Immunochemical characterization of anti-albumin antibodies in liver diseases.

Anti-albumin antibodies (AAA) were isolated from sera of hepatic patients and normal individuals by affinity chromatography on insolubilized glutaraldehyde-treated human albumin. Anti-albumin antibