Enzyme immunoassay and characterization of pancreatic stone proteins in human urine.

An enzyme immunoassay of pancreatic stone protein (PSP) in human urine was developed. Mean analytical recovery of pure PSP-S2-5 added to urine was 102.3% (SD 5.9%), and the precision of the assay was 2.0-2.7% within an assay and 2.5-2.9% between assays. In healthy volunteers (age 20-55 years), the mean value of the PSP concentration, expressed as ratios to urine creatinine, was 129 +/- 88 (mean +/- SD) micrograms/g without any differences for sex. Urine PSP correlated with urine N-acetylglucosaminidase (NAG) (r = 0.354). The molecular forms of immunoreactive PSP in urine were characterized by using cation exchange chromatography (Mono S), SDS-PAGE, N-terminal sequence, and enzyme immunoassay analysis. The urine PSP, eluted at the position corresponding to PSP-S2-5 on cation exchange chromatography, was converted to PSP-S1 by trypsin digestion. The difference in mobility on SDS-PAGE between urine PSP and PSP-S2-5 seems to be due to a glycosylated undecapeptide (N-terminal 1-11). The proposed method offers a sensitive, specific, and reproducible tool for laboratory analysis of human urine PSP levels.