Decreased Serum Hepatocyte Growth Factor (HGF) in Individuals with Schizophrenia Normalizes after Zinc and B-6 Therapy

2010 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. PRI.S6145
Author(s):  
A.J. Russo ◽  
Robert deVito

Aim To assess serum HGF concentration in individuals with schizophrenia and investigate the efficacy of zinc and B-6 therapy on these levels. Subjects and methods Serum from 18 individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia and 19 age and gender similar controls ( P = 0.18) were tested for HGF concentration using ELISAs, and tested for copper and zinc plasma levels using inductively-coupled plasma-mass spectrometry. Results HGF serum levels of individuals with schizophrenia, before zinc and B-6 therapy, were significantly lower than age and gender similar controls ( P = 0.016), and significantly lower in schizophrenia patients pre-therapy compared to post therapy ( P = 0.028). HGF levels normalized (reached levels similar to controls) post-therapy. Zinc levels in these same individuals also normalized, and perceived symptoms, particularly anxiety ( P = 0.03), improved significantly after therapy. Discussion These results suggest an association between low HGF levels and schizophrenia and demonstrate that zinc and B-6 therapy may be associated with the normalization of HGF levels and perceived improvement in symptoms.

2010 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. NMI.S5528 ◽  
Author(s):  
A.J. Russo

Aim To assess serum HGF concentration in individuals with bipolar disorder and investigate the efficacy of zinc therapy on these levels. Subjects and Methods Serum from 35 individuals diagnosed with bipolar disorder and 19 age and gender similar controls were tested for HGF concentration using ELISAs, and copper and zinc plasma levels using inductively-coupled plasma-mass spectrometry. Results HGF serum levels of individuals with bipolar disorder were significantly lower than age and gender similar controls ( P = 0.0021). HGF serum concentration was significantly lower in Bipolar patients pre-therapy ( P = 0.0009) and HGF levels normalized post-therapy. Zinc levels in these same individuals also normalized ( P = 0.0046) and patient's perceived severity of Bipolar symptoms significantly decreased after therapy ( P = 0.0003). We also found a significant direct correlation between Zinc and HGF serum concentration in the bipolar patients ( P = 0.04). Discussion These results suggest an association between low HGF levels and bipolar disorder and also demonstrate that zinc therapy may be associated with the normalization of HGF levels and decrease in severity of disease.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mao-Chin Hung ◽  
Peter Chang

AbstractThis study investigated lead concentrations in the hairs of radiographers working in the radiological departments of general hospitals that used lead shielding for radiation protection. We collected scalp hair samples from 32 radiographers working in four radiology departments with lead shielding and 18 administration personnel in the same hospitals without lead shielding. Samples were analyzed for lead concentrations by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. As a result, lead concentrations in the hairs of the radiological technologists were significantly higher than those in the administration staffs (0.72 ± 0.51 vs. 0.19 ± 0.27 μg/g, P < 0.001). The hair lead concentrations were positively and significantly associated with environmental lead concentrations (r = 0.6, P = 0.001), but not associated with age, working duration, and gender distribution.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fang Luan ◽  
Bin Liu ◽  
Shuzhen Sun ◽  
Yuan Chen ◽  
Yanqiu Xu ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Several researches have been conducted on the associations between elements and diseases. Few studies have examined trace elements in young people’s hair. The objective of this study is to investigate the influence of age, gender and season on the contents of magnesium (Mg), calcium (Ca), Iron (Fe), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), manganese (Mn), selenium (Se) and strontium (Sr) as well as to establish the reference intervals (RIs). Methods We conducted a retrospective study of 589 apparently healthy children and adolescents under 19 years old. Quantitative analysis has been carried out using inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Eight nutrient elements in peripheral blood of children and adolescents in eastern China were grouped according to age, sex or season, and analyzed using and Mann-Whitney U test and spearman statistical analyses. RIs were defined by using 95% confidence interval. Results Precisions of ICP-MS detecting for Mg, Ca, Fe, Cu, Zn, Mn, Se and Sr are 2.8%~12.2%. The linearity were all > 0.999 and the bias were all within 10%. Differences between contents of particularly Mg, Fe, Cu and Zn in girls’ and boys’ whole blood were found, and higher contents of Mg, Cu for boys were measured in some age groups. Positive correlations for Fe, Zn, Se and Sr, while negative for Ca and Cu were found with age. And substantial differences between age groups were stated. In general, an increasing trend was found for bioelements (Fe, Zn,Se) both for girls and boys in all age groups, while for Ca and Cu changes were even decreasing for children and teenagers. The most frequently correlating element pairs were Fe-Zn, Mg-Se, and Fe-Se in five successive age groups. Lower contents of essential elements (Mg, Ca, Fe, Zn, Se) were found in summer comparing with other seasons. Finally, the reference interval of each element was initially established according to age and gender grouping. Conclusions The contents of elements in whole blood varies depending mainly on the gender and age of children and adolescents. Besides, season is also a factor that affects the contents of elements in the body. The reference intervals of elements in whole blood grouped by age and gender provide a reference basis for clinical diagnosis and treatment of element-related diseases.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ingo Strenge ◽  
Carsten Engelhard

<p>The article demonstrates the importance of using a suitable approach to compensate for dead time relate count losses (a certain measurement artefact) whenever short, but potentially strong transient signals are to be analysed using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Findings strongly support the theory that inadequate time resolution, and therefore insufficient compensation for these count losses, is one of the main reasons for size underestimation observed when analysing inorganic nanoparticles using ICP-MS, a topic still controversially discussed.</p>


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