Serum p53 antibodies in patients affected with ulcerative colitis

Human protozoa infection and dysplasia in ulcerative colitis: a neglected aspect in a prominent disease

The chance of getting colorectal cancer (CRC) is higher in people with chronic ulcerative colitis (UC). The impact of parasitic infections on UC is underappreciated. The purpose of this study was to look into the effect of intestinal protozoal infections on the dysplastic changes generated by UC. The research included 152 adult patients with histologically confirmed UC and 152 healthy controls. Fecal samples were examined for the presence of parasites and fecal calprotectin (FC). The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay measured serum anti-p53 antibodies (p53Abs) and metallothioneins (MTs). The advanced oxidation protein products (AOPPs) and reduced glutathione (GSH) levels were measured by a spectrophotometric method in all subjects. Serum C-reactive protein (CRP) and IL-6 were also measured. In addition, histopathological and immunohistochemical investigations of intestinal tissue were done. Our results exhibited significant increases in FC and CRP, IL-6, AOPPs, MTs, and p53Abs in ulcerative colitis patients with parasitic infections compared to those without parasites. In contrast, GSH levels showed a significant decrease in the same group compared with other groups. Histopathological and immunohistochemical assessments of intestinal tissue signified severe inflammation and strong expression of PD-L1 in patients with parasitic infections compared to others without parasitic infections. Our research indicated a greater frequency of intestinal protozoa in UC patients with elevated inflammatory and dysplastic biomarker levels. This suggests that these parasites may be involved in the etiology of chronic UC and the associated carcinogenetic process. This is the first report of a link between parasitic infections and dysplastic alterations in UC patients.

Biological, genetic and epigenetic markers in ulcerative colitis

In this review, we have summarized the existing knowledge of ulcerative colitis (UC) markers based on current literature, specifically, the roles of potential new biomarkers, such as circulating, fecal, genetic, and epigenetic alterations, in UC onset, disease activity, and in therapy response. UC is a complex multifactorial inflammatory disease. There are many invasive and non-invasive diagnostic methods in UC, including several laboratory markers which are employed in diagnosis and disease assessment; however, colonoscopy remains the most widely used method. Common laboratory abnormalities currently used in the clinical practice include inflammation-induced alterations, serum autoantibodies, and antibodies against bacterial antigens. Other new serum and fecal biomarkers are supportive in diagnosis and monitoring disease activity and therapy response; and potential salivary markers are currently being evaluated as well. Several UC-related genetic and epigenetic alterations are implied in its pathogenesis and therapeutic response. Moreover, the use of artificial intelligence in the integration of laboratory biomarkers and big data could potentially be useful in clinical translation and precision medicine in UC management.

Increased Risk of Hereditary Prostate Cancer in Italian Families with Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer Syndrome Harboring Mutations in BRCA and in Other Susceptibility Genes

Hereditary prostate cancer (HPCa) has the highest heritability of any cancer in men. Interestingly, it occurs in several hereditary syndromes, including breast and ovarian cancer (HBOC) and Lynch syndrome (LS). Several gene mutations related to these syndromes have been identified as biomarkers in HPCa. The goal of this study was to screen for germline mutations in susceptibility genes by using a multigene panel, and to subsequently correlate the results with clinical and laboratory parameters. This was undertaken in 180 HBOC families, which included 217 males with prostate cancer (PCa). Mutational analysis was further extended to 104 family members of mutated patients. Screening of HBOC families revealed that 30.5% harbored germline mutations in susceptibility genes, with 21.6% harboring pathogenic variants (PVs) and 8.9% having variants of uncertain significance (VUS). We found PVs at similar frequency in BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes (8.8% and 9.4%, respectively), while 0.56% of PVs were present in well-established susceptibility genes PALB2, TP53 and RAD51C. Moreover, 0.56% of monoallelic PVs were present in MUTYH, a gene whose function in tumorigenesis in the context of PCa is still unclear. Finally, we reported double heterozygosity (DH) in BRCA1/2 genes in a single family, and found double mutation (DM) present in BRCA2 in a separate family. There was no significant difference between the mean age of onset of PCa in HBOC families with or without germline mutations in susceptibility genes, while the mean survival was highest in mutated patients compared to wild type. Furthermore, PCa is the second most recurrent cancer in our cohort, resulting in 18% of cases in both mutated and non-mutated families. Our investigation shows that PVs were located mostly in the 3′ of BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, and in BRCA2, most PVs fell in exon 11, suggesting a mutation cluster region relating to risk of HPCa. A total of 65 family members inherited the proband’s mutation; of these, 24 developed cancer, with 41 remaining unaffected.

