The mean beta-2-microglobulin level in serum (3,362 +/- 2,494 micrograms/liter) for 76 leprosy patients, including 9 borderline-tuberculoid, 8 borderline-borderline, 9 borderline-lepromatous, and 16 lepromatous-lepromatous patients and 34 patients with type I or type II lepra reactions, was significantly higher (P less than 0.001) than that (2,122 +/- 1,844 micrograms/liter) for 35 normal subje...

OBJECTIVES Men who have sex with men are at risk of tenofovir nephrotoxicity due to its wide use in both treatment and prophylaxis for human immunodeficiency virus infection, but little is known about the urinary biomarkers of early renal dysfunction in this population. This study aims to identify useful biomarkers of early renal dysfunction among human immunodeficiency virus-infected men who h...

Plasma and urinary levels of beta2 microglobulin have been investigated in 21 patients suffering from rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Despite a normal renal glomerular function in all patients 50% of them had supranormal plasma beta2 microglobulin levels and 30% had a higher than normal urinary output of beta2 microglobulin generally related to the high plasma level. Plasma beta2 microglobulin level...

BACKGROUND Statins can cause tubular proteinuria by inhibiting tubular reabsorption of urinary proteins. To distinguish between microalbuminuria originating from glomerular leakage of albumin and tubular microalbuminuria due to statin therapy, the α1-microglobulin/albumin ratio is evaluated in patients taking statins and compared to untreated patients. METHODS Ten apparently healthy subjects ...

Odorant-binding protein (OBP) is found in nasal epithelium, and it selectively binds odorants. Three complementary DNAs encoding rat odorant-binding protein have now been cloned and sequenced. One clone contains an open reading frame predicted to encode an 18,091-dalton protein. RNA blot analysis confirms the localization of OBP messenger RNA in the nasal epithelium. This OBP has 33 percent ami...

Osteoarticular amyloidosis occurred in a patient receiving long term haemodialysis. Histological examination showed that the amyloid deposit was surrounded by inflammatory cells and macrophages filled with haemosiderin. Electron microscopy showed that the amyloid fibrils were in close contact with cytoplasmic expansions, or located in intracytoplasmic pockets of the infiltrating cells. Immunohi...

Mice homozygous for the b allele of the MHC gene, H-2D, have a high incidence of recovery from Friend virus infections, while mice heterozygous for the b allele at H-2D have a very low incidence of recovery. Previous experiments indicated that the low recovery rates associated with heterozygosity at H-2D might be related to a gene dosage effect requiring the expression of two H-2Db alleles for ...

The 24 hour urinary excretion of cadmium (U-Cd) and lead (U-Pb), and the excretion of beta-2- microglobulins and retinol binding protein concentration in spot urines, were determined in a random 4% sample of the population of a small Belgian town. Blood pressure and body weight were measured on two separate occasions. U-Cd averaged 2.4 nmol/24 h in 46 youths, increased with age, and was signifi...

The effects of vancomycin, gentamicin, and combination vancomycin-gentamicin treatments on alanine aminopeptidase (AAP) and beta 2-microglobulin (beta 2M) elimination in 30 hospitalized patients were assessed and compared with elimination in a control group. Twenty-four-hour urine excretion values for AAP and beta 2M were determined on treatment day 1 and day 5 for patients receiving the three ...

Mouse NK cells express inhibitory NK receptors that recognize target cell MHC class I molecules and activation receptors that are less well defined. The Ly-49D activation receptor on C57BL/6 NK cells recognizes Chinese hamster ovary cells and triggers natural killing. In this study, we demonstrate that a Chinese hamster classical MHC class I molecule is the ligand for Ly-49D in a reporter gene ...