Abstract
Cold-insoluble globulin, a recently characterized high molecular weight glycoprotein, was shown to be present in the human plasma at the concentration of 30mg/dl. The level of this protein was found to be significantly reduced in the DIC syndrome, probably via the cross-linking to fibrin mediated by the activated blood coagulation factor XIII.
On the contrary, the plasma level of this protein was found to be significantly elevated in various liver diseases, including acute or chronic hepatitis, fatty liver, and liver cirrhosis at the early and compensated stages. Only in the decompensated stage of liver cirrhosis; i. e., liver cirrhosis with ascites, it was found to be significantly decreased, but not as drastic as in DIC. The decrease does not appear to be due to loss in the ascites, because only trace amounts of CIG were detected in the ascites samples.
Since most of the parameter proteins useful for the diagnosis of DIC are synthesized by hepatocytes, low levels of these proteins are not necessarily relevant to the severity of DIC when liver damage is present.
Because CIG has been shown to be of extrahepatic origin and elevated in various liver diseases, determination of CIG in plasma seems to provide a way to differentiate DIC from liver diseases.
