Evaluation of Lens culinaris agglutinin-reactive α-fetoprotein for diagnosis of malignant tumors

Background: To assess the potential of AFP-L3% for the utility to diagnose malignant tumors.Methods: The AFP-L3 was concentrated from clinically-collected serum samples via the Hotgen Biotech glycosyl capture spin columns and then measured through the protein microarrays. The levels of AFP and AFP-L3 were detected by electrochemiluminescence immunoassay. In this retrospective study, 266 patients with the level of serum AFP-L3 over 1ng/ml were recruited from December 2014 through April 2019,Among them, 155 patients were clinically diagnosed/confirmed with malignant tumors, including 101 hepatocellular carcinomas, 47 stomach malignant tumors, and 7 other malignant tumors; and the rest of 111 patients were nomalignant tumors.Results: Patients with serum AFP-L3 level of greater than 1ng/ml were mainly detected in hepatic diseases, including hepatocellular carcinoma, cirrhosis and chronic hepatitis. In patients with no tumors, the levels of serum AFP-L3 over 1ng/ml were only observed in liver disease. The levels of AFP-L3 in blood were substantially greater in patients with HCC. Among the malignant tumor patients with the level of serum AFP-L3 over 1ng/ml, HCC accounted for 60%, gastric cancer for nearly 40%. The AFP, AFP-L3 and AFP-L3% in blood were increased significantly in patients with liver malignancy, chronic liver disease and cirrhosis. However, the elevation of AFP-L3 and AFP-L3% in the malignant cohort was more evident than that in the nonmalignant counterpart.Conclusions: AFP-L3 is likely to contribute to differential diagnosis of HCC as well as other hepatic diseases, AFP-L3% is a reliable indicator for diagnosing benign and malignant tumors.

Diagnostic value of alpha-fetoprotein, Lens culinaris agglutinin-reactive alpha-fetoprotein, and des-gamma-carboxyprothrombin in hepatitis B virus-related hepatocellular carcinoma

Objective This study aimed to explore the use of different combinations of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), Lens culinaris agglutinin-reactive AFP (AFP-L3), and des-gamma-carboxyprothrombin (DCP) for the early diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in patients with hepatitis B virus (HBV)-associated liver cirrhosis (LC). Methods There were 167 subjects, including 100 with HCC and 67 with LC, who were enrolled into this study. Serum AFP, AFP-L3, and DCP levels were detected by chemiluminescent enzyme immunoassay and analyzed using the receiver operating characteristics (ROC) method. Results The sensitivity and specificity of AFP and DCP for differentiating between early HCC and HBV-associated LC were 51.5% and 92.5%, and 60.0% and 84.7%, respectively. Comparative analysis of ROC curves showed no significant difference in the area under the curve (AUC) for AFP and DCP. Moreover, the combination of AFP and DCP showed the largest AUC value with a diagnostic sensitivity and specificity of 67% and 83.1%, respectively. Conclusion These results suggest that AFP is the best single biomarker for distinguishing between HBV-associated LC and early HCC induced by HBV. However, the combination of AFP and DCP can enhance the diagnostic value of AFP for differentiating between these diseases.

Enhancing Effect of 100.414-kHz Electromagnetic Field Produced by Defender’s Pulse Generator on the ChIFN γ-Like Molecule Inducing Capacity of Lens culinaris Agglutinin and 10% PBS Washouts of Different Holocene Minerals

Macrophages play key role in host defense and tissue repair, and thus understanding regulation of their function is important. For instance, our previous results have shown that in chicken macrophage system (CoMA cell line), application of a pulse of electromagnetic fields of frequencies 0.618, 1.054, 5.229, and 100.414 kHz induces production of interferon γ-like molecules. In this study, we have shown that the electromagnetic field of 100.414 kHz is the most effective in inducing synthesis of chicken interferon γ and chicken interferon γ-like molecules in CoMA cells, especially when combined with Lens culinaris agglutinin and 10% phosphate-buffered saline washouts of different Holocene minerals. A 2-minute pulse of electromagnetic field was produced by Defender’s pulse generator. Both chicken interferon γ and chicken interferon γ-like molecules from the cell supernatant were evaluated by an antiviral assay and were also analyzed with reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography on Phenomenex, Aeris peptide columns. Our results show that application of a single inducing factor ( Lens culinaris agglutinin, 100.414 kHz electromagnetic field, 10% phosphate buffer saline washout) or combined usage of 2 of them moderately stimulated production of chicken interferon γ-like molecules (from 1.550 to 48.028 IU/mL), whereas the combination of 10% phosphate-buffered saline washout of Koprivnica rock + Lens culinaris agglutinin + 100.414 kHz/9 V resulted in an output of 162.122 IU/mL. Hence, we may conclude that a combined use of electromagnetic field, Holocene minerals, and Lens culinaris agglutinin greatly stimulates synthesis of chicken interferon γ-like molecules in CoMA cells.