Antibody levels after BNT162b2 vaccine booster and SARS-CoV-2 Omicron infection

In the present study, immunogenicity data in 61 vaccinated healthcare workers (HCWs) either infection naïve (naïve HCWs) or with infection of Delta and/or Omicron COVID-19 (experienced HCWs) were evaluated up to 270 days after the second dose of BNT162b2 vaccine and up to 90 days after a booster dose. A decrease in antibody levels at 270 days following administration of the second dose (p = 0.0335) was observed, although values did not fall below the positivity threshold (33.8 BAU/ml). After booster vaccination, antibody levels increased after 30 days (p = 0.0486), with much higher values than after first and second vaccination. Antibody levels then decreased at 60 and 90 days after the booster dose. A comparison between mean antibody levels of naïve and experienced HCWs revealed higher values in experienced HCWs, resulting from both natural and vaccination-induced immunity. A total of 14.7% of HCWs contracted the Omicron virus variant after the vaccine booster, although none showed severe symptoms. These results support that a booster dose results in a marked increase in antibody response that subsequently decreases over time.

New Insights into Inflammatory Bowel Diseases from Proteomic and Lipidomic Studies

Ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn's disease (CD) represent the two main forms of chronic inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). The exact IBD etiology is not yet revealed but CD and UC are likely induced by an excessive immune response against normal constituents of the intestinal microbial flora. IBD diagnosis is based on clinical symptoms often combined with invasive and costly procedures. Thus, the need for more non-invasive markers is urgent. Several routine laboratory investigations have been explored as indicators of intestinal inflammation in IBD, including blood testing for C-reactive protein, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, and specific antibodies, in addition to stool testing for calprotectin and lactoferrin. However, none has been universally adopted, some have been well-characterized, and others hold great promise. In recent years, the technological developments within the field of mass spectrometry (MS) and bioinformatics have greatly enhanced the ability to retrieve, characterize, and analyze large amounts of data. High-throughput research allowed enhancing the understanding of the biology of IBD permitting a more accurate biomarker discovery than ever before. In this review, we summarize currently used IBD serological and stool biomarkers and how proteomics and lipidomics are contributing to the identification of IBD biomarkers.

Prognostic role of serum p53 antibodies in lung cancer

BACKGROUND

Mutations in the TP53 (Tumour Protein 53) gene can lead to expression of mutant p53 proteins that accumulate in cancer cells and can induce circulating p53 antibodies in cancer patients. Our aim was to evaluate the presence and prognostic role of these antibodies in lung cancer patients and to investigate whether they were related to p53 expression or TP53 mutations in tumour tissues.

METHODS

A total of 201 lung cancer patients were evaluated for p53 antibodies by ELISA (Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay) and control was obtained from 54 patients with non-malignant disorders; p53 expression was evaluated in 131 of the lung cancer patients by immunohistochemistry and TP53 mutations were then investigated in 53 tumours positively staining for p53 and in 12 tumours without p53 overexpression, whose DNA was available for direct sequencing.

RESULTS

Our results show that 20.4% of cancer patients have positive levels of p53 antibodies, while none of the controls resulted positive. High levels of p53 expression are detected in 57.3% of cases and a significant correlation between serum p53 antibodies and high levels of p53 expression in the corresponding tumours is observed. In non-small cell lung cancer, p53 antibodies are significantly associated with poorly differentiated tumours; furthermore, high levels of p53 expression significantly correlated with squamous cell carcinoma and tumours with highest grade. Survival time of non-small cell lung cancer patients low/negative for serum p53 antibodies was significantly longer compared to patients with positive levels (p = 0.049); in particular, patients with squamous cell carcinoma, but not adenocarcinoma, low/negative for these antibodies show a significant better survival compared to serum-positive patients (p = 0.044).

CONCLUSIONS

In our study, detection of serum p53 antibodies in non-small cell lung cancer patients has been shown to be useful in identifying subsets of patients with poor prognosis. A significant correlation between the presence of serum p53 antibodies in lung cancer patients and p53 overexpression in the corresponding tumours was also observed. We did not find a significant correlation between levels of serum p53 antibodies and TP53 mutations in the corresponding tumours.

