The microheterogeneity of bovine serum alpha 1-acid glycoprotein.

The microheterogeneity in bovine serum alpha 1-acid glycoprotein (alpha 1AGP) was examined by crossed affino-immunoelectrophoresis with concanavalin A(Con A). In healthy cows, serum alpha 1AGP revealed 2 fractions which were named fraction 1 and 2 according to the degree of binding affinity to Con A. The mean +/- SD of serum alpha 1AGP concentration was 0.31 +/- 0.09 g/l and the relative amounts of fraction 1 and 2 were approximately 67% and 33% respectively on this method. In bovine leukemia cases, 5 out of 8 had a high serum alpha 1AGP concentration of more than 0.7 g/l. On the electrophoretic pattern, the other 2 fractions (Con A weakly and non-reactive fractions, named fraction 3 and 4) were observed in 5 cases and their relative amounts of 4 fractions were 17.8-28.5%, 35.5-46.0%, 17.9-24.4% and 12.0-17.2%, respectively. In bovie leukemia virus infected cows with no clinical symptoms, however, serum alpha 1AGP concentration and the electrophoretic patterns were almost the same as those in healthy cows.