Serum protective factor

Other "factors" which resemble or are identical with interferon have also been identified. A serum protective factor (SPF) has been isolated from mice infected with Langat virus. It was shown that SPF is not an Immunoglobulin, but it is found in the globulin fraction, and it also differs from Interferon in that it does not protect mice under 3 weeks of... 

Liver toxicity is a rare side effect of CBZ therapy (Trimble, 1990), although a recent study reported that 9% of children on CBZ had mildly elevated aspartate aminotransferase (Camfield and Camfield, 1985). Higher mean serum total cholesterol (TC) levels, mean low-density lipoprotein level, and mean TC/high-density lipoprotein ratio have been reported in children with epilepsy treated with CBZ, compared with controls (Sozuer et ah, 1997). Conversely, an increase in serum high-density lipoproteins was reported in a smaller sample of patients treated with CBZ, and was therefore interpreted as a possible protective factor against atherosclerosis (Yalcin et ah, 1997). 

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. There are a number of established risk factors including serum cholesterol levels, smoking and family history, which are responsible for between 50 and 75% of the CVD cases, with the remainder due to factors that cause atherosclerosis. Estrogen treatment such as hormone replacement therapy is known to protect against CVD by decreasing the levels of low-density... 

In an excellent review of the immunopathogenesis of schistosomiasis, Warren (W3) reported that the egg of the schistosome parasite was the prime factor responsible for the hepatosplenomegaly in the mouse furthermore, that neonatal thymectomy and antilymphocyte serum had marked immunosuppression on the granuloma formation around schistosome eggs injected into the lungs of mice, implying that cell-mediated immunity must play some role in the protection of the host against schistosome infection. 

Immunoglobulins, oq-trypsin inhibitor and a2-macroglobulin,k ten or more blood clotting factors and proteins of the complement system all have protective functions that are discussed elsewhere in this book. Hormones, many of them proteins, are present in the blood as they are carried to their target tissues. Many serum proteins have unknown or poorly understood functions. Among these are the acute phase proteins, whose concentrations rise in response to inflammation or other injury. 

All substances conisdered in this section can only be dried in the presence of CPAs, if their natural qualities are to be protected. Greiff [3.24] studied the stability of purified influenza virus of strain PR 8 in physiological saline with calcium lactobionate and human serum albumin (each 1% in the solution). The freezing rate was 1 °C/min down to -30 °C. During the freeze-drying, the product temperature was raised from -30 to 0 °C in 12-16 h and the product was dried at this temperature. After 24 h, the first 145 vials were removed and additional vials after intervals of 24 h each. The residual moisture content was 3.0, 2.0, 1.5,1.0 and 0.5%.The stability of the freeze-dried virus (expressed in days during which the titer of the infectivity decreased by a factor of 10) was most unfavorable at 0.4% and 3.2% RM (4 and 7 days, respectively, at +10 °C) and best at 1.7% RM (145 days or more than 1000 days at -10 °C). 

Traditionally, the production of mAbs uses complex culture media containing glucose and amino acids as the main sources of carbon for cell metabolism, as well as vitamins, micronutrients and sometimes animal serum, usually fetal bovine serum. Chapter 5 provides a discussion on composition of culture media and recent trends in the search for formulas that do not require the use of animal serum, or of proteins of animal origin. These serum-free formulations use substitutes such as peptones, epithelial and fibroblast growth factors, hydrolysates, yeast extract, choline, and inositol. For the production of mAbs, various serum-free formulas are available, some of these developed specifically for a given cell line (Chu and Robinson, 2001). The development of those media is easier for non-anchorage-dependent cells, such as those used for mAb production. Thus, approximately 50% of the antibodies for therapeutic use are already produced using serum-free media. In some circumstances, the elimination of serum should be accompanied by the addition of other substances with the same shear stress protective effect of serum proteins,... 

The relationship between elevated triglycerides (TGRs) as a risk factor for CAD is less clear. However, serum TGRs are often inversely related to high-density lipoprotein (HDL—the good cholesterol). Therefore, reduction in TGR levels are associated with a rise in HDL, which has a negative correlation (protective effect) with CAD. 

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