Augmented release of human leucocyte lactoferrin (and elastase) during coagulation |
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Authors: | E O Adeyemi H J Hodgson |
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Affiliation: | Department of Medicine, Hammersmith Hospital, Royal Postgraduate Medical School, London, UK. |
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Abstract: | Lactoferrin, an iron binding protein, present in specific granules of neutrophils has been shown to be released concomitantly with elastase, when neutrophils are activated in vitro. Using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, lactoferrin release has been studied during blood coagulation, a more physiological system for studying the in vivo neutrophil activation in vitro. The assay has a lower detection limit of 1.0 ng/ml with intra and interassay coefficients of variation of 8 and 14% respectively. Median plasma and serum lactoferrin levels were 144 and 705 ng/ml respectively. The difference was statistically significant at p less than 0.0001. The median elastase proteinase inhibitor complex (EPIC) levels in plasma and serum were 85 and 176.5 ng/ml respectively. This difference was also highly significant at p less than 0.0001. There was no correlation between these parameters in the plasma samples. However, there was a statistically significant correlation between these measurements in sera at p less than 0.001 (Kendall's rank correlation). Release of lactoferrin and elastase-A1PIC during coagulation reflects the activation of neutrophils in vivo, especially during inflammation. |
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