Isolation, characterization, and distribution of a 24-kDa proteoglycan in the urine of cachectic cancer and AIDS patients

Substantial weight loss in individuals with AIDS or cancer is associated wi th a poor prognosis and increased mortality. We have isolated and partially characterized a proteoglycan (named azaftig) from the urine of a cancer pa tient experiencing weight loss. Furthermore, we have raised a polyclonal an tibody to azaftig in rabbits and developed a procedure to measure the level of this proteoglycan in urine by Western blot. We report the presence of a zaftig in the urine of cancer and AIDS patients experiencing weight loss, b ut not in the control or weight-stable subjects. The azaftig-like immunorea ctivity was present in 69.2% (9/13) of patients with weight loss, but only in 27.0% (3/11) of weight-stable cancer or AIDS patients and none of the co ntrol subjects (n = 8), (C) 1999 Academic Press.