Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most frequent human malignant neoplasms. CRC has an estimated incidence of more than 1,000,000 new cases annually worldwide. Approximately one out of three people who develop CRC dies from the disease. Furthermore, CRC often affects inhabitants of industrialized countries in comparison to less developed countries. Several markers of colon cancer, including CEA, CA-19-9, TPS, TAG-72 and lysosomal hydrolases, have been identified and are now being adopted in routine clinical practice. Increased values of these markers are often the first signal of recurrence or metastases, which is useful in prediction and prognosis of clinical outcome of patients with CRC. Determination of the activity of lysosomal exoglycosidases in body fluids may bring some hope of improving diagnosis of colorectal cancer. However, it has to be remembered that currently the most effective diagnostic method of CRC is endoscopy.
Up to 30% of all hospital admissions and health-care costs may be attributable to alcohol abuse. Ethanol, its oxidative metabolites, acetaldehyde and ROS (reactive oxygen species), non-oxidative metabolites of alcohol [e.g. FAEEs (fatty acid ethyl esters)] and the ethanol-water competition mechanism are all involved in the deregulation of glycoconjugate (glycoprotein, glycolipid and proteoglycan) metabolic processes including biosynthesis, modification, transport, secretion, elimination and catabolism. An increasing number of new alcohol biomarkers that are the result of alcohol-induced glycoconjugate metabolic errors have appeared in the literature. Glycoconjugate-related alcohol markers are involved in, or are a product of, altered glycoconjugate metabolism, e.g. CDT (carbohydrate-deficient transferrin), SA (sialic acid), plasma SIJ (SA index of apolipoprotein J), CETP (cholesteryl ester transfer protein), β-HEX (β-hexosaminidase), dolichol, EtG (ethyl glucuronide) etc. Laboratory tests based on changes in glycoconjugate metabolism are useful in settings where the co-operativeness of the patient is impaired (e.g. driving while intoxicated) or when a history of alcohol use is not available (e.g. after trauma). In clinical practice, glycoconjugate markers of alcohol use/abuse let us distinguish alcoholic from non-alcoholic tissue damage, having important implications for the treatment and management of diseases.
The aim of this study was to assess the effects of chronic exposure to cadmium (Cd) on the structure and function of kidneys, as well as to establish the body burden of Cd at which the changes occur. For this purpose we have created an experimental model using rats intoxicated with Cd administered in drinking water at the concentration of 5 or 50 mg Cd/l for 6, 12 and 24 weeks. The degree of kidney damage was evaluated biochemically and histopathologically. Sensitive biomarkers of Cd-induced proximal tubular injury such as urinary total N-acetyl-beta- d-glucosaminidase (NAG-T) and its isoenzyme B (NAG-B), and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) were used. Cd content in the kidney increased with the level and duration of exposure leading to dose- and time-dependent structural and functional renal failure. In rats exposed to 5 mg Cd/l, first symptoms of injury of the main tubules of long and short nephrons (structural damage to epithelial cells, increased urinary activities of NAG-T and NAG-B) were noted after 12 weeks of the experiment. The damage occurred at a low kidney Cd concentration amounting to 4.08+/-0.33 micro g/g wet weight (mean +/-SE) and a urinary concentration of 4.31+/-0.28 micro g/g creatinine. On exposure to 50 mg Cd/l, damage to the main tubules (blurred structure of tubular epithelium, atrophy of brush border, partial fragmentation of cells with release of nuclei into tubular lumen as well as increased urinary activities of NAG-T, NAG-B and ALP) was already evident after 6 weeks with the kidney Cd concentration of 24.09+/-1.72 micro g/g wet weight. In rats exposed to 50 mg Cd/l, a lack of regular contour of glomeruli was noted after 12 weeks, whereas after 24 weeks thickening of capillary vessels and widening of filtering space were evident. After 24 weeks of exposure to Cd, increased urea concentration in the serum with simultaneous decrease in its level in the urine, indicating decreased clearance of urea, and increased excretion of total protein were observed, but endogenous creatinine clearance remained unaffected. At the lower exposure, symptoms of structural, but not functional, damage to the glomeruli were also evident after 24 weeks of the experiment. Our results provide evidence that chronic exposure to Cd dose-dependently damages (structurally and functionally) the whole kidney. The injury affects the main resorptive part (proximal convoluted tubules and straight tubules) and the filtering part (glomeruli) of the nephron. But the target site for Cd action is the main tubule. We hypothesize that the threshold for Cd effects on the kidney is less than 4.08+/-0.33 micro g/g wet kidney weight and greater than 2.40+/-0.15 micro g/g (at this Cd concentration no symptoms of kidney damage were noted), and it may be close to the latter value. A very important finding of this study is that Cd acts on the whole kidney, especially on the main tubules, even at relatively low accumulation in this organ. It confirms the hypothesis that humans environmentally exposed to Cd, especially smokers, are at risk of t...
Our report is the first to show that acute ingestion of relatively large, yet tolerable dose of alcohol, significantly disturbs salivary antimicrobial defense system. Reduced lysozyme level and decreased peroxidase activity may contribute to increased susceptibility to infections, when acute alcohol intake coincides with exposure to pathogens.
Human salivary glands secrete two types of mucins: oligomeric mucin (MG1) with molecular mass above 1 MDa and monomeric mucin (MG2) with molecular mass of 200-250 kDa. Monomers of MG1 and MG2 contain havily O-glycosylated tandem repeats located at the central domain of the molecules. MG1 monomers are linked by disulfide bonds located at sparsely glycosylated N-and C-end. MG1 are synthesized by mucous cells and MG2 by the serous cells of human salivary glands. C-ends may link mucin monomers by disulfide bridges forming linear mucin oligomers [6]. Two types of mucins are present in human sablood groups; MG1, mucin glycoprotein 1; MG2, mucin glycoprotein 2; NeuNAc, N-acetyl-neuraminic acid (sialic acid).
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.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.