Abnormal lactic dehydrogenase isoenzyme patterns in ulcerative colitis with precancerous change

Abstract

SUMMARY The isoenzyme pattern of lactic dehydrogenase was measured in rectal biopsies from six patients with ulcerative colitis in whom precancerous histological changes had been independently recognized. There was a highly significant increase in the ratio of isoenzymes IV + V to I + II. This suggests that lactic dehydrogenase isoenzyme measurement may prove a valuable addition to histology in the recognition of precancer in ulcerative colitis.Longstanding ulcerative colitis has been shown in several studies (Goldgraber, Humphreys, Kirsner, and Palmer, 1958;Slaney and Brooke, 1959;Edwards and Truelove, 1964) to predispose to carcinoma of the large bowel. Subgroups of patients have been defined who are especially at risk but only a minority develop this complication. Recently Morson and Pang (1967) have described the histological criteria of precancer in rectal biopsies from patients with ulcerative colitis, which may help to identify individuals at particular risk.In the present study we have attempted to extend the work of Morson and Pang (1967) by seeking biochemical abnormalities which might correlate with this histological pattern. Such changes would be suitable for quantitation. There is evidence from studies of bronchial (Wieme, van Hove, and van der Straeten, 1968), colonic (Langvad, 1968), and uterine (Stagg, and Whyley, 1968) cancers and malignant cerebral tumours (Gerhardt, Clausen, Christensen, and Riishede, 1967) that the pattern of lactic dehydrogenase isoenzymes is abnormal in such tissues or in serum from affected patients. Normally there is a preponderance of isoenzymes I and II (which migrate rapidly on electrophoresis) over the slowmoving isoenzymes IV and V; in malignant tissues this may be replaced by a relative excess of the slow isoenzymes or of isoenzyme III.We report here our findings of lactic dehydrogenase isoenzyme distribution in rectal biopsies frompatients with ulcerative colitis, with and without histological evidence suggesting precancer, and in a control group.

Abnormal Lactic Dehydrogenase Patterns in Carcinoma of Stomach and in Peritumoral Tissues

“…We could obtain them in all the patients studied, this in contrast with previous reports in which LDH4 and LDH5 were obtained occasionally (6,8,10,15). We have found clear differences of M subunits in stomach carcinoma compared to the healthy control gastric tissue, as it was previously reported for the stomach and other organs (18).…”

Lactate dehydrogenase 5: An old friend and a new hope in the war on cancer

“…The ratio was only moderately elevated in samples free from morphological abnormalities. The authors deemed the altered LDHA to LDHB ratio as a possible biochemical indicator of an early process of malignant conversion [67]. These conclusions were supported by the data of other investigators who showed high LDHA to LDHB ratios in uninvolved tissues from resection edges that were related to local recurrence possibly due to deep infiltration [58,59,[68][69][70][71].…”

LDH Isoenzyme Pattern of Uninvolved Gastric Mucosa of Patients with Gastric Carcinoma and Benign Gastric Disease

“…Fifthly, the carcinogen, aflatoxin B, brings about a change in the M/H ratio of the tissue, the H form being the more inhibited (19). Finally, Lewis et al (20) have shown that in ulcerative colitis with pre-cancerous change, there is an increase in the M/H ratio.…”

“…This particularly applies to lactic dehydrogenase (11,12,20,21). Of greater significance and perhaps relevance are those studies demonstrating a difference in the tissue from which the cancer arose when compared with similar tissue of patients not suf fering from malignant disease (9,20,25). The present study demonstrates that the LDH isoenzyme pattern of uninvolved gastric mucosa of gastric cancer pa tients differs from that of similar tissue of patients with benign gastric disease.…”