Seromucoid Contents of Human Bile

Abstract

VARIATIONS of seromucoid in pathological conditions and its clinical significance have been extensively investigated during the past few years. Greenspan¹, Winzler² and others have shown the seromucoid contents in the blood of normal human subjects to be 12.4 ± 0.5 mgm. per cent as expressed in hexose, and 3.38 ± 0.27 mgm. per cent as expressed in tyrosine. Seromucoid contents in the blood are significantly increased in obstructive jaundice and are decreased to very low figures in jaundice due to hepatitis. These pathological variations suggest the possibility of the liver playing an important part in seromucoid metabolism. Since for the time being the site of formation and metabolic fate of seromucoid are unknown, it has occurred to us that it might be synthesized by the liver or at least partly eliminated in the bile. We have therefore investigated the presence and contents of seromucoid in human hepatic bile.