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Biliaryα 1 glycoprotein concentrations in gallstone-free controls and in patients with multiple or solitary cholesterol gallstonesglycoprotein concentrations in gallstone-free controls and in patients with multiple or solitary cholesterol gallstones

  • Pancreatic and Biliary Disorders
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Abstract

We recently identified a promoting glycoprotein in the concanavalin A-bound fraction of gallbladder bile as a biliary form ofα 1-acid glycoprotein (AAG). The concentration of biliary AAG appears to exert an important promoting effect on the speed of cholesterol nucleation in many patients with cholesterol gallstone disease. In the current study, we provide information about the biliary concentration of AAG as well as the amount and comparative potency of its subfractions in patients with and without cholesterol gallstone disease. The amount of total biliary AAG and the amounts of its different isoforms separated by concanavalin A affinity chromatography were measured by ELISA. Estimates of absolute concentrations of AAG for each sample were normalized to the sample total protein content to give relative AAG values. The promoting activity (potency) of immunopurified biliary AAG from gallstone patients and gallstone-free controls on cholesterol crystallization was compared by a crystal growth assay. The mean absolute concentration of AAG in gallstone-free controls was not significantly different from multiple stone patients. The relative concentration of AAG (micrograms per milligram total protein) was significantly increased in patients with multiple stones when compared to controls (P<0.05), and both the absolute and relative concentrations of AAG (micrograms per milligram bile), were three- and to five fold higher in a number of these patients. The functional activity and distribution of AAG in different subfractions was similar in gallstone patients and gallstone-free controls. The relative concentration of biliary AAG is significantly greater in cholesterol gallstone patients with multiple stones than in gallstone-free controls. These observations suggest that raised levels of AAG may be of pathogenetic importance in a subgroup of patients with multiple gallstones.

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Author notes

  1. Hannu Nuutinen MD

    Present address: Second Department of Medicine, University of Helsinki, 00290, Helsinki, Finland

  2. Masato Abei MD, PhD

    Present address: Department of Gastroenterology, Institute of Clinical Medicine, 305, Tsukuba-shi, Ibaraki-ken, Japan

  3. Jörg Schwarzendrube MD

    Present address: Department of Medicine III, Hospital of the RWTH, Aachen, D-52057, Aachen, Germany

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Gastrointestinal Research Unit, Research Institute, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, 9500 Euclid Ave., 44195-5218, Cleveland, Ohio

    Hannu Nuutinen MD,  Masato Abei MD, PhD,  Jörg Schwarzendrube MD, Stefano Ginanni Corradini MD, R. Matthew Walsh MD, Paul Kawczak BSc & R. Thomas Holzbach MD

  2. Departments of Gastroenterology and General Surgery, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, 9500 Euclid Ave., 44195-5218, Cleveland, Ohio

    Hannu Nuutinen MD,  Masato Abei MD, PhD,  Jörg Schwarzendrube MD, Stefano Ginanni Corradini MD, R. Matthew Walsh MD, Paul Kawczak BSc & R. Thomas Holzbach MD

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  1. Hannu Nuutinen MD
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  2. Masato Abei MD, PhD
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  6. Paul Kawczak BSc
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  7. R. Thomas Holzbach MD
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Additional information

This work was supported by Research Grant DK-17562 from the USPHS National Institutes of Health. A portion of the work was presented in preliminary form at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Study of Liver Disease, Chicago, Illinois, November 3, 1992, and published as an abstract inHepatology 16:154A, 1992. Drs. Nuutinen, Abei, and Schwarzendrube were supported in part by the Research Institute, Cleveland Clinic Foundation. Dr. Nuutinen was also partially supported by the Finnish Cultural Foundation and by the Paulo Foundation (Helsinki). Dr. Ginanni Corradini (Italy) was the recipient of a National Institutes of Health-Fogarty International Research Fellowship, and Dr. Schwarzendrube received a fellowship from the Feodor Lynen Program of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (Germany).

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Nuutinen, H., Abei, M., Schwarzendrube, J. et al. Biliaryα 1 glycoprotein concentrations in gallstone-free controls and in patients with multiple or solitary cholesterol gallstonesglycoprotein concentrations in gallstone-free controls and in patients with multiple or solitary cholesterol gallstones. Digest Dis Sci 40, 1786–1791 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02212703

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02212703

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