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Equine alpha-fetoprotein levels in Lipizzaner mares with normal pregnancies and with pregnancy loss.Theriogenology Dec 2015Alpha-fetoprotein has proved to be a good indicator of fetal well-being in human medicine for decades. Although this molecule is present in most of the mammalian species...
Alpha-fetoprotein has proved to be a good indicator of fetal well-being in human medicine for decades. Although this molecule is present in most of the mammalian species including horses, reference values in healthy and high-risk pregnant mares have not yet been published. The aim of the present study was to determine whether equine alpha-fetoprotein (eqAFP) is a good indicator of complicated pregnancies in Lipizzaner mares. A total of 111 serum samples from 30 mares have been analyzed for eqAFP levels throughout gestation (Days 60-325). After the pregnancy was confirmed, 23 mares had normal pregnancies with viable foals, six had late embryonic loss, and one of the mares aborted in the ninth gestational month. Equine alpha-fetoprotein concentrations significantly differed in the normal group (72.93 ± 49.25 pg/mL; mean ± standard deviation) and in the complicated pregnancy loss group (152 ± 36.48 pg/mL; mean ± standard deviation). The mares' age, gestational age, and the conception rate significantly affected the alpha-fetoprotein concentrations in the normal group. Furthermore, notable individual differences occurred in eqAFP concentrations between mares. Equine alpha-fetoprotein seems to be an important indicator of fetal well-being in horses, but there are still some unanswered questions (levels in foals of different age, ponies, and draft horses) regarding this serum protein. Large-scale studies are needed to assess the specificity, sensitivity, and reliability of this test as a possible future diagnostic tool for fetal well-being in horses.
Topics: Aborted Fetus; Abortion, Veterinary; Animals; Female; Gene Expression Regulation; Horse Diseases; Horses; Male; Pregnancy; Pregnancy, Animal; Reference Values; alpha-Fetoproteins
PubMed: 26359849
DOI: 10.1016/j.theriogenology.2015.08.006 -
Medicine Aug 2019Post-treatment alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) response has been reported to be associated with prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients, but the results were not... (Meta-Analysis)
Meta-Analysis
BACKGROUND
Post-treatment alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) response has been reported to be associated with prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients, but the results were not consistent. This meta-analysis aimed to explore the relationship between AFP response and clinical outcomes of HCC.
METHODS
PubMed, Embase, Medline and Cochrane library were searched for relevant articles published before March 20, 2019. The data were analyzed using RevMan5.3 software.
RESULTS
Twenty-nine articles with 4726 HCC patients were finally included for analysis. The pooled results showed that post-treatment AFP response was significantly associated with overall survival (OS) (hazard ratio (HR) = 0.41, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.35-0.47, P <.001), progression free survival (PFS) (HR = 0.46, 95% CI: 0.39-0.54, P <.001) and recurrence free survival (RFS) (HR = 0.41, 95% CI: 0.29-0.56, P <.001) of HCC patients.
CONCLUSION
post-treatment AFP response might be a useful prognostic marker for HCC patients.
Topics: Humans; Liver Neoplasms; Prognosis; alpha-Fetoproteins
PubMed: 31374020
DOI: 10.1097/MD.0000000000016557 -
Pediatric Blood & Cancer Mar 2009Hereditary persistence of alpha-fetoprotein (HPAFP) is a rare benign autosomal dominant disorder. Here we report a 7-year-old healthy female who was found to have...
Hereditary persistence of alpha-fetoprotein (HPAFP) is a rare benign autosomal dominant disorder. Here we report a 7-year-old healthy female who was found to have elevated alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) of 55-88 ng/ml over a 2-year period. Subsequently, AFP was also determined to be elevated in another 4 out of 8 family members in three generations, consistent with an autosomal dominant inheritance pattern. Elevated AFP levels are usually related to pregnancy, congenital disorders, liver diseases, or specific malignancies. However, HPAFP should be considered in the differential diagnosis of children with unexplained elevation of AFP. This disorder can be easily confirmed by measuring AFP levels in family members or checking specific point mutations of AFP gene promoter.
Topics: Child; Female; Health; Humans; Male; Pedigree; alpha-Fetoproteins
PubMed: 18985745
DOI: 10.1002/pbc.21816 -
Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) Feb 2021In the present study, a sunflower-like nanostructure array composed of a series of synaptic nanoparticles and nanospheres was manufactured through an efficient and...
In the present study, a sunflower-like nanostructure array composed of a series of synaptic nanoparticles and nanospheres was manufactured through an efficient and low-cost colloidal lithography technique. The primary electromagnetic field contribution generated by the synaptic nanoparticles of the surface array structures was also determined by a finite-difference time-domain software to simulate the hotspots. This structure exhibited high repeatability and excellent sensitivity; hence, it was used as a surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) active substrate to achieve a rapid detection of ultra-low concentrations of Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP). This study demonstrates the design of a plasmonic structure with strong electromagnetic coupling, which can be used for the rapid detection of AFP concentration in clinical medicine.
