Separation and characterisation of glycoproteins from normal, pregnancy, and acute inflammatory sera.

A system of multiple chromatography combining anion-exchange, gel filtration, and affinity chromatography has been devised to separate several acute phase proteins from serum, including alpha 1 acid glycoprotein, transferrin, alpha 1-antichymotrypsin, alpha 1-antitrypsin and haemopexin. Only 5-15 ml of blood is required to provide milligram quantities of the purified proteins for further biochemical analysis. The system has been applied in a study of pregnancy and some diseases in order to investigate the changes in the serum protein profile and in individual proteins.