Although the concentration of α1-acid glycoprotein (AGP) in serum increases under some conditions, the behavior of the individual genetic variants is not well understood. Therefore, we studied the relative changes in AGP variants pre- and postoperatively in patients with cancer and patients with chronic inflammatory disease states, as well as the distribution of AGP phenotypes in a Japanese population.
Serum samples were taken before and after surgery from 25 female patients with early breast cancer. Serum samples were also obtained from 134 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and 33 with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), and from 103 healthy subjects. The relative concentrations of the individual genetic variants in the serum samples were determined by isoelectric focusing after desialylation with neuraminidase.
The postoperative AGP concentrations in patients with early breast cancer were 2-fold higher than before surgery. The relative concentrations of the F1 and S variants were significantly increased, whereas that of the A variant was not changed significantly. The relative concentrations of all the AGP variants in patients with RA and SLE were significantly higher than those in healthy subjects. The distribution of the AGP phenotypes did not differ significantly among the groups examined in this study.
The F1/S variants of AGP, but not the A variant, were significantly increased after early breast cancer surgery, but all the variants were increased in patients with chronic inflammatory states such as RA and SLE. The distribution of the AGP phenotypes did not differ significantly among the disease groups studied.