Parathyroid hormone-related protein of malignancy: immunohistochemical and biochemical studies in normocalcaemic and hypercalcaemic patients with cancer

Article Abstract:

Parathyroid hormone (PTH) is a hormone made by the parathyroid gland. PTH causes calcium to be released from bones, the kidneys to increase the amount of phosphate and decrease the amount of calcium in the urine, and increases the amount of calcium in the blood. A protein called parathyroid hormone-related protein is very similar to PTH, and like PTH it results in an increase of calcium in the blood. Previous studies have shown that this hormone can cause blood levels of calcium to become very high (hypercalcemia) in patients with cancer. However, not all cancer patients with tumors that make this protein have hypercalcemia. A study was performed to determine why some cancer patients have hypercalcemia, while others do not. Tumors from 19 cancer patients with normal blood levels of calcium (normocalcemia) and eight patients with hypercalcemia were tested for parathyroid hormone-related protein. Seven of the eight tumors from the patients with hypercalcemia and 12 of the 19 tumors from the patients with normocalcemia were lung tumors. Parathyroid protein was found in all of the tumors of the patients with hypercalcemia and in 89 percent of the tumors of the patients with normocalcemia. The patients with hypercalcemia had tumors that were twice as large as tumors in the patients with normocalcemia. Only the patients with hypercalcemia showed evidence of calcium release from bone and abnormal kidney function, indicating that the parathyroid protein was present. It is concluded that parathyroid hormone-related protein is an important cause of hypercalcemia in cancer patients and that the size of the tumor may be important in determining whether the patient will have hypercalcemia. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Cancer, Cancer endocrinology, Tumor proteins

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Antibiotic resistant fever associated with herpes simplex virus infection in neutropenic patients with hematological malignancy

Article Abstract:

Early administration of broad spectrum bactericidal antibiotics reduces sickness and death from bacterial infection in patients with neutropenia, reduced counts of a type of white blood cell. A large number of febrile episodes occurring in these patients frequently fail to improve with broad spectrum antibiotics when resistant bacteria and invasive fungal and viral infections are implicated. In instances of cancer of the blood (hematological malignancy), herpes simplex virus (HSV) appearing as a mucocutaneous infection (involving the skin and mucous membranes) may often be isolated and be a major cause of morbidity among these usually immunosuppressed patients. The incidence of culture-confirmed mucocutaneous HSV infections was determined in 43 patients with hematologic malignancy. In 24 cases in which HSV was isolated, only 3 responded to antibiotic therapy. In 48 episodes of neutropenic fever in which no HSV was isolated, 32 responded to antibiotic therapy. There was a significant difference in incidence of antibiotic-resistant fever between the two groups. There was consequently also a strong association between the presence of mucocutaneous HSV infection and antibiotic-resistant fevers in immunosuppressed neutropenic patients. Since most HSV infections are the result of virus reactivation, those patients at risk of virus infection should be identified to facilitate the identification of those patients in whom prophylactic antiviral medication such as acyclovir would be indicated. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Drug therapy, Drug resistance in microorganisms, Microbial drug resistance, Blood, Herpes simplex virus, Neutropenia

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Western blot analysis of immune response to Legionella bozemanii antigens

Article Abstract:

In countries such as Israel, fever, muscle and joint pain, headaches and tiredness can occur in individuals without any clinical symptoms specifically indicating the cause of sickness. Often blood samples from these patients contain antibodies that react with molecules from two different types of bacteria, Legionella bozemanii and Rickettsia typhi. To differentiate between the two causes of fever, blood samples from 26 patients were further tested using a procedure known as the Western blot, where antibodies can be seen to directly react with proteins of the bacteria. The serum reacted with 12 to 14 proteins of Legionella bozemanii. The serum was shown to cross-react with three proteins from Rickettsia typhi. Thus, the Western blot procedure can be used to differentiate fevers caused by Legionella bozemanii or Rickettsia typhi. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Usage, Diagnosis, Rickettsia, Rickettsiae, Legionnaires' disease, Western immunoblotting, Western blot, Legionellosis

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