Serologic autoantibodies as diagnostic cancer biomarkers--a review

Current diagnostic techniques used for the early detection of cancers are successful but subject to detection bias. A recent focus lies in the development of more accurate diagnostic tools. An increase in serologic autoantibody levels has been shown to precede the development of cancer disease symptoms. Therefore, autoantibody levels in patient blood serum have been proposed as diagnostic biomarkers for early-stage diagnosis of cancers. Their clinical application has, however, been hindered by low sensitivity, specificity, and low predictive value scores. These scores have been shown to improve when panels of multiple diagnostic autoantibody biomarkers are used. A five-marker biomarker panel has been shown to increase the sensitivity of prostate cancer diagnosis to 95% as compared with 12.2% for prostate-specific antigen alone. New potential biomarker panels were also discovered for lung, colon, and stomach cancer diagnosis with sensitivity of 76%, 65.4%, and 50.8%, respectively. Studies in breast and liver cancer, however, seem to favor single markers, namely α-2-HS-glycoprotein and des-γ-carboxyprothrombin with sensitivities of 79% and 89% for the early detection of the cancers. The aim of this review is to discuss the relevance of autoantibodies in cancer diagnosis and to outline the current methodologies used in the detection of autoantibodies. The review concludes with a discussion of the autoantibodies currently used in the diagnosis of cancers of the prostate, breast, lung, colon, stomach, and liver. A discussion of the potential future use of autoantibodies as diagnostic cancer biomarkers is also included in this review.

Serum p53 antibody detection in patients with impaired lung function

Background

TP53 gene mutations can lead to the expression of a dysfunctional protein that in turn may enable genetically unstable cells to survive and change into malignant cells. Mutant p53 accumulates early in cells and can precociously induce circulating anti-p53 antibodies (p53Abs); in fact, p53 overexpression has been observed in pre-neoplastic lesions, such as bronchial dysplasia, and p53Abs have been found in patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, before the diagnosis of lung and other tobacco-related tumors.

Methods

A large prospective study was carried out, enrolling non-smokers, ex-smokers and smokers with or without the impairment of lung function, to analyze the incidence of serum p53Abs and the correlation with clinicopathologic features, in particular smoking habits and impairment of lung function, in order to investigate their possible role as early markers of the onset of lung cancer or other cancers. The p53Ab levels were evaluated by a specific ELISA in 675 subjects.

Results

Data showed that significant levels of serum p53Abs were present in 35 subjects (5.2%); no difference was observed in the presence of p53Abs with regard to age and gender, while p53Abs correlated with the number of cigarettes smoked per day and packs-year. Furthermore, serum p53Abs were associated with the worst lung function impairment. The median p53Ab level in positive subjects was 3.5 units/ml (range 1.2 to 65.3 units/ml). Only fifteen positive subjects participated in the follow-up, again resulting positive for serum p53Abs, and no evidence of cancer was found in these patients.

Conclusion

The presence of serum p53Abs was found to be associated with smoking level and lung function impairment, both risk factors of cancer development. However, in our study we have not observed the occurrence of lung cancer or other cancers in the follow-up of positive subjects, therefore we cannot directly correlate the presence of serum p53Abs with cancer risk.

p53 antibodies, metallothioneins, and oxidative stress markers in chronic ulcerative colitis with dysplasia

AIM: To investigate the role of p53 antibodies (p53Abs), metallothioneins (MTs) and oxidative stress markers in the early detection of dysplasia in chronic ulcerative colitis (UC).

METHODS: The study included 30 UC patients, 15 without dysplasia (group II) and 15 with dysplasia (group III), in addition to 15 healthy volunteers (group I, control subjects). The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay technique was used to measure serum p53Abs and MTs, while advanced oxidation protein products (AOPPs), and reduced glutathione (GSH) levels were measured by spectrophotometric method in all subjects.

RESULTS: In group II and group III compared to group I, there were significant increases in serum levels of AOPPs (145.94 ± 29.86 μmol/L and 192.21 ± 46.71 μmol/L vs 128.95 ± 3.06 μmol/L, P < 0.002 and P < 0.001, respectively), MTs (8.18 ± 0.35 μg/mL and 9.20 ± 0.58 μg/mL vs 6.12 ± 0.25 μg/mL, P < 0.05 and P < 0.05, respectively), and p53Abs (20.19 ± 3.20 U/mL and 34.66 ± 1.34 U/mL vs 9.42 ± 1.64 U/mL, P < 0.001 and P < 0.001, respectively). There were significantly higher levels of AOPPs (P < 0.05) and p53Abs (P < 0.001) in UC patients with dysplasia compared to those without dysplasia, while MTs showed no significant difference between the 2 groups (P > 0.096). In contrast, GSH levels showed a significant decrease in both patients’ groups (1.87 ± 0.02 μmol/mL and 1.37 ± 0.09 μmol/mL vs 2.49 ± 0.10 μmol/mL, P < 0.05 and P < 0.05 in groups II and III, respectively) compared with group I, and the levels were significantly lower in group III than group II (P < 0.05). There was a positive correlation between AOPPs and both MTs (r = 0.678, P < 0.001) and p53Abs (r = 0.547, P < 0.001), and also between p53Abs and MTs (r = 0.739, P < 0.001). There was a negative correlation between AOPPs and GSH (r = -0.385, P < 0.001), and also between GSH and both MTs (r = -0.662, P < 0.001) and p53Abs (r = -0.923, P < 0.001).

