A comparison of α 1-acid glycoprotein (AAG) concentration and disopyramide binding in Chinese and Japanese

Abstract

The mean concentration of alpha 1-acid glycoprotein (AAG) in plasma and disopyramine binding capacity to AAG (bound disopyramine/AAG) were compared between fourteen Chinese and sixteen Japanese subjects. As a results, the author observed that the mean AAG-concentrations in Chinese and in Japanese were 0.55 +/- 0.11 mg/ml and 0.64 +/- 0.13 mg/ml, respectively. When disopyramine concentration was at 5.0 micrograms/ml, the bound disopyramine/AAG was 7.3 +/- 1.3 micrograms/mg in Chinese and 6.5 +/- 1.3 micrograms/mg in Japanese. Unbound fractions of disopyramine in Chinese and Japanese were 0.23 +/- 0.05% and 0.19 +/- 0.07%, respectively. These results indicated that there was no significant difference in the AAG-concentration and the bound disopyramine/AAG between Chinese and Japanese subjects. In male subjects, however, the AAG-concentration and the bound disopyramine/AAG in Chinese (0.57 +/- 0.14 mg/ml and 7.47 +/- 1.78 micrograms/mg) were significantly different from those in Japanese (0.72 +/- 0.11 mg/ml and 5.84 +/- 0.76 micrograms/mg, p < 0.05), though unbound fraction of disopyramide was not found different between Chinese and Japanese subjects. In female, the AAG-concentration, the bound disopyramine/AAG and unbound fraction of disopyramide did not significantly differ between Chinese and Japanese subjects. These findings suggest a possible structural difference of monosaccharides in plasma-AAG between Chinese and Japanese male subjects.