Pretreatment serum levels of C-reactive protein, alpha 1-antitrypsin, haptoglobin, alpha 1-acid glycoprotein and tissue polypeptide antigen in cervical carcinoma.

In order to evaluate the potentially additive information of some acute phase reactants to that provided by a general tumour marker, pretreatment concentrations of C-reactive protein, alpha 1-antitrypsin, haptoglobin, alpha 1-acid glycoprotein and tissue polypeptide antigen were determined in serum from healthy women, patients with dysplasia/or carcinoma in situ and patients with primary cervical carcinoma. Specificity varied from 95-100% and sensitivity from 16-29%. A correlation with clinical stage was found for all analytes except for alpha 1-antitrypsin. The latter was the most frequently elevated analyte in early Stages (11/43 in Stage Ib/IIa) and uniquely elevated in 7 cancer patients. Although tissue polypeptide antigen predominantly signaled in advanced stages, 3 women in early stages had elevated tissue polypeptide antigen levels. One of these women died and she was also the only woman with raised alpha 1-antitrypsin who died. It is discussed whether elevated tissue polypeptide levels might represent an unfavourable sign for the individual and if alpha 1-antitrypsin is a favourable sign in early stages of cervical carcinoma. C-reactive protein results were obscured in early stages of disease by the presence of intercurrent illness and the results were regarded as inconclusive. Haptoglobin and alpha 1-acid glycoprotein concentrations provided no additional information to serum alpha 1-antitrypsin levels. However, haptoglobin was elevated in 64% (36/56) of the women with dysplasia/carcinoma in situ of the cervix uteri.

Immunonephelometry of specific proteins in human seminal plasma.

Using immunonephelometry, we measured albumin, transferrin, alpha 1-antitrypsin, orosomucoid, hemopexin, IgG, IgA, and secretory IgA in seminal plasma of men who were attending a fertility clinic. Seminal plasma, obtained by centrifugation of semen, is a turbid liquid producing high blank values that were not diminished by ultracentrifugation, filtration, or treatment with protamine, dextran sulfate, or various lipidophilic gels. Pretreatment of seminal plasma with polyethylene glycol 6000 (final concentration, 40 g/L) considerably decreased the blank values without appreciably changing the relative concentration of the eight proteins studied. Our investigations illustrate the feasibility of this application of immunonephelometry. This approach can be a valuable diagnostic tool in the laboratory evaluation of the male partner in infertile unions.