Quantification of human serum ligandin by radioimmunoassay

Abstract

A radioimmunoassay of the human serum ligandin was developed using rabbit antisera for ligandin purified from human liver. The normal value was 3.7±1.1 ng per ml, and higher values were obtained in the acute phase of various liver diseases. In patients with constitutional hyperbilirubinemia, the values were almost all within normal range. Serum ligandin concentrations and GPT activities were paralleled in acute and chronic hepatitis, but not in liver cirrhosis. These findings indicated that ligandinemia might be due to the release of ligandin from the damaged liver cells and that ligandin might not be involved in the impaired transfer mechanism of bilirubin in patients with constitutional hyperbilirubinemia.