Alpha 1-antichymotrypsin microheterogeneity in crossed immunoaffinoelectrophoresis with free concanavalin A: a useful diagnostic tool in inflammatory syndrome.

Using crossed immunoaffinoelectrophoresis with free concanavalin A (Con A) in the first dimension and alpha-methyl-D-glucoside incorporated in the second-dimension gel, we examined the microheterogeneity of alpha 1-antichymotrypsin (alpha 1Achy) in sera from healthy donors (N) and in sera from patients with various inflammatory syndromes. We studied three groups: patients with acute inflammation (myocardial infarction: MI, septic inflammation: SI), patients with chronic inflammation (metastatic breast cancer: MBC), and patients with chronic inflammation accompanied by acute attacks (connective-tissue disease: CTD). All pathological sera had a high alpha 1Achy concentration. Compared with N, MI and SI showed an increased proportion of Con A-reactive fraction and a decreased proportion of Con A-nonreactive fraction, which was more pronounced in SI. Unlike the patients with acute inflammation, patients with CTD showed an increased proportion of Con A-nonreactive fraction. Thus alpha 1Achy microheterogeneity in crossed immunoaffinoelectrophoresis may afford a means of differentiating between various inflammatory syndromes. In particular, it can provide a simple test: if the Con A-nonreactive fraction is in a proportion less than 17%, septic origin of an acute-phase reaction may be suspected.