Radioimmunoassay of human plasma retinol-binding protein.

A radioimmunoassay for human plasma retinol-binding protein (RBP) has been developed utilizing a double antibody precipitation technique. RBP was purified 1500- to 2000-fold by procedures described previously. A specific anti-human RBP antiserum was prepared in rabbits by three once-weekly injections of purified RBP emulsified with Freund's adjuvant. RBP was iodinated with (131)I and the RBP-(131)I was purified by gel filtration on Sephadex G-100 after complex formation with human plasma prealbumin. The RBP-(131)I was completely (> 95%) immunoprecipitable in the presence of an excess of specific antiserum, it was not (< 5%) immunoprecipitable in the absence of specific antiserum, and it could be completely displaced from antibody by excess unlabeled RBP. The standard curve obtained in the immunoassay with normal plasma was identical to that with pure RBP. Duplicate samples differed from their mean by 5 +/-5% (+/-SD). There was a quantitative recovery of pure RBP added in varying amounts to normal plasma. The immunoassay accurately measured RBP in amounts of 10-100 ng per assay tube. There was no significant difference in the immunoreactivity of apo-RBP as compared to holo-RBP. The mean plasma values (+/-SEM) for a group of 76 normal subjects were 47.2 +/-1.6 mug/ml for males and 41.6 +/-1.6 mug/ml for females. Plasma RBP levels were markedly depressed (15 +/-2.3 mug/ml) in 14 patients with acute viral hepatitis. There was a highly significant correlation between the plasma levels of RBP and of vitamin A in both normal subjects and patients with hepatitis. In all subjects plasma RBP was generally saturated with retinol. The data suggest that under normal circumstances RBP circulates almost exclusively as the holoprotein.