Immunochemical detection of group I and group II phospholipases A2 in human serum.

Time-resolved fluoroimmunoassay was developed for the detection of synovial-type phospholipase A2 (s-PLA2) in human serum. This solid-phase, sandwich assay uses a polyclonal rabbit antibody raised against synovial-type group II PLA2 produced in Escherichia coli. No cross-reactions were detected between s-PLA2 and PLA2 from human or porcine pancreas, human ascitic fluid, or bee or cobra venom. In healthy individuals, the average concentration of s-PLA2 is 3.7 micrograms/L, with a 95% reference interval from 1.3 to 10.8 micrograms/L. We investigated pancreatic PLA2, which is a group I PLA2, and synovial-type group II PLA2 in sera of patients with hematological malignancies and septic fever. The concentration of s-PLA2 was increased in patient sera and correlated significantly with the catalytic activity of PLA2 and the concentration of C-reactive protein. No correlation with the concentration of pancreatic PLA2 was found. The results suggest that the increased catalytic activity of PLA2 in sera of patients with septic fever results from synovial-type group II PLA2.