Serum laminin — Its concentration increases with portal hypertension in cirrhotic liver disease

Summary The concentrations in serum of the high molecular weight glycoprotein laminin and of the N-terminal propeptide of type III procollagen were determined in various histologically proven fibrotic liver diseases (n=33), of which the portal venous pressure has been measured indirectly. The concentrations of both biomatrix proteins were related to the portal venous pressure.Laminin in serum of normal persons (n=146) ranged from 0.81 to 1.43 U/ml. Compared with the mean normal concentration (1.04 U/ml) the glycoprotein is increased in fibrotic liver lesions in parallel with the severity of the fibrotic organ transformation reaching the highest values (2.58±0.87 U/ml,P<0.001) in liver cirrhosis (n=12). The level of N-terminal propeptide of type III procollagen increased similarly, but the concentrations of both matrix proteins exhibit only weak statistical correlations (r=0.6680). The level of laminin is correlated strongly with the elevation of the portal venous pressure in cirrhotic (r=0.9206) and fibrotic (r=0.7157) subjects. For the propeptide of procollagen the respective correlation isr=0.4808. Molecular sieve chromatography reveals a heterogeneous composition of laminin-related antigens in serum with two main molecular weight fractions of 700 and 300 kD, respectively.Abbreviations AST Aspartate-aminotransferase - CV coefficient of variation - GT -glutamyltransferase - FHVP Free hepatic venous pressure - WHVP Wedged hepatic venous pressureThe paper is dedicated to Professor G.A. Martini, Marburg, on the occasion of his 70th birthday