1,721,139 research outputs found
La Calprotectina nella malattia infiammatoria e nel cancro del colon
No full textVarious laboratory biomarkers have been studied in inflammatory bowel disease as diagnostic aids, indicators of disease activity or severity and to predict the risk of relapse in those patients in remission. Calprotectin, a calcium binding leukocyte-derived protein accounting for 60% in the cytosol of neutrophil leukocytes, is considered a biomarker of bowel inflammation, such as Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, in adults and children. It has an extremely stability in faeces, thus rendering suitable the assessment of protein in stool samples. The aim of this article is to describe biochemical, analytical and clinical findings of this marker of intestinal inflammation
Markers of bone metabolism in patients with chronic pancreatitis and pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma
No full textThere are no studies comparing some of the most important markers, such as vitamin D, parathormone, osteocalcin, bone alkaline phosphatase, and calcium, in patients with chronic benign and malignant pancreatic diseases. Our objective was to comparatively evaluate serum markers of bone metabolism in patients with chronic pancreatitis and in those with ductal pancreatic adenocarcinoma. Sixty-Three consecutive subjects were studied: 30 patients with a firm diagnosis of chronic pancreatitis and 33 having histologically confirmed pancreatic adenocarcinoma. Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D, bone alkaline phosphatase, osteocalcin, parathormone, and calcium were determined using commercially available kits. Taking into consideration the clinical variables of all 63 patients studied, 25-hydroxyvitamin D was inversely correlated with only the body mass index (P'0.007), whereas it was not correlated with age (P'0.583) or fecal elastase-1 concentrations (P'0.556). Regarding the other substances studied, parathormone was positively correlated with only the age of the patients (P'0.015). Of the 5 substances studied, only bone alkaline phosphates were significantly different (P<0.001) between patients with chronic pancreatitis and those with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. Within the 2 groups of patients, the 23 patients with chronic pancreatitis without diabetes mellitus had serum concentrations of 25-hydroxyvitamin D significantly lower (P'0.045) than those with chronic pancreatitis having diabetes mellitus, whereas smokers with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma had serum concentrations of calcium significantly higher (P<0.001) as compared to nonsmokers. Altered bone metabolism seems to be associated with chronic diseases of the pancreas; however, the mechanism should be better elucidated
Can serum pancreatic amylase and lipase levels be used as diagnostic markers to distinguish between patients with mucinous cystic lesions of the pancreas, chronic pancreatitis, and pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma?
No full textObjective: This study aimed to assess the presence of pancreatic hyperenzymemia in patients with pancreatic cystic lesions as compared to other chronic diseases of the pancreas. Methods: Ninety-one patients were studied: 32 had mucinous cystic lesions, 35 had chronic pancreatitis (CP), and 24 had pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). Surgery was carried out in 10 of the 32 patients with mucinous cystic lesion (7 of them had severe dysplasia), in 5 patients with CP, and in 9 patients with PDAC. Results: Abnormally high serum pancreatic isoamylase activity was present in 11 (34.4%) patients with mucinous cystic lesions, in 14 (40.0%) patients with CP, and none in patients with PDAC (P = 0.002); whereas serum lipase activity was abnormally high in 8 (25.0%) patients with mucinous cystic lesion, in 17 (48.6%) patients with CP, and in 3 (12.5%) patients with PDAC (P = 0.009). In 7 patients with mucinous cystic lesions and histologically confirmed severe dysplasia, abnormally high levels of both serum pancreatic amylase and lipase were present in 3 (42.9%) patients. Conclusions: High serum concentrations of pancreatic amylase and lipase were found in no more than half of the patients with mucinous cystic lesions. High levels of pancreatic enzymes were not associated with a greater risk of malignancy
Analytical evaluation of the EmitÒ 2000 Tacrolimus Assay on Dade Behring Viva Analyzer.
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