Urinary cholesterol: its association with a macromolecular protein- lipid complex

The cholesterol-containing complexes in the urine of normal subjects and patients with diseases accompanied by hyperexcretion of urinary cholesterol were characterized. In normal subjects, the major portion of the recovered urinary cholesterol was eluted in the void volume fractions after gel chromatography on Bio-Gel A-5m; this suggested an association with a macromolecular complex above 5 X 10(6) daltons. A comparable elution pattern was seen in most of the urines of the patients with benign or malignant diseases of the kidneys or the urogenital tract. However, in single patients with hyperexcretion of urinary cholesterol, considerable amounts of cholesterol were detected in the included volume of the column. This was caused by additional excretion of high density lipoproteins or both high and low density lipoproteins in the urine which could be identified in these fractions by agarose electrophoresis and immunodiffusion. These results indicate that the macromolecular complex represents the majority of the recovered urinary cholesterol in normal subjects and in disease states with known hyperexcretion. Macroscopically, the isolated cholesterol- containing complex in the void volume fractions was turbid, and electron microscopy showed lipoprotein-like particles with diameters ranging from 300 to 700 A. The chemical analysis revealed median values of protein (46.0%), triglycerides (16.3%), cholesterol (8.2%), and phospholipids (29.5%) in normal subjects and comparable results in the patients with benign or malignant diseases of the kidney and the urogenital tract. Ethanolamine glycerophospholipids, phosphatidylcholine, sphingomyelin, and phosphatidylserine were the main phospholipid components. After ultracentrifugation in a CsCl gradient, the cholesterol-containing complex was found between densities 1.1 and 1.3 g/ml. By SDS polyacrylamide electrophoresis, up to 17 protein subunits in the molecular weight range of 14,000 to 87,500 were separated. Immunodiffusion studies showed in about 40% precipitin lines against anti-human albumin, but no reactions against anti-human apoHDL and anti-human apoLDL. However, immunodiffusion of the macromolecular complex against anti-liver-specific and anti-kidney- specific lipoproteins revealed single precipitin lines. In conclusion, the isolated cholesterol-containing urinary complex showed many characteristics of membrane-associated protein-lipid particles of the human kidney and even the liver. These proteolipids are the major source of urinary cholesterol in normal and disease states

Studies on the clinical significance of nonesterified and total cholesterol in urine

Gas-liquid chromatographic determinations of nonesterified and total urinary cholesterol were performed in 137 normals, 264 patients with various internal diseases without evidence of neoplasias or diseases of the kidney or urinary tract, 497 patients with malignancies and 236 patients with diseases of the kidney, urinary tract infections or prostatic adenoma with residual urine. A normal range (mean±2 SD) of 0.2–2.2 mg/24 hours nonesterified cholesterol (NEC) and of 0.3–3.0 mg/24 hours total cholesterol (TC) was calculated. Values of urinary cholesterol excretion were independent of age and sex and did not correlate with cholesterol levels in plasma. Patients with various internal diseases, without evidence of neoplasias nor diseases of the kidney or obstruction of the urinary tract, showed normal urinary cholesterol excretions, as did patients with infections of the urinary tract. However, elevated urinary cholesterol was found in patients with diseases of the kidney or urinary tract obstruction (prostatic adenoma with residual urine), malignant diseases of the urogenital tract and metastasing carcinoma of the breast. In patients with other malignant diseases urinary cholesterol was usually normal. Lesions of the urothelial cell membranes are considered to be the most likely cause of urinary cholesterol hyperexcretion. The clinical value of urinary cholesterol determinations as a possible screening test for urogenital carcinomas in unselected populations is limited by lacking specificity, expensive methodology and low prevalence of the mentioned carcinomas, although elevated urinary cholesterol excretions have been observed in early clinical stages of urogenital cancers

Singular Coexistence-curve Diameters: Experiments and Simulations

Precise calculations of the coexistence-curve diameters of a hard-core square-we ll (HCSW) fluid and the restricted primitive model (RPM) electrolyte exhibit mar ked deviations from rectilinear behavior. The HCSW diameter displays a $|t|^{1- alpha}$ singularity that sets in sharply for $|t|\equiv |T-T_c|/T_c\lesssim 10^{-3}$; this compares favorably with extensive data for ${SF}_6$, also reflec ted in C$_2$H$_6$, N$_2$, etc. By contrast, the curvature of the RPM diameter va ries slowly over a wide range $|t|\lesssim 0.1$; this behavior mirrors observati ons for liquid alkali metals, specifically Rb and Cs. Amplitudes for the leading singular terms can be estimated numerically but their values cannot be taken li terally.Comment: 9 pages and 4 figure

Simple geometrical interpretation of the linear character for the Zeno-line and the rectilinear diameter

The unified geometrical interpretation of the linear character of the Zeno-line (unit compressibility line Z=1) and the rectilinear diameter is proposed. We show that recent findings about the properties of the Zeno-line and striking correlation with the rectilinear diameter line as well as other empirical relations can be naturally considered as the consequences of the projective isomorphism between the real molecular fluids and the lattice gas (Ising) model.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figure

Asymmetric Fluid Criticality II: Finite-Size Scaling for Simulations

The vapor-liquid critical behavior of intrinsically asymmetric fluids is studied in finite systems of linear dimensions, $L$, focusing on periodic boundary conditions, as appropriate for simulations. The recently propounded ``complete'' thermodynamic $(L\to\infty)$ scaling theory incorporating pressure mixing in the scaling fields as well as corrections to scaling ${[arXiv:cond-mat/0212145]}$, is extended to finite $L$, initially in a grand canonical representation. The theory allows for a Yang-Yang anomaly in which, when $L\to\infty$, the second temperature derivative, $(d^{2}\mu_{\sigma}/dT^{2})$, of the chemical potential along the phase boundary, $\mu_{\sigma}(T)$, diverges when T\to\Tc -. The finite-size behavior of various special {\em critical loci} in the temperature-density or $(T,\rho)$ plane, in particular, the $k$-inflection susceptibility loci and the $Q$-maximal loci -- derived from $Q_{L}(T,_{L}) \equiv ^{2}_{L}/< m^{4}>_{L}$ where $m \equiv \rho - _{L}$ -- is carefully elucidated and shown to be of value in estimating \Tc and \rhoc. Concrete illustrations are presented for the hard-core square-well fluid and for the restricted primitive model electrolyte including an estimate of the correlation exponent $\nu$ that confirms Ising-type character. The treatment is extended to the canonical representation where further complications appear.Comment: 23 pages in the two-column format (including 13 figures) This is Part II of the previous paper [arXiv:cond-mat/0212145