Serum Protein and Lipoprotein Fractions in Mongolism

Hormonal and biochemical disturbances in Down's syndrome

“…The relatively low serum albumin concentration has been convincingly demonstrated in Down's syndrome in previous investigations- Nelson (1961), in a group of 197 patients with Down's syndrome, found a highly significant difference when compared to 98 controls. Nelson also demonstrated an increased level of serum gamma globulins in Down's syndrome.…”

Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) modulates the effect of serum albumin on brain development by restraining the neurotrophic effect of oleic acid

“…It should be mentioned that the cortical plate is a region stained positively for AFP (Fig. 5), suggesting that the altered subplate formation observed in DS may be associated with the low AFP concentrations found in these patients (Nelson, 1961;Voigtlander and Vogel, 1985;Kronquist et al, 1990). Conversely, a reduction in neurogenesis has been described in a model of hydrocephaly in vivo, a fact that may be due to the accumulation of proteins in the CSF during the embryonic period (Mashayekhi et al, 2002).…”

“…In this context, the genetic dosage imbalance caused by the presence of three copies of some bands of chromosome 21 in Down's syndrome (DS) result in a defective cortical lamination and hence in an abnormal brain phenotype (Rachidi and Lopes, 2007). DS has been associated with a reduction in the levels of both AFP and albumin in the serum (Nelson, 1961;Voigtlander and Vogel, 1985;Kronquist et al, 1990). This is concurrent with the low concentrations of monounsaturated fatty acids borne by brain phospholipids (Shah, 1979), and particularly with a reduction in the amount of oleic acid borne by phosphatidylcholine (Brooksbank and Martínez, 1989).…”

Impaired <i>in vitr</i><i>o</i> Response of Circulating Lymphocytes to Phytohemagglutinin in Down’s Syndrome: Dose- and Time-Response Curves and Relation to Cellular Immunity

“…normal total y-globulin serum levels in this syndrome [3,4,5,18,23,40,63,72,82,86,88,89,92]. It has been suggested that the increased frequency of infections in patients with Down's syndrome is because most of them are institutionalized and are thus subjected to environ mental conditions involving more frequent exposures to infective agents, or that it is due to the concomitant vitamin A deficiency [32,34], Nevertheless, the environmental conditions at the institutions may not be sufficient to explain the higher frequency of infections in Down's syndrome patients, as other types of institutionalized retar dates do not show as high a frequency of infections [23,83].…”