Thomas Nesselhut

The relationship between urinary Tamm-Horsfall glycoprotein excretion and urinary activity of glycosidases in normal pregnancy and pre-eclampsia

Electrophoretic analyses of the urinary proteins of pre-eclamptic patients revealed a decrease in the staining intensity of the protein band representing the Tamm-Horsfall glycoprotein (THP). In the present study the quantitative analysis of the THP excretion rate and the urinary activity of THP oligosaccharide metabolizing glycosidases were investigated. The median THP excretion rate of non-pregnant women (n = 24) was 20 mg/g creatinine (crea.). An increase in the THP excretion rate was seen in pregnancy to a level between 43 mg/g crea. (II. trimester) and 32 mg/g crea. (III. trimester) (n = 29). Hypertension in pregnancy was associated with a decrease in the THP excretion rate to 9 mg/g crea. (n = 85). Post partum, a transient elevated THP excretion rate up to 109 mg/g crea was recorded in the group of hypertensive patients. The urinary activities of the lysosomal beta-mannosidase, alpha-fucosidase, alpha-mannosidase (pH 4.5) and beta-galactosidase increased in normal pregnancy. This effect was most pronounced in the beta-galactosidase activity which increased from 50 U/mg crea. before pregnancy to 280 U/mg crea. at term. Hypertension in pregnancy was associated with a further increase in the activities of the lysosomal glycosidases. In the case of the beta-galactosidase a significant rise from 68 to 310 U/mg crea. was found. The urinary activity of the alpha-mannosidase (pH 5.5) originating from the Golgi apparatus was only elevated in patients with severe pre-eclampsia. Casuistic post partum recordings demonstrated that an elevation of the lysosomal glycosidases activities was followed by a transient increase in the THP excretion rate.

Immunotherapy with dendritic cells as a second-line therapy in advanced pleural mesothelioma.

e13063 Background: Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is an aggressive disease with an unfavorable prognosis. The current front-line treatment for nonoperable stages is cisplatinum in combination with pemetrexed chemotherapy. The reported median overall survival times are less than 15 months. After failure of first-line therapy there is currently no proven effective therapy, whereas potential side effects from further treatments may impair quality of life. In those cases, we report that immunotherapy with monocyte-derived dendritic cells (MoDC) can be effective without significant impact on life quality. Methods: After isolating monocytes from peripheral blood of n=14 patients with stage 4 MPM who failed first-line chemotherapy, MoDC were generated using standard protocols. The MoDC were primed on day 5 with tumor-lysate and co-cultured with toll-like receptor ligands to induce a TH1-polarization of the MoDC. In one case, an allogeneic cell line lysed by the oncolytic Newcastle disease virus (NDV) was u...