Cytokeratin shedding in urine as a biological marker for bladder cancer: monoclonal antibody-based evaluation

Cytokeratin shedding into urine was measured using a double-antibody sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in 282 individuals. Samples included urine from normal controls, patients with urogenital conditions and bladder cancer patients. A monoclonal antibody prepared against cytokeratins extracted from a hyperkeratotic low grade squamous cell carcinoma (UNME/K1) was used in the assay. The results indicated reasonable levels of sensitivity (83%), specificity (67%) and overall accuracy (70%) in the detection of bladder cancer. The levels of sensitivity in detecting squamous and transitional cell carcinoma patients were 87 and 73% respectively. The low level of specificity was due to a high frequency of false positive results (55%) within the urogenital controls; this suggests that further immunochemical and immunohistopathological analyses of associated urothelial cytokeratins are required.

Adsorption of atropine and hyoscine on magnesium trisilicate

The adsorption of atropine and hyoscine by magnesium trisilicate has been studied. At relatively low initial concentrations the adsorption data were shown to fit a Langmuir plot and values for monolayer adsorption were 14·9 and 3·8 mg g−1 for atropine and hyoscine respectively. The extent of adsorption was increased at higher initial concentrations due to multilayer formation. The presence of either sodium citrate or sodium phosphate suppressed the adsorption. Elution of the adsorbed alkaloid was dependent on the pH of medium used and followed the order: 0·05n HCl (pH 1·5) >0·01n HCl (pH 2·1) > water (pH 5·5). Due to the dissolution of magnesium trisilicate, at 37° in 0·05n HCl, neither the rate of acid uptake nor the acid absorption test of the adsorbent were significantly reduced by the adsorption of either alkaloid. In the B.P.C. mixture of magnesium trisilicate and belladonna, almost complete adsorption of hyoscyamine occurred and the elution of the adsorbed alkaloid depended on the level of hydrochloric acid in the elution medium used.