Serum immunoreactive prolyl hydroxylase in liver disease

Abstract

The concentration of serum immunoreactive prolyl hydroxylase (SIRPH) was measured in 30 patients with chronic active hepatitis, 13 with primary biliary cirrhosis, 4 with alcoholic or idiopathic cirrhosis, and 4 with acute hepatitis; the values were compared with those in 23 control subjects. Increases in SIRPH were found in all the groups with liver diseases, individual values being highest in primary biliary cirrhosis in which about 2/3 of the patients had values > 2 SD above the mean value in the control subjects. No correlation was found between SIRPH and other tests of liver function or some routine laboratory tests. SIRPH may reflect some hitherto unknown or unmeasured process in the diseased hepatic cells.