In a short term prospective study 70 male lead workers performed a series of cognitive tasks on three occasions during an eight month period. Concurrently with the cognitive testing, the concentrations of blood lead, zinc protoporphyrin (ZPP) and urinary aminolaevulinic acid (ALA) were measured. Indicators of lead absorption were stable during the study and each subject was allocated to either ...

In the present study, we investigated the antitumor effects of the invasiveness and migration of heme oxygenase 1 (HO-1) in human breast carcinoma cells. 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA)-induced matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) enzyme activity and gene expression at both protein and mRNA levels were examined in human breast carcinoma cells (MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231), and the addition of...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE The impact of photodynamic therapy (PDT) on the endometrium following topical application of 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) was studied in a rat model. Study Design/ MATERIALS AND METHODS Fluorescence microscopy revealed peak ALA to protoporphyrin IX (Pp IX) conversion 3-6 hours after application. Significantly higher Pp IX levels were observed in the endometrial glands ...

BACKGROUND Zinc protoporphyrin (ZPP) has been used both as a screening and diagnostic test for overexposure to lead for nearly 30 years, although limitations for both purposes are recognized. METHODS We present longitudinal findings for ZPP and whole-blood lead in a man with two episodes of acute lead intoxication and review the literature on the use of ZPP. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS ZPP elev...

Chloroplasts emit signals that modulate nuclear gene expression, thereby ensuring the proper assembly of the photosynthetic apparatus. Recent studies have provided major new insights into one of these signalling mechanisms, and identified the chlorophyll precursor Mg-protoporphyrin IX as a key signalling molecule.

Neudesin is a secreted protein with neurotrophic activity in neurons and undifferentiated neural cells. We report here that neudesin is an extracellular heme-binding protein and that its neurotrophic activity is dependent on the binding of heme to its cytochrome b(5)-like heme/steroid-binding domain. At first, we found that at least a portion of the purified recombinant neudesin appeared to bin...

BACKGROUND The protoporphyrin IX-triplet state lifetime technique (PpIX-TSLT) is proposed as a potential clinical non-invasive tool to monitor mitochondrial function. This technique has been evaluated in several animal studies. Mitochondrial respirometry allows measurement in vivo of mitochondrial oxygen tension (mitoPO2) and mitochondrial oxygen consumption (mitoVO2) in skin. This study descri...

RATIONALE Lipid-free apolipoprotein (apo) A-I and discoidal reconstituted high-density lipoproteins (rHDL) containing apoA-I, (A-I)rHDL, inhibit vascular inflammation by increasing 3β-hydroxysteroid-Δ24 reductase (DHCR24) expression. OBJECTIVE To determine whether the lipid-free apoA-I-mediated and (A-I)rHDL-mediated increase in DHCR24 expression induces the cytoprotective and potentially car...

A patient with greatly increased erythrocyte protoporphyrin, but normal porphyrins in urine and feces. is described. The patient later developed a malignant lymphoma. and the reason why she accumulated protoporphyrin in her erythrocytes is not known. The protoporphyrin in the erythrocytes consisted of two types of protoporphyrin. free protoporphyrin (30%) and zinc protoporphyrin (70%). Upon irr...