A Gaussian-like distribution function with three additional parameters is introduced which describes well the electrophoresis patterns of albumin, prealbumin and transferrin. Electrophoresis and ultracentrifugation patterns with 1 0 —15 overlapping peaks are analyzed by means of the FORTRAN-program DIANA. One obtains the (relative) areas, positions and widths of the peaks. The analysis of a ser...

Manual and automated immunonephelometric tests (1, 2) have been developed for determination of serum prealbumin (transthyretin, PA). This methodology is more precise and rapid than radial immunodiffusion, but lipoproteins and immunoglobulins interfere with immunonephelometric methods (2,3). We describe here an immunonephelometric method for PA in serum from the newborn. We took special care to ...

An elevated level of C-reactive protein (CRP), which is a marker of inflammation, is a risk factor for morbidity and mortality in the general population and in dialysis patients. Recently, the relationship between inflammation and nutrition status has received much attention. Serum prealbumin is a highly sensitive marker of nutrition and survival in dialysis patients. The objective of the prese...

Studyof 313 plasma electrophoretic patterns from 158 hospitalized subjects revealed that 30 per cent of these patients exhibited a heterogeneity marked by occurrence of double peaks in the alpha-2 and 6 per cent in the beta globulin fraction. Occurrence of double peaks could not be related to any specific disease. Similar study of plasma from 18 normal adult subjects did not reveal double peaks...

Ramadan fasting is an Islamic obligation for healthy Muslims after the age of puberty. Persons with an acute or chronic disease may be excused from this obligation; the degree of the disease is an important parameter for not fasting. Little is known about the effect of fasting on persons with a stoma. A prospective study was conducted among 56 patients with a cancer-related fecal stoma (33 [58....

BACKGROUND Subclinical inflammation is a common phenomenon in patients on either continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) or maintenance hemodialysis (MHD). We hypothesized that vitamin C had anti-inflammation effect because of its electron offering ability. The current study was designed to test the relationship of plasma vitamin C level and some inflammatory markers. METHODS In this...

A patient with Portuguese familial amyloid polyneuropathy who developed haemarthroses secondary to pathological fractures is described. Amyloid material was demonstrated on bone biopsy and confirmed immunohistochemically to be transthyretin (prealbumin). Although amyloid deposits in bone have been described in other types of amyloid, this is believed to be the first proved case of amyloid depos...

BACKGROUND Elevated cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) total protein (TP) concentration (mainly due to a dysfunctional blood-CSF barrier (B-CSFB)) with normal cell count is a hallmark for the diagnosis of Guillain-Barriota syndrome (GBS). AIMS This work presents the evaluation of B-CSFB dysfunction with respect to the course, severity, and clinical features of GBS. MATERIALS AND METHODS A sample of ...