Alpha1Antitrypsin and Alpha1Lipoprotein in Plasmamucoid of Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients

SummaryAn immuno-electrophoretic method for the determination of alpha1 antitrypsin and alpha1 lipoprotein in plasmamucoid was worked out. In plasmamucoid, alpha1 antitrypsin is found to be present in RA and gout in practically all cases, in controls in 35.7 % of the cases, in ankylosing spondylitis in 81.4 % of the cases, in degenerative joint diseases and cardiopathy in 65.6 and 68.2 % of the cases, respectively. In RA, the increase is significant as compared to any of the other groups under investigation. The number of subjects with increased levels of the protein fraction of alpha1 lipoprotein in plasmamucoid in the groups of cardiopathy (40.9 %) and ankylosing spondylitis (37.2 %) is relatively non-significantly higher than in the other groups under investigation (0—33.7 %). Plasmamucoid shows the presence of different ratios of the light and heavy forms of alpha1 lipoprotein and a varying proportion of these two forms for one and the same patient. A different behaviour of alpha1 lipoprotein in plasmamucoid was found in gamma plasmocytoma. Facultative correlations are discussed though the findings are not specific.