CONSTANCY OF TYPES OF ALPHA1-ACID GLYCOPROTEIN VARIANTS IN PATIENTS WITH UTERECTOMY AND IRRADIATION

α1-Acid glycoprotein (orosomucoid) was isolated in homogeneous state from blood of patients with cancer of the uterus taken before and after complete uterectomy and subsequent irradiation. The blood concentration of this glycoprotein was generally found to be increased above the normal level and was, in each case, further augmented following surgical trauma and irradiation. Yet in all cases studied, α1-acid glycoprotein revealed properties (chemical composition of the carbohydrate moiety, electrostatic net charge and immunochemical determinants) that are identical with those of normal α1-acid glycoprotein. The type of the α1-acid glycoprotein variants was determined by starch gel electrophoresis at pH 5.0 on the desialized glycoprotein. Constancy of the type of these variants was observed in each patient in spite of the considerable increase and variation in blood level of this glycoprotein. These observations were interpreted to be consistent with the concept of genetically controlled transmission of the α1-acid glycoprotein variants. © 1969.