Effect of hyaluronate on the electrophoretic migration of plasma proteins in pleural fluid

Our plain-English summary of Effect of hyaluronate on the electrophoretic migration of plasma proteins in pleural fluid, by G. Lindstedt (Scandinavian Journal of Clinical and Laboratory Investigation, 1970).

The study

• Author: G. Lindstedt
• Journal: Scandinavian Journal of Clinical and Laboratory Investigation
• Published: 1970;25(1):59-61
• Cited by: 2 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

In plain English

This 1970 report from the Department of Clinical Chemistry at Malmö General Hospital, Sweden, described laboratory findings in pleural fluid from one patient, a 60-year-old welder with fluid around both lungs (bilateral pleural effusions). The article does not mention asbestos exposure. The patient died 3 months after admission. At autopsy a malignant tumour had spread widely in the chest, and its growth pattern in the lung resembled alveolo-bronchiolar carcinoma rather than mesothelioma. Two pleural fluid samples were studied. Treating the fluid with the enzyme hyaluronidase lowered its relative viscosity from 3.0 to 1.5. On agarose-gel electrophoresis, a laboratory method that separates proteins, hyaluronate appeared only after enzyme treatment, at an estimated 1-2 mg/ml. Before treatment, several protein bands and the lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) isoenzyme bands I to IV were slowed and distorted. After treatment the pattern was normal. The author concluded that this kind of distorted pattern, which disappears after hyaluronidase treatment, indicates high concentrations of large hyaluronate molecules. The author suggested the observations might be of diagnostic value in other cases of suspected mesothelioma.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: Case report with laboratory analysis of pleural fluid from a single patient
• Who was studied: One 60-year-old welder with bilateral pleural effusions, Malmö General Hospital, Sweden; two pleural fluid samples were studied
• Exposure: The article does not describe any asbestos or other occupational exposure; it gives only the patient's occupation as welder. What was studied in the laboratory was the effect of hyaluronate in pleural fluid on electrophoresis, before and after treatment with bovine testicular hyaluronidase.
• Main results:
  • At autopsy the patient had a malignant tumour widely spread in the thoracic cavity; the growth pattern within the lung was that of an alveolo-bronchiolar carcinoma rather than a mesothelioma
  • The pleural fluid had an elevated protein concentration of 5 g per 100 ml
  • Hyaluronidase treatment of the pleural fluid reduced its relative viscosity from 3.0 to 1.5
  • On zone electrophoresis, hyaluronate was found in the pleural fluid only after hyaluronidase treatment; its concentration was estimated by visual inspection at 1-2 mg/ml
  • Before enzyme treatment, amido black staining showed broadened albumin and transferrin bands and slowed migration of albumin, alpha-1-antitrypsin and alpha-2-macroglobulin; the band pattern was normal after hyaluronidase treatment
  • LDH isoenzyme bands I to IV were retarded and distorted before, but not after, hyaluronidase treatment
• The authors' conclusion: The author concluded that a distorted protein pattern on agarose-gel electrophoresis of fluid from the serous cavities, present before but not after hyaluronidase treatment, indicates high concentrations of macromolecular hyaluronate. The author suggested the observations might be of diagnostic value in other cases of suspected mesothelioma.

Topics

The National Library of Medicine indexes this study under subjects our site covers: Mesothelioma, Pleural plaques and thickening.

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• Hyaluronate binding probe and CD44 in the differential diagnosis of malignant effusions: disappointing results in cytology material — A.C. Filie, A. Abati, et al. (1998)
• Combined hyaluronate-based films loaded with pemetrexed and cisplatin for the treatment of malignant pleural mesothelioma: Preliminary evaluation in an orthotopic tumor recurrence model — F. Sonvico, S. Barbieri, et al. (2018)

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