Topics: Colloids; Electromagnetic Fields; Nanostructures; Particle Size; Software; Spectrum Analysis, Raman; Surface Properties; alpha-Fetoproteins
PubMed: 33672380
DOI: 10.3390/molecules26041197 -
South Dakota Journal of Medicine Sep 1978
Topics: Female; Gestational Age; Humans; Infant, Newborn; Monitoring, Physiologic; Pregnancy; alpha-Fetoproteins
PubMed: 81523
DOI: No ID Found -
Bioscience Reports Feb 2017α-fetoprotein (AFP) is an early serum growth factor in foetal embryonic development and hepatic oncogenesis. A growing number of investigations of AFP as a...
α-fetoprotein (AFP) is an early serum growth factor in foetal embryonic development and hepatic oncogenesis. A growing number of investigations of AFP as a tumour-specific biomarker have concluded that AFP is an important target for cancer treatment. AFP also plays an immunomodulatory role in the treatment of several autoimmune diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, myasthenia gravis and thyroiditis. In an effort to support biochemical screening and drug design and discovery, we attempted to express and purify human AFP in a Bac-to-Bac system. Two key factors affecting the expression of recombinant human AFP (R-AFP), namely the infectious baculovirus inoculum volume and the culturing time post-infection, were optimized to maximize the yield. We achieved a high yield of approximately 1.5 mg/l of harvested medium with a 72-96 h incubation period after infection and an inoculum volume ratio of 1:100. We also assessed the role of R-AFP in the proliferation of the human liver cancer cell line Bel 7402, and the results indicated that R-AFP promoted the growth of hepatoma cells. We concluded that this method can produce high yields of R-AFP, which can be used for studies related to AFP.
Topics: Animals; Baculoviridae; Cell Culture Techniques; Cell Line, Tumor; Cell Proliferation; Culture Media; Drug Design; Drug Evaluation, Preclinical; Humans; Immunologic Factors; Insecta; Recombinant Proteins; alpha-Fetoproteins
PubMed: 27913752
DOI: 10.1042/BSR20160161 -
Zhonghua Yi Xue Za Zhi Oct 1998
Topics: Biomarkers, Tumor; Gene Expression Regulation; Humans; Liver Neoplasms; alpha-Fetoproteins
PubMed: 11038820
DOI: No ID Found -
Ukrainskii Biokhimicheskii Zhurnal... 1995The review is dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the opening and studying of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP). New data about molecular properties, structure and functions as... (Review)
Review
The review is dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the opening and studying of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP). New data about molecular properties, structure and functions as well as regulation of AFP synthesis are presented. Clinical significance and prospects of the further study of this oncofetal glycoprotein has been discussed.
Topics: Animals; Humans; Structure-Activity Relationship; alpha-Fetoproteins
PubMed: 8867306
DOI: No ID Found -
Ai Zheng = Aizheng = Chinese Journal of... Jan 2003Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), a tumor-associated fetal protein, has been employed as a serum fetal defect/tumor marker to monitor disease progression. Besides this, AFP has... (Review)
Review
Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), a tumor-associated fetal protein, has been employed as a serum fetal defect/tumor marker to monitor disease progression. Besides this, AFP has many important physiological functions. As a tool of binding and transporting ligands, AFP may bind and transport fatty acids, steroids, heavy metal ions, drugs and some environmental contaminants. As a growth regulator, AFP is capable of both enhancement and inhibition. This function is dose-dependent. The regulatory mechanisms might involve apoptotic regulation, cytoplasmic signaling modulation, and receptor desensitization. As an anticancer drugs-ligand carrier, AFP can transport drugs into target tumor cells by binding AFP receptors overexpressed in the surface of tumor cells, and thus increase antitumor efficiency. In addition, AFP can be employed to chemoprevent breast cancer and possibly other tumors on the basis of its growth suppressive properties.
Topics: Animals; Antineoplastic Agents; Biomarkers, Tumor; Drug Carriers; Growth Substances; Humans; Immunologic Factors; alpha-Fetoproteins
PubMed: 12561448
DOI: No ID Found -
Tumour Biology : the Journal of the... 1994alpha-Fetoprotein (AFP), depending on the surrounding conditions, exerts different functions by different mechanisms. (1) A regulatory effect on the concentration of the... (Review)
Review
alpha-Fetoprotein (AFP), depending on the surrounding conditions, exerts different functions by different mechanisms. (1) A regulatory effect on the concentration of the unbound form of its various ligands (e.g. fatty acids, estrogens, phytosteroids). Thus, numerous studies have demonstrated that fatty acids, particularly the polyunsaturated fatty acids, modulate positively or negatively many steps of the action of various steroids and many enzymes involved in the transduction of membrane-triggered signals. (2) Different conformations (holoforms) of AFP, depending on the nature and concentration of the ligand(s) bound, might influence the binding of the protein to specific receptor(s) and as a consequence its biological properties (internalization, action on the membrane signal transduction pathway). (3) Regardless of the mechanisms, proposed in points 1 and 2, the protein can exert effects associated with other signals such as growth factors. The nature of the associated growth factor(s) and AFP ligand(s) can orient cells towards multiplication or differentiation.
Topics: Animals; Cell Differentiation; Cell Division; Estrogens; Fatty Acids, Nonesterified; Humans; Ligands; Mice; Models, Biological; Polymorphism, Genetic; Protein Conformation; Rats; alpha-Fetoproteins
PubMed: 7514312
DOI: 10.1159/000217876