Changes in the ratio of urinary alpha 1-microglobulin to ulinastatin levels in patients with Alzheimer-type dementia and vascular dementia

Changes in the regression slope correlating between urinary contents of alpha-1-microglobulin and ulinastatin and its relation to severity in mood disorders

With mood disorders, clinical portrayals alone do not always reflect the exact state and progress of the disease. The present study attempted to evaluate whether changes in regression slope correlating between urinary contents of alpha-1-microglobulin and ulinastatin provided objective information on the severity of mood disorders, based on our previous findings that the regression slope was more steeply inclined in patients with mood disorders than in age-matched healthy subjects. As a result, a close association between scores of the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression and the regression slopes was found: the more inclined the slope, the greater the severity of symptoms of depression. These results suggest that changes in the slope of the regression plot correlating between urinary contents of alpha 1 M and UT may afford a useful objective index when monitoring the state of patients with mood disorders.

Detectable concentrations of urinary trypsin inhibitor in cerebrospinal fluid

Urinary trypsin inhibitor (UTI) is a physiological protease inhibitor produced in the liver and excreted into urine. Urinary trypsin inhibitor-like antigen has been demonstrated on glial cells in the brain. This study measured cerebrospinal UTI levels in various conditions. Seven subjects in each of the following groups were studied: patients undergoing spinal anesthesia for minor surgery, spinal anesthesia for cesarean section, removal of meningioma, or at postoperative day 3 after ruptured intracranial aneurysm clipping. Cerebrospinal fluid was collected from a spinal needle, a needle puncturing the sylvian fissure, or a drainage tube from the optical carotid cistern. Urine was collected from a urinary catheter. Cerebrospinal and urinary UTI concentrations were measured by radioimmunoassay, and the urinary UTI concentration was divided by urinary creatinine concentration to give the systemic UTI concentration. The cerebrospinal UTI concentration in the brain tumor and postoperative state groups was significantly higher than in the spinal anesthesia and cesarean section groups. The systemic UTI concentration in the cesarean section and postoperative state groups was significantly higher than in the spinal anesthesia and brain tumor groups. The present results demonstrate that UTI can be detected in the cerebrospinal fluid, and suggest that cerebrospinal UTI increases in patients with a brain tumor or inflammation and is not affected by systemic UTI.

Sex- and age-related changes in urinary contents of alpha 1-microglobulin and ulinastatin in mice

1. Using two murine strains, ICR/Jcl and senescence-accelerated-prone inbred mouse 1 (SAMP1), age-associated changes in urine indices (e.g. urine volume, creatinine contents, contents of alpha 1-microglobulin (alpha 1M) and ulinastatin (UT) and the relation of urinary contents of alpha 1M and UT were investigated. 2. Sex-related differences in the indices were not observed in ICR nor in SAMP1 mice. 3. Urine indices per 24 h of ICR mice at 6 and 14 months of age were higher than those at 3 months of age, although indices of SAMP1 mice did not change with ageing. Urinary contents of alpha 1M and UT in ICR mice at 6 and 14 months of age were higher than those in SAMP1 mice. However, contents of alpha 1M and UT expressed as the contents per creatinine did not differ between these two strains. 4. In the relation between urinary contents of alpha 1M and UT, a positive correlation was displayed both in ICR and SAMP1 mice, and the regression slope did not significantly differ with ageing in these two strains. 5. These results suggest that ageing per se is not a factor which affects the relation of urinary contents of alpha 1M and UT.

Non-existence of a positive correlation between urinary levels of alpha 1-microglobulin and ulinastatin in patients with Parkinson's disease

Urinary levels of alpha 1-microglobulin (alpha 1M) and of ulinastatin (UT) and the alpha 1M/UT ratio did not differ significantly between age-matched controls and patients with Parkinson's disease, and among subdivided groups based on Yahr's stages in Parkinson's disease. Furthermore, these indexes did not correlate with Yahr's stages. Although alpha 1M and UT levels did not correlate in patients with Parkinson's disease, a positive correlation was observed in the control group. The non-existence of a positive correlation between alpha 1M and UT levels distinguishes Parkinson's disease from other neuropsychiatric diseases such as dementia (Alzheimer-type and vascular dementia), schizophrenia and mood disorder.