Analysis of fibrinogen degradation product in severe liver disorders by immunoblotting.

Increased serum fibrinogen degradation product (FDP) in liver cirrhosis and hepatic carcinoma as measured by latex agglutination was analyzed by means of SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis followed by immunoblotting with anti-fibrinogen antibody. The antibody used in this study reacts with fibrinogen, fragment X, Y, D-D, D and E. The validity of this technique was confirmed by the analysis of the serum samples from patients with definite diagnosis of disseminated intravascular coagulation. Serum samples of 14 patients out of 18 with elevated FDP values and severe liver diseases were shown to contain no plasmic digest of fibrin or fibrinogen. By using the SDS-gel electrophoresis after disulfide bond reduction, seven serum samples from these 14 patients, who were shown to have no plasmic digest in serum, were found to contain unclottable fibrinogen retained in sera, while the remaining seven samples were revealed to have fibrin monomer in their sera. Four serum samples from the 18 patients were shown to have plasmic digest of fibrinogen, but these patients had additional diseases leading to intravascular coagulation.