title: Lymphocyte urosynthase in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. An indicator of disease extensiveness.
abstract: The activity of lymphocyte uroporphyrinogen synthase (URO-S) was examined in 51 non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) patients at various follow-up periods. Mean +/- SD activity (pmol porphyrin/mg protein/hr) at diagnosis (n = 24), on relapse (n = 14) and during active disease (n = 14) were 31.7 +/- 19.8, 31.7 +/- 27.2 and 29.4 +/- 18.5, respectively. These values were significantly higher than the enzyme activity during remission (14.1 +/- 4.0), which was in the normal range (14.5 +/- 3.8). Abnormally high activity was found in 65.4% of determinations at diagnosis, on relapse and during active disease, compared to 5.5% during remission (P less than 0.001). Significant association of abnormal URO-S activity was found with advanced clinical stage (P less than 0.01), spleen enlargement (P = 0.048), involvement of bone marrow (P = 0.02), as well as lymphoma cell spread to peripheral blood (P = 0.03). Highly significant correlation (r = 0.65, P less than 0.001) was found between URO-S activity and serum lactic dehydrogenase (LDH) levels. Excessively high levels of URO-S activity were found only in patients with lymphoma cells in peripheral blood. No association was found with histopathologic classification and liver size. The authors conclude that URO-S activity is a biochemical indicator for patients in all stages of NHL and seems to be a specific marker for the extensiveness of the disease.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000642:Ammonia-Lyases / Q000378:metabolism*; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D011163:Hydroxymethylbilane Synthase / Q000378:metabolism*; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000201:enzymology*; D008228:Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging
chemical_list: D011163:Hydroxymethylbilane Synthase; D000642:Ammonia-Lyases