Nephrotic syndrome in pregnancy is associated with challenges for both patients and physicians. Early recognition crucial, when appropriate, renal biopsy should be considered to differentiate preeclampsia from other causes of glomerulopathies. Pregnancy a woman nephrotic high risk, more data are needed highlight outcomes.

.................................................................................................i LIST OF PUBLICATIONS .......................................................................ii ABBREVIATIONS ...................................................................................iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ......................................................................... iv INTRODU...

In an effort to elucidate the nature of the inhibitory effects of p-bromophenacyl bromide (pBPB) on neutrophil stimulation, we have examined its effects on several stages of stimulus-response coupling. Pretreatment of rat neutrophils with pBPB resulted in a dose- and time-dependent irreversible inhibition of both N-formylmethionyl-leucylphenylalanine (fMet-Leu-Phe)-induced lysosomal enzyme rele...

Pancreatic secretion is required for efficient cholesterol absorption by the intestine, but the factors responsible for this effect have not been clearly defined. To identify factors involved and to investigate their role in cholesterol uptake, we studied the effect of Viokase(R), a porcine pancreatic extract, on cholesterol uptake into human intestinal Caco-2 cells. Viokase is capable of facil...

In the 6 years since the discovery of anti-phospholipase A2 receptor (anti-PLA2R) antibodies in the majority of patients with primary membranous nephropathy (MN),1 our understanding of the role of anti-PLA2R in clinical disease has evolved rapidly. The initial small retrospective clinical studies indicated that anti-PLA2R levels could be modulated by immunosuppression.1,2 Levels decreased in ad...

The major dithiothreitol-resistant phospholipase A2 activity present in the cytosol of U937 cells has been purified greater than 200,000-fold by sequential chromatography on phenyl-5PW, heparin-Sepharose CL-6B, high-performance hydroxylapatite, TSK-gel G3000-SW, and Mono Q columns. This 110-kDa cytosolic phospholipase A2 is distinct from the relatively small (14-kDa) dithiothreitol-sensitive ph...

Phospholipases A2 are enzymes that liberate membrane-bound lipids in a tissue and cell-specific fashion. Group V secretory phospholipase A2 is necessary for the development of M2 macrophages and their effector functions in a mouse model of the T-helper-2 allergic airway inflammation. However, the function of group V phospholipase A2 in human M2 activation and T-helper-2 inflammation is ill-defi...

Rabbit neutrophils were stimulated with the chemotactic peptide fMet-Leu-Phe in the presence of the methyltransferase inhibitors homocysteine (HCYS) and 3-deazaadenosine (3-DZA) . HCYS and 3-DZA inhibited chemotaxis, phospholipid methylation, and protein carboxymethylation in a dose-dependent manner . The chemotactic peptide-stimulated release of [t "C]arachidonic acid previously incorporated i...

Three isotoxins (SP I-III) of the ,-bungarotoxin family were purified to homogeneity via a series of isolation procedures including a final step of h.p.l.c. on an SP column washed with a linear gradient of 0.2-0.6 M sodium acetate at pH 7.4. Their proportions varied greatly with the batch ofvenom. Each isotoxin was demonstrated by SDS/PAGE to contain a phospholipase A2 subunit and a non-phospho...

Rabbit antisera elicited against pure pig, horse, ox, and sheep pancreatic phospholipase A2 revealed considerable immunological differences when tested by double immunodiffusion and microcomplement fixation assays. Snake venom phospholipases did not show any detectable cross-reactions with the pancreatic enzymes. Microcomplement fixation also clearly demonstrated conformational differences betw...