Abstract
The concentration of 12 plasma proteins were measured in patients with acute viral hepatitis (12), extrahepatic biliary obstruction (12), primary biliary cirrhosis (20) and idiopathic haemochromatosis (20). In the first three diseases the changes were broadly similar, there being a fall in the concentration of prealbumin and haemopexin and a rise in easily precipitable glycoprotein, α 1-antitrypsin and caeruloplasmin. Raised levels of α 2-macroglobulin were found only in primary biliary cirrhosis and haemochromatosis. Transferrin was reduced in extrahepatic biliary obstruction and haemochromatosis. It is suggested that the pattern of changes represents the “acute phase reaction” which is modified in part by the limitations on protein synthesis imposed by the underlying liver disease. The most marked changes were found in the diseases with the greatest disturbance in liver function, and there were numerous statistically significant correlations between the levels of individual proteins and the clinical data.
Published Version
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