Previous studies using the CA 19-9 antibody have demonstrated that serum mucin levels in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) are elevated and that the degree of elevation relates to the age of the patient and possibly to his or her clinical status. However, CA 19-9 only recognizes the mucin-associated blood group sialyl Le(a+) antigen, so mucin levels cannot be measured in patients without Lewis antigens. The present study used the 17B1 monoclonal antibody to measure serum mucin levels in normal subjects, and in patients with CF, patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and patients with lung transplants. Serum mucin levels were 25 ng/ml (+/- 1 SEM, n = 8) in normal subjects, 13,853 ng/ml (+/- 1,281, n = 25) in patients with CF, and 25.5 ng/ml (+/- 1.9, n = 17) in patients with COPD. Patients with CF who were sialyl Le(a-b-) also had elevated serum mucin levels (715 +/- 152, n = 2). Serum mucin levels of six lung transplant recipients with CF were elevated compared with those in normal subjects (4,621 +/- 765 ng/ml), but they were not different from serum mucin levels in six lung transplant recipients without CF (5,307 +/- 1.677 ng/ml). Preliminary characterization of the serum mucin antigen showed that: (1) in CF sera, the antigen is polydisperse and smaller than the antigen in normal sera; (2) the mucin antigen is distinct from ABO blood group antigens. Serum mucin levels may be a useful marker to follow a specific patient's response to therapy.
The low-prevalence MNS blood group antigen TSEN is located at the junction of glycophorin A (GPA) to glycophorin B (GPB) in several hybrid glycophorin molecules. Extremely rare people have RBCs with a double dose of the TSEN antigen and have made an antibody to a high-prevalence MNS antigen. We report the first patient who is heterozygous for GYP.JL and M k . During prenatal tests, an alloantibody to a high-prevalence antigen was detected in the serum of a 21-year-old Hispanic woman. The antibody detected an antigen resistant to treatment by papain, trypsin, α-chymotrypsin, or DTT. The antibody was strongly reactive by the IAT with all RBCs tested except those having the M k M k , GP.Hil/GP.Hil, or GP.JL/GP.JL phenotypes. The patient's RBCs typed M+N-S+/-s-U+, En(a+/-), Hut-, Mi(a-), Mur-, Vw-, Wr(a-b-), and were TSEN+, MINY+. Reactivity with Glycine soja suggested that her RBCs had a decreased level of sialic acid. Immunoblotting showed the presence of monomer and dimer forms of a GP(A-B) hybrid and an absence of GPA and GPB. Sequencing of DNA and PCR-RFLP using the restriction enzyme RsaI confirmed the presence of a hybrid GYP(A-B). The patient's antibody was determined to be anti-En a FR. She is the first person reported with the GP.JL phenotype associated with a deletion of GYPA and GYPB in trans to GYP.JL.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.