Recombinant human erythropoietin (EPO) produced by Chinese hamster ovary cells and distributed by two different pharmaceutical companies were confirmed to contain about 1% N-glycolylneuraminic acid ...(Neu5Gc) in total sialic acid content. Since chickens, like humans, do not synthesize Neu5Gc, they were used to determine the immunogenicity of Neu5Gc epitope in EPO. Chickens immunized with EPO did not produce significant titer of antibody that was specific to GM3(Neu5Gc) as compared to antibody titers produced in chickens immunized with fetuin containing 7% Neu5Gc or GM3(Neu5Gc) containing 100% Neu5Gc. Results obtained by an ELISA inhibition test showed that EPO, compared to GM3(Neu5Gc), reacted almost one thousand times less strongly with a human Hanganutziu-Deicher (HD) antibody. This study implies that an increase of Neu5Gc content in a molecule enhances its HD antigenicity. The response to Neu5Gc in patients receiving therapeutic injections of EPO is currently under investigation.
Hepatocellular carcinoma results when cancerous cells are localized in the liver. It is distributed globally with high prevalence in sub-Saharan African, southern Asia, China and Japan. Diagnosis is ...experimental and in many cases inaccurate due to unreliability of markers. Prognosis is poor and the cost of treatment prohibitive. Conventional radiation and chemotherapy lead to loss of hair, fertility and general weakening of the body's immune system increasing a patient's risk to infection. These observations underscore the need for improved, or additional methods of cancer diagnosis and management. We investigated the effect of polysaccharide rich Pleurotus pulmonarius fruit body extracts on progression of chemically induced hepatocellular carcinoma in CBA mice. Addition of Pleurotus pulmonarius extracts in diet delayed progression of carcinogenesis suggesting that these extracts may be useful as adjuvants to conventional cancer therapies.
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