Clinical utility of the interaction between lectin and serum prostate specific antigen in prostate cancer

Abstract

The present investigation was a lectin-based diagnosis of malignant prostate cancer (PC) by the interaction of phytohemagglutinin (PHA lectin) from Phaseolus vulgaris with the glycan part of serum prostate specific antigen (PSA ) of patients with prostatic disorder. This was confirmed by the interaction between PHA and purified PSA obtained from serum by electrophoretic separation and finally by HPL C chromatography. The precipitate of carbohydrate content after binding of PHA with purified PSA of PC was significantly higher than that of benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH) and/or normal serum PSA . The results suggest that there may be a striking difference in glycosylation pattern of PSA between BPH and PC. The cut off value ≥ 10 μg/ml of the carbohydrate content of PHA-PSA precipitate indicates strong suspicion for PC irrespective of total serum PSA cut off level ≥ 4.0ng/ml by conventional immunoassay method and this may be taken as a guideline in differentiating PC and BPH.