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Significantly increased fractions of transformed to total alpha2-macroglobulin concentrations in plasma from patients with multiple sclerosis.

Jensen PE, Humle Jørgensen S, Datta P, Sørensen PS

The Neuroimmunology Laboratory, Section 9302, MS Research Unit, Copenhagen University Hospital, Juliane Mariesvej 20, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark. pejensen@nru.dk

We examined the proteinase inhibitor alpha2-macroglobulin (alpha2M) in plasma from patients with multiple sclerosis (MS); a neurological disease of the central nervous system. The plasma concentrations of native and transformed alpha2M were measured in 90 patients with clinically definite MS, 73 with relapsing-remitting and 17 with secondary progressive MS, and 132 healthy individuals. Significantly lower concentrations of native alpha2M and significantly higher concentrations of transformed alpha2M were found in MS patients. A significant correlation between the concentrations of native and transformed alpha2M was found. The fraction of transformed to total alpha2M in the MS patients was 36% higher than in the healthy individuals. The results suggest an important involvement of alpha2M in regulation of increased proteolytic activity occurring in MS disease.

Published 29 October 2004 in Biochim Biophys Acta, 1690(3): 203-7.
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