Immunological Studies on the Sex-Dependent Prealbumin in Mouse Urine and on Its Occurrence in the Serum

Using an antiserum against a protein, which is electrophoretically a pre-albumin and which has previously been described as occurring specifically in mouse urine, it has been found that this protein occurs in the serum of both male and female mice of various strains, its concentration in the serum being about 200 to 400 times lower than in the urine. In the serum, as in the urine, the concentration of this protein is higher in adult male and testosterone-treated female mice than in infantile male or untreated female mice. In the serum, the values found in these two categories are of the order of 50 to 150 and 10 to 20 μg/ml respectively. Our data indicate that male sex hormone stimulates the production of this protein, which probably originates in the liver and is concentrated and excreted by the kidneys.