Inhibitory activity of the serum from patients with fulminant hepatitis against liver regeneration.

The effect of sera from 8 patients with fulminant hepatitis, including 2 survival cases, on DNA and protein synthesis in primary cultured rat hepatocytes was studied. The serum from patients at an early stage or within 10 days after onset tended to intensify DNA synthesis in isolated hepatocytes, whereas the serum from patients with a history of over 50 days distinctly inhibited synthesis. When the serum was fractionated by gel filtration or free-flow electrophoresis, only the albumin fraction inhibited DNA synthesis in cultured hepatocytes. The suppressive effect of the albumin fraction was demonstrated even in patients suffering for only a short period of time. The inhibitory activity against DNA and protein synthesis in cultured hepatocytes was demonstrated in a substance extracted with a chloroform and methanol mixture from the albumin fraction of patients with fulminant hepatitis. The extract from the patients' sera also inhibited acceleration of DNA synthesis by epidermal growth factor (EGF) in the same cells.