Gamma-seminoprotein (gamma-Sm), a potential new marker for prostate cancer, has been evaluated with a sandwich-type enzyme immunoassay (EIA). This assay system has been confirmed to have a sensitivity and detectable range of 3.0 and 3.0-100 ng/ml, respectively, with a high reproducibility (approximately equal to 6% coefficient of variation between assays). A total of 256 serum samples were drawn from normal Japanese subjects for detection of gamma-Sm. Serum gamma-Sm was undetectable (less than 3.0 ng/ml) in 26 samples from 26 females. In 230 male cases, serum gamma-Sm levels ranged from less than 3.0 to 4.0 ng/ml. These values were not related to age. An upper normal limit of 3.6 ng/ml was calculated for 99 percentile Japanese males (n = 103) over 50 years of age. Serum gamma-Sm was detected in 192 untreated male patients with urological diseases. Gamma Sm levels (mean +/- SD) in each disease were as follows: prostate cancer (n = 64) 11.0 +/- 17.9 ng/ml; benign prostatic hypertrophy (n = 50), 3.02 +/- 0.113; bladder cancer (n = 58), 3.13 +/- 0.514; and renal adenocarcinoma (n = 30), 3.26 +/- 1.01. Serum gamma-Sm levels were statistically higher (p less than 0.05) in the prostate cancer group, however, there was no statistical difference in gamma-Sm levels among clinical stages or histopathologic grades. Furthermore, serum gamma-Sm values showed no correlation (r = 0.3870) with prostatic acid phosphatase (PAP), but were slightly correlated to prostate antigen (PA) levels (r = 0.6980) in patients with prostate cancer. These results suggest that gamma-Sm is a potential tumor marker of prostate cancer and that serially detected serum gamma-Sm levels could be used to monitor the disease.

No abstract

Serum prostate-specific antigen (PA), a new tumor marker of prostate cancer, was evaluated with an enzyme immunoassay (EIA) in various urologic cancer patients and benign prostatic diseases in Japanese. Sera of prostate cancer patients before treatment (n = 27) revealed a range of PA concentrations from 0.12-23 ng/ml with a mean ( * SD) of 5.78 + 6.85 ng/ml, while that of patients with benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH) (n = 27) showed from less than 0.10 to 2.6 ng/ml with 0.84 f 0.81 ng/ ml (mean f SD). The mean serum PA levels in nonprostatic cancers were calculated as follows: bladder cancer (n = 21), 0.77 i 0.55 ng/ml; renal pelvis or ureteral cancer (n = 6), 0.46 0.47 ng/ml; renal adenocarcinoma (n = 6), 1.07 k 0.77 ng/ml; other urologic cancers (n = 6), 0.55 L-0.52 ng/ml. Serum PA ranged from less than 0.10 to 1.1 ng/ml in patients with prostatitis (n = 5). A significant statistical difference in serum PA levels between prostate cancer and other groups was rccognized. These results suggested that an elevation of serum PA value was highly specific to prostate cancer in urological malignancies. The evaluation of serum PA may be of great value in the detection of prostate cancer.

Urine specimens from patients with urinary tract infection (UTI) were examined to determine the rate of phagocytosis and viability of urinary leukocytes. The phagocytic function of urinary leukocytes was also studied in vitro. The mean rate of viable urinary leukocytes was 83 per cent and the phagocytic potency was confirmed by light and electron microscopic studies. In 99 per cent of 113 patients with UTI, urinary leukocytes were shown to have phagocytized bacteria. The rate of phagocytosis in chronic UTI was higher than that in acute UTI. Urinary osmotic pressure and the positive or negative of antibody coated bacteria were supposed to be factors influencing phagocytic potency of urinary leukocytes.

Cephalothin (CET)-susceptible Escherichia coli, which can degrade CET after prolonged incubation in broth containing a concentration of the drug greater than the minimum inhibitory concentration, was found in a clinical specimen. The substrate specificity of the partially purified enzyme to cephalosporin analogs strongly indicated the occurrence of CET-specific degradation. Nuclear magnetic resonance analysis of the degradation reaction demonstrated the appearance of two new signals attributed to deacetyl CET. This suggests the possibility of the presence of acylesterase.