were evaluated. In both the whole group and the age-matched group from CHEMKO the level of beta 2-m was significantly lower (P < 0.001) than that in the respective control groups, while no difference was found in the level of TK. In conclusion, it is suggested that the decrease of beta 2-m in CHEMKO employees might be related to the immunotoxic effects of organochlorines.