AMYLOID P-COMPONENT IN MICE INJECTED WITH CASEIN - IDENTIFICATION IN AMYLOID DEPOSITS AND IN THE CYTOPLASM OF HEPATOCYTES

Abstract

Amyloid P-component was sought by immunofluorescence in the tissues of CBA mice receiving repeated s.c. injections of casein. P-component appeared in a perifollicular distribution in the spleen after about 20 casein injections, and correlated precisely with amyloid deposits identified by staining with Congo red. In mice which had received at least 14 injections of casein, P-component also became detectable within the cytoplasm of periportal hepatocytes. This is the 1st demonstration of P-component in murine amyloid and of a possible site for in vivo synthesis of P-component. [Amyloid P-component may be involved in the pathogenesis of amyloidosis].