[Alpha 1-antitrypsin as an endogenous marker of protein-losing enteropathies].

A novelty of the present studies is the use of alpha 1-antitrypsin (A-1--AT) as an endogenous marker of enteric protein loss. Enteric clearance of alpha 1-antitrypsin was determined in 10 patients with the symptoms of PLE, and in 6 healthy individuals. Alpha 1-Antitrypsin concentration has been assayed in single, random samples of feces collected from 42 patients and 12 healthy individuals (normal values: 1.31 +/- 0.72 mg/g of feces). Markedly increased enteric clearance and A-1-AT concentrations in single, random samples of feces have been found in patients with enteric lymphangiectasis, Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, and constrictive pericarditis, slightly lower in coeliac, chronic diarrhoea, nonspecific hemorrhagic colitis, esophagitis, lambliasis, hypogammaglobulinemia, Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome, Rendu-Osler-Weber syndrome, hepatitis in newborn, and Gilbert's disease. Statistically significant positive clearance has been noted (r = 0.997; p less than .001). A single assay of A-1-AT in feces is simple, repeatable, and sensitive technique in the diagnosis and evaluation of these diseases in which the symptoms of enteric protein loss are seen.