Increased expression of one isoform of leucine-rich alpha-2-glycoprotein in peritoneal fluid of women with uterine leiomyomas

Vitamin D and its binding protein in patients with leiomyomas

AIM

This study examined the levels of VitD, VitD binding protein (DBP), and free VitD in leiomyomas patients and their association with the quantity, dimensions, and site of fibroid growths. Additionally, we evaluated the potentiality of employing these factors as a biomarker tool for the diagnosis and assessment of uterine fibroid progression.

METHODS

This study involved the participation of 55 women with leiomyomas and 50 healthy women. We utilized commercial ELISA kits to measure the levels of total VitD and DBP in their serum. Additionally, we calculated the levels of free VitD and the ratio of VitD to DBP. Moreover, we determined the number, size, and location of the leiomyomas in the patients.

RESULTS

There were no significant differences in the levels of total VitD between the groups. However, patients had significantly lower levels of free VitD and higher levels of DBP compared to the control group. The size of the largest leiomyomas showed a negative relationship with free VitD and a positive relationship with DBP. Receiver operating characteristic analyses, showed that the cut-off value for free VitD was 4.47 pg/mL, with a sensitivity of 75.6% and a specificity of 74.4%. The cut-off value for DBP was 256.2 μg/mL, with a sensitivity of 86% and a specificity of 70.3%.

CONCLUSIONS

Free VitD and DBP potentially contribute to the development of leiomyomas and are linked to the size of these tumors. The measurement of serum levels of these factors could serve as additional biomarkers for the diagnosis of leiomyomas.

Serum transforming growth factor β and leucine-rich α-2-glycoprotein 1 as potential biomarkers for diagnosis of uterine leiomyomas

BACKGROUND AND AIM

Transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) and leucine-rich α-2-glycoprotein 1 (LRG1) play significant roles in the pathogenicity of uterine leiomyomas (ULMs). The current study aimed to assess the diagnostic values of serum TGF-β and LRG1 in terms of the presence and severity of ULMs.

METHODS

Premenopausal women with ULMs (n=44) together with age-adjusted ULM-free individuals (n=41) were incorporated into the study. ULMs were detected and evaluated using transvaginal ultrasonography. Serum levels of TGF-β and LRG1 were quantified by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.

RESULTS

Mean concentrations of serum TGF-β and LRG1 were significantly higher in the group of patients with ULMs compared to the control group (p<0.05). The volume of the largest leiomyoma was positively correlated with the levels of TGF-β (r = 0.414, p= 0.005) and LRG1 (r = 0.341, p= 0.023). The receiver-operating characteristics analysis demonstrated moderate and robust values of area under the curve for TGF-β (0.755) and LRG1 (0.90), respectively.

CONCLUSION

Increases in serum levels of TGF-β and LRG1 is associated with the incidence and severity of ULMs. LRG1 in particular but also TGF-β may be able to serve as reliable biomarkers for the diagnosis and monitoring of ULMs.

The role of TGFβ1 and LRG1 in cardiac remodelling and heart failure

Heart failure is a life-threatening condition that carries a considerable emotional and socio-economic burden. As a result of the global increase in the ageing population, sedentary life-style, increased prevalence of risk factors, and improved survival from cardiovascular events, the incidence of heart failure will continue to rise. Despite the advances in current cardiovascular therapies, many patients are not suitable for or may not benefit from conventional treatments. Thus, more effective therapies are required. Transforming growth factor (TGF) β family of cytokines is involved in heart development and dys-regulated TGFβ signalling is commonly associated with fibrosis, aberrant angiogenesis and accelerated progression into heart failure. Therefore, a potential therapeutic pathway is to modulate TGFβ signalling; however, broad blockage of TGFβ signalling may cause unwanted side effects due to its pivotal role in tissue homeostasis. We found that leucine-rich α-2 glycoprotein 1 (LRG1) promotes blood vessel formation via regulating the context-dependent endothelial TGFβ signalling. This review will focus on the interaction between LRG1 and TGFβ signalling, their involvement in the pathogenesis of heart failure, and the potential for LRG1 to function as a novel therapeutic target.

Leucine-rich alpha-2-glycoprotein-1 is upregulated in sera and tumors of ovarian cancer patients

BACKGROUND

New biomarkers that replace or are used in conjunction with the current ovarian cancer diagnostic antigen, CA125, are needed for detection of ovarian cancer in the presurgical setting, as well as for detection of disease recurrence. We previously demonstrated the upregulation of leucine-rich alpha-2-glycoprotein-1 (LRG1) in the sera of ovarian cancer patients compared to healthy women using quantitative mass spectrometry.

METHODS

LRG1 was quantified by ELISA in serum from two relatively large cohorts of women with ovarian cancer and benign gynecological disease. The expression of LRG1 in ovarian cancer tissues and cell lines was examined by gene microarray, reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), Western blot, immunocytochemistry and mass spectrometry.

RESULTS

Mean serum LRG1 was higher in 58 ovarian cancer patients than in 56 healthy women (89.33 ± 77.90 vs. 42.99 ± 9.88 ug/ml; p = 0.0008) and was highest among stage III/IV patients. In a separate set of 193 pre-surgical samples, LRG1 was higher in patients with serous or clear cell ovarian cancer (145.82 ± 65.99 ug/ml) compared to patients with benign gynecological diseases (82.53 ± 76.67 ug/ml, p < 0.0001). CA125 and LRG1 levels were moderately correlated (r = 0.47, p < 0.0001). LRG1 mRNA levels were higher in ovarian cancer tissues and cell lines compared to their normal counterparts when analyzed by gene microarray and RT-PCR. LRG1 protein was detected in ovarian cancer tissue samples and cell lines by immunocytochemistry and Western blotting. Multiple iosforms of LRG1 were observed by Western blot and were shown to represent different glycosylation states by digestion with glycosidase. LRG1 protein was also detected in the conditioned media of ovarian cancer cell culture by ELISA, Western blotting, and mass spectrometry.

CONCLUSIONS

Serum LRG1 was significantly elevated in women with ovarian cancer compared to healthy women and women with benign gynecological disease, and was only moderately correlated with CA125. Ovarian cancer cells secrete LRG1 and may contribute directly to the elevated levels of LRG1 observed in the serum of ovarian cancer patients. Future studies will determine whether LRG1 may serve as a biomarker for presurgical diagnosis, disease recurrence, and/or as a target for therapy.

Identification of candidate biomarkers in ovarian cancer serum by depletion of highly abundant proteins and differential in-gel electrophoresis

Ovarian cancer is the fifth leading cause of cancer death for women in the US, yet survival rates are over 90% when it is diagnosed at an early stage, highlighting the need for biomarkers for early detection. To enhance the discovery of tumor-specific proteins that could represent novel serum biomarkers for ovarian cancer, we depleted serum of highly abundant proteins which can mask the detection of proteins present in serum at low concentrations. Three commercial immunoaffinity columns were used in parallel to deplete the highly abundant proteins in serum from 60 patients with serous ovarian carcinoma and 60 non-cancer controls. Medium and low abundance serum proteins from each serum pool were then evaluated by the quantitative proteomic technique of differential in-gel electrophoresis. The number of protein spots that were elevated in ovarian cancer sera by at least twofold ranged from 36 to 248, depending upon the depletion and separation methods. From the 33 spots picked for MS analysis, nine different proteins were identified, including the novel candidate ovarian cancer biomarkers leucine-rich alpha2 glycoprotein-1 and ficolin 3. Western blotting validated the relative increases in serum protein levels for three of the proteins identified, demonstrating the utility of this approach for the identification of novel serum biomarkers for ovarian cancer.