Abstract
It has been reported that serum glycoprotein is increased in diabetecs (DM), hypertensives (HT) and patients with aortic arch calcification (AAC) than in healthy persons (HP).
Serum glycoprotein was separated in this study into several fractions with gel chromatography (GC) and cellulose acetate electrophoresis (CA), and the relationships between these fractions and the diseases related to arteriosclerosis were studied.
GC was performed in 148 subjects of which HP were 51 cases, DM 40, HT 37, and AAC20, totaling 148 cases. Both GC and CA were performed in 10 cases of HP, 10 cases of DM, 11 cases of HT and 10 cases of AAC.
The subjects were classified into three groups according to their age, a young group consists of those under 40, a middle age group from 40 to 59, and an old group above 60 years of age.
The results obtained were as follows.
1) Influence of aging on serum GP was not observed.
2) Serum GP was fractionated into Fraction I (FrI) and Fraction II (FrII) by GC. The molecular size was in order of FrI<FrII. GP concentration in FrI was higher in DM, HT and AAC than in HP, but there was no difference in FrII among any groups.
The cause of higher level of serum GP was attributed to the higher level of FrI in those diseases.
3) FrI was further separated into three fractions, α1-, β- and γ-GP by CA.
The serum concentration of α2- and γ-GP were higher in DM, HT and AAC than in HP, but β-GP was increased in DM.
FrII was separated into four fractions α1-, α2-, β- and γ-GP by CA.
The serum concentration of α1-GP was higher in HT and AAC than in HP, but γ2-GP was decreased only in AAC.
There were no differences in β- and γ-GP between HP and those diseases.
It is believed that both HT and DM are of similar importance as risk factors for arteriosclerosis. However, these two diseases might play different roles in arteriosclerosis as suggested from observed differences in the components of serum GP.
We conclude that SGP are increased in the diseases related to arteriosclerosis than in HP. The separation of SGP into subfractions with GC and CA further facilitates detailed analysis of increase in various components.
