Studies on Apolipoprotein H (β2-glycoprotein I) in Patients with Chronic Liver Disease

In order to clarify the relationship between apolipoprotein H in the liver, we determined plasma apolipoprotein H levels in patients with chronic liver disease by SRID method. The relationships of lipoprotein lipid, major apolipoprotein levels, liver function test to apolipoprotein H, and histochemical confirmation of apolipoprotein H in the liver were also investigated. 32 patients with chronic liver disease were classified into two groups by clinical and chemical examination; one group (mild) consisted of 17 patients with chronic hepatitis or liver cirrhosis without hepatic failure, and the other group (severe), were 15 patients with liver cirrhosis with hepatic failure.The mean plasma apolipoprotein H levels in mild and severe groups were 14.0±2.9, and 9.8±3.6mg/dl, respectively. These were lower than in healthy subjects (21.9±2.4mg/dl) (both of p<0.001), and mean plasma apolipoprotein H level in the severe group was significantly lower than that in the mild group (p<0.01). Apolipoprotein H levels showed positive correlations to total cholesterol, cholesterol ester, triglyceride, HDL3-cholesterol, apolipoprotein A-II, and apolipoprotein B levels (r=0.492; p<0.01, r=0.407; p<0.05, r=0.608; p<0.001, r=0.418; p<0.02, r=0.442; p<0.02, r=0.517; p<0.01, respectively), which were reported previously as indicators of liver functions. In addition, apolipoprotein H levels correlated positively with lecithin-cholesterol acyltransferase activities (r=0.458; p<0.01) and correlated inversely with ICGR (15) values and γ-globulin/total protein ratio (%) (r=-0.509; p<0.01, r=-0.387; p<0.05). Histochemical examination of the liver, using anti apolipoprotein H serum, revealed that apolipoprotein H existed in the liver cells.These results suggest that most apolipoprotein H may be synthesized and secreted by the liver and plasma apolipoprotein H levels may reflect the severity of hepatocellular damage.