primary complement deficiencies are rare and two related patients are reported here. the first patient is a 41- year- old man with eighteen episodes of pneumo¬coccal meningitis and other purulent infections. the serum c3 level was checked at three separate times, showing that this was a primary c3 deficient case; other immunological tests were however normal. this patient now takes prophylactic...

BACKGROUND We report the case of a 77-year-old female with acquired angioneurotic edema, C1 esterase inhibitor level = 4mg/dL, who was scheduled to undergo laparoscopic splenectomy. METHODS In the operating room, we administered on call 500 units (UI) of C1 esterase inhibitor concentrate intravenously. Intraoperative hemodynamic instability and generalized blood oozing improved following the ...

IS THERE A ROLE FOR ROUTINE USE OF THE LEUCOCYTE ESTERASE TEST? Marrazzo et al have shown that, in a population screening strategy for chlamydia, the leucocyte esterase test on urine may reduce costs because of a reasonable negative predictive value. However, the positive predictive value of this test in asymptomatic men was only 20.1%. With a sensitivity similar to that of the smear (66.7% ver...

A 52 year old woman with marginal zone lymphoma developed recurrent episodes of angio-oedema and was found to have C1 esterase inhibitor deficiency. She declined chemotherapy for the lymphoma. Fourteen months after her initial presentation she was found to be in partial remission, and this was confirmed by peripheral blood film and bone marrow examinations. This was associated with normalisatio...

I applied the fluorescein diacetate (FDA) hydrolysis technique as a rapid and sensitive estimator of total esterase activity in stream sediment biofilms. I investigated the effects of temperature, pH and incubation time and optimized the assay for low blanks and high fluorescein extraction. The FDA procedure was precise (c.v. = 4.15%) and could detect 10 nM fluorescein. Spatial patterns of este...

The aim of this work was to evaluate the capability of corn steep liquor being a low cost substrate on the recombinant protein production by cultivating recombinant Escherichia coli and increasing the production of hyperthermophilic esterase (HE). The effect of corn steep liquor, mineral salt and trace metals on hyperthermophilic esterase production was investigated by means of a five-level thr...

Acquired C1 esterase inhibitor deficiency is a rare condition associated with autoimmune or low-grade lymphoproliferative disorders. Adults or elderly patients are most commonly affected. The diagnosis is suspected when patients present with recurrent angioedema and low serum levels of C4 with normal levels of C3. Low levels of C1q and low C1 esterase inhibitor activity confirm the diagnosis. I...

IS THERE A ROLE FOR ROUTINE USE OF THE LEUCOCYTE ESTERASE TEST? Marrazzo et al have shown that, in a population screening strategy for chlamydia, the leucocyte esterase test on urine may reduce costs because of a reasonable negative predictive value. However, the positive predictive value of this test in asymptomatic men was only 20.1%. With a sensitivity similar to that of the smear (66.7% ver...

The location of cholesterol esterase in rabbit intestine was re-evaluated. In three different experiments that were designed to eliminate contaminating mucus and pancreatic enzymes from the lumen of the small intestine, it was observed that the activities of cholesterol esterase and amylase in intestinal cytosol and whole homogenate decreased in parallel fashion. After the mucus was carefully w...

The fraction of human serum designated as C'1 esterase inhibitor is known to inhibit the action of C'1 esterase, a plasma kallikrein, and PF/Dil, an enzyme in plasma enhancing cutaneous vascular permeability. In the present study, C'1 esterase inhibitor has been found to block the actions of plasmin and the C'1r subcomponent of the first component of complement, and to retard the generation of ...