Specific gel electrophoresis method detects two isoforms of human intestinal alkaline phosphatase.

We have demonstrated that the 6.0% polyacrylamide disc gel electrophoresis (PAGE) method in the presence of 1% Triton X-100 clearly separated both normal molecular mass intestinal alkaline phosphatase (NIAP) and bone alkaline phosphatase (BAP) in serum regardless of the ABO blood group and the secretor status of the subjects. From the results under the usual 7.5% PAGE condition, overlapping mobilities of NIAP and BAP were found in particular in nonsecretor subjects after a high-fat meal. Under the above conditions, the apparent BAP percentage three hours after a meal was higher in nonsecretors than in subjects under fasting conditions, because NIAP activity in serum rose sharply following a high-fat meal. In contrast, under our 6.0% PAGE method, the NIAP and BAP were clearly separated from each other regardless of whether the subjects were fasting or had ingested a high-fat meal. In addition, an elevated level of the circulating NIAP can be another marker for patients with liver cirrhosis. Considering all these factors, the 6.0% PAGE method proposed by us is not only a useful method for the separation of intestinal alkaline phosphatase (IAP) isoforms, but can also be useful for the analysis of other usual AP isozymes.