CONCLUSION: Oxidative stress and oxidative cellular damage play an important role in the pathogenesis of chronic UC and the associated carcinogenetic process. p53Abs levels could help in early detection of dysplasia in these conditions.

Cancer-associated antigens and antigen arrays in serological diagnostics of malignant tumors

The appearance of antibodies to cancer-associated antigens in biological fluids (particularly, in blood sera) of cancer patients is now a well-established fact, and their detection by immunochemical methods is a promising approach to diagnostics of malignant neoplasms. In this review, we consider some immunobiological aspects of the most extensively studied cancer-associated B-cell antigens, various applications of autoantibodies as cancer biomarkers, and prospects for the use of antigen arrays for improving diagnostic sensitivity.

Clinical significance of serum p53 antibodies in patients with ulcerative colitis and its carcinogenesis

BACKGROUND

For early detection of ulcerative colitis (UC)-associated colorectal cancer (CRC), surveillance colonoscopy is recommended in UC patients at high risk. However, poor acceptability deteriorates its effectiveness and a suitable marker for selecting patients at high risk is needed. Here we evaluated clinical usefulness of the measurement of anti-p53 antibodies (Abs) by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using sera samples from UC patients.

METHODS

Sera from 286 patients with UC, 82 patients with sporadic CRC, and 63 healthy controls (HC) were obtained. Serum anti-p53 antibodies were detected with ELISA. Immunohistochemical detection was also performed in patients who developed dysplasia or CRC.

RESULTS

Serum p53 Ab was positive in 15.0% of UC, while it was positive only in 1.6% of HCs. In sporadic CRCs, 52.4% of 82 patients were positive. In UC patients with disease duration equal to or longer than 8 years, positivity of serum p53 Ab was significantly higher than those in patients with shorter duration. Eight of 13 (61.5%) UC patients with CRC or dysplasia were positive for serum p53 Abs, which was significantly higher than that in patients without neoplasia. All UC patients with CRC were positive for p53 staining, while 2 were negative for serum p53 Ab. Finally, levels of serum p53 Ab had fallen in 4 patients with CRC we could monitor after surgery.

CONCLUSIONS

This study revealed that p53 Ab developed in the progression of UC-associated CRC but not in all patients with neoplasia, suggesting that serological detection of p53 Abs by ELISA is not suitable in primarily selecting patients at high risk; however, it is helpful in salvaging patients who drop from a surveillance program.

The clinical significance of autoantibodies in gastrointestinal malignancies: an overview

Autoimmunity can be associated with cancer and one of the forms of its expression is the development of antibodies to autologous cellular antigens. The types of cellular proteins which induce autoantibody responses in gastrointestinal malignancies are quite varied and include cellular proteins encoded by mutated normal genes (p53), cellular proteins that are overexpressed and/or aberrantly expressed in malignant tissues (carcinoembryonic antigen), inhibitors of apoptosis (survivin and livin), major components of mucus (mucins), surface receptors of apoptosis (Fas) and nuclear-restricted proteins (double-stranded DNA, single-stranded DNA and Sm family proteins). In the past few years, due to the great clinical interest and the advancement in detection techniques, the above list has grown significantly and a large number of cancer-related antigens, which trigger a specific humoral immune response to the host, have also been identified. The authors review the autoantibodies associated with gastrointestinal malignancies and their clinical implications.

Anti-p53 antibodies in patients with dermatomyositis/polymyositis

Dermatomyositis/polymyositis (DM/PM), which is often accompanied by various immunological abnormalities, was reported to be associated with an increased incidence of malignancies. In this study, we analyzed serum levels of anti-p53 antibody (anti-p53 Ab) in DM/PM patients and in normal controls. Serum levels of anti-p53 Abs were significantly higher in DM/PM patients than those in healthy controls. However, there was no significant difference between serum levels in patients with malignancies and those in patients without malignancies. Anti-p53 Abs were positive in 13% (4 out of 31) of the DM/PM patients. Of these four patients, only one had an internal malignancy. Immunoglobulin G levels were significantly higher in patients positive for anti-p53 Ab than those who were not. These results seemed to suggest that the presence of anti-p53 Abs in DM/PM patients is due to immunological abnormalities in this disease.