Modifications of Concanavalin A patterns of α1-acid glycoprotein and α2-HS glycoprotein in alcoholic liver disease

Abstract

In order to test whether abnormalities in hepatocytes affect the glycoprotein carbohydrate moiety, crossed immunoaffinoelectrophoresis (CIAE) with Concanavalin A (Con A) was used to study serum alpha 1-acid glycoprotein (α1-AGP) and alpha 2-HS glycoprotein (α2-HS) obtained from alcoholic patients with biopsy-proven liver disease. Cirrhotic patients, placed in groups C1, C2 or C3, according to Pugh's classification, were compared to healthy donors (N) and to steatosic non-cirrhotic patients (S). Con A CIAE patterns revealed in group N three subpopulations for α2-HS and four for α1-AGP. Two main results emerged from this study: (1) in the alcoholic groups, the proportions of Con A-unreactive subpopulations of both glycoproteins increased. Moreover, group N could be separated from group S and group S from all the cirrhotic groups. (2) There was a good correlation between the relative amounts in Con A-unreactive subpopulations of α1-AGP and α2-HS. The increases observed in Con A-unreactive subpopulations are probably a general phenomenom related to alterations in glycosylation processing during liver cell damage.