Clinical Chemistry, Vol 16, 1008-1011, Copyright © 1970 by the American Association for Clinical Chemistry

Labeling with Indocyanine Green of Serum Protein from Normal Persons and Patients with Acute Viral Hepatitis

Jerzy Janecki ¹ and Jerzy Krawcyski ¹

¹ Department of Laboratory Diagnostics, Postgraduate Medical School, Warsaw, Poland.

Sera from normal persons and patients with acute viral hepatitis were mixed with indocyanine green (ICG), then fractionated on Sephadex G-200 columns. Alternate portions of the effluent were examined spectrophotometrically at 280 nm (for protein content) and at 800 nm (for ICG concentration). In most normal sera, three distinct ICG peaks were distinguished, the first and third corresponding exactly to the position of protein peaks, the second being most frequently shifted slightly toward heavier protein fractions. By graphic analysis, up to three additional masked peaks were usually detected in ICG curves. The individual fractions on ICG curves were numbered from I to VI, beginning with the fraction of greatest molecular weight. In the acute phase of viral hepatitis, the ICG curve was characteristically changed: fraction IV decreased significantly or even disappeared, and fraction I simultaneously increased. Fractions III and V also increased, but less. These changes in the ICG curves may result from interaction between serum proteins and liver cell proteins originating from damaged liver cells, an interaction leading to the formation of complexes of high molecular weight.

Submitted on October 1, 1970
Accepted on October 2, 1970