Human plasma kallikrein. Immunoreactivity and activity on natural and synthetic substrates.

Human plasma kallikrein (HuPK) is a serine protease found in mammalian plasma. Following limited proteolysis, the enzyme is activated and forms two chains. The light chain occurs with molecular weight 36,000 or 33,000 and contains the active site.

Action of plant proteinase inhibitors on enzymes of the kallikrein kinin system.

Serine proteinase inhibitors, in the seeds of several Leguminosae from the Pantanal region (West Brazil), were studied using bovine trypsin, Factor XIIa and human plasma kallikrein. The inhibitors were purified from Enterolobium contortisiliquum (Mr = 23,000), Torresea cearensis (Mr = 13,000), Bauhinia bauhinioides (Mr = 20,000), Bauhinia mollis (Mr = 20,000) and Bauhinia pentandra (Mr = 20,000). E.

Human plasma kallikrein processing: proteolysis as an alternative control.

Human plasma kallikrein (HuPK) was detected in normal non-activated and dilution-activated plasma by immunoblotting, using polyclonal antibodies. In non-activated plasma, the predominatly detected protein corresponds to prokallikrein (Mr 80,000-90,000). Activated plasma, besides kallikrein, contains larger proteins (Mr > 130,000) that possibly represent complexes between kallikrein and proteinase inhibitors.

[Diagnosis of sensorineural hearing loss by ipsilateral masking of brain stem auditory evoked potentials].

The Authors show their original technique for the differential diagnosis of cochlear and retrocochlear hearing loss which employs ipsilateral masking of the A.B.R.

[Use of CO2 laser in conservative surgery of glottic tumors].

The present work evaluates the results obtained in a group of 360 patients with laryngeal-glottic tumors (classification T1/T2-N0-M0) who, in the last 10 years, have undergone direct microlaryngoscopy surgery employing a CO2 Laser. In the T1 glottic carcinomas the neoplasm was limited to the vocal cord on one side or it involved the anterior commissure and, most likely, the vocal cord on the opposite side; in T2 glottic tumors the extension reached the hypoglottic region and/or the Morgagni ventricle and the false vocal cords on one or both sides but without compromising laryngeal motility. The five year healing rate for the T1 tumors proved to be 84.

Improving clinical efficacy of computed tomographic scan in the preoperative assessment of patients with non-small cell lung cancer.

The criterion of choice for computed tomographic scan identification of metastatic mediastinal nodes is not clearly fixed. This prospective study was designed to define the most suitable computed tomographic criterion for detection of nodal metastasis, enabling improvement of the test's clinical efficacy. One hundred twenty-three patients with potentially operable non-small cell lung cancer underwent mediastinal evaluation by computed tomographic scan and cervical mediastinoscopy followed by thoracotomy with mediastinal node dissection.

Topological mapping of 13 epitopes on a subunit of Androctonus australis hemocyanin.

A topological localization of epitopes on the surface of the Aa6 subunit of Androctonus australis hemocyanin has been carried out. First, immunocomplex strings composed of native hemocyanin and monoclonal antibodies were examined in the electron microscope and submitted to an image processing by correspondence analysis. The average images were then compared to a three-dimensional model of the 24-mer suggesting that 11 of the 13 epitopes are located in three zones of the subunit surface.

Prognostic value of the Jass histopathologic classification in left colon and rectal cancer: a multivariate analysis.

Variables correlated to survival were studied in 121 patients who had undergone potentially curative surgery for left colon and rectal cancer. To investigate the prognostic value of the parameters both univariate and multivariate analysis were carried out. Minimum follow-up was 5 years.

[Immediate and long-term results of endoscopic or surgical Oddi sphincterotomy in the treatment of lithiasis of the common bile duct].

Ninety-one patients with choledocholithiasis were admitted for endoscopic (51 cases) or surgical (40 cases) sphincterotomy of Oddi's muscle, and were followed up on a yearly basis thereafter for a period spanning 1 to 5 years. The study protocol included clinical examinations, ultrasonographic investigations and biochemical tests. The post-surgery mortality rate was 3.

Grading as a prognostic factor: review of 209 primary gastric cancer patients.

Two hundred and nine cases of primary gastric cancer were treated surgically from January 1968 to December 1983 and analyzed retrospectively. All patients were followed up for a minimum of 5 years. There were 25 SI cases (12%), 22 SII (10.

[Colorectal cancer: prognosis after curative surgical treatment without extended elective lymphadenectomy in patients in Dukes C stage].

A retrospective analysis has been carried out on a group of 103 Dukes C cases from a series of 412 patients with colorectal carcinoma, operated on from January 1970 to November 1983. The 5-year survival rate was 32% in patients who had a curative resection (median survival: 24 months). Larger numbers of lymph nodes were obtained with right or left colectomy.

[Sessile tubulo-villous polyps in the rectum: problems of diagnosis and treatment. Personal experience].

A retrospective analysis was performed on 22 patients (mean age 65) in whom preoperative rectosigmoidoscopy had diagnosed tubulovillous rectal polyp. In 12 cases the polyps were removed transanally and the remaining 10 were subjected to laparotomy. The incidence of error in the preoperative histological diagnosis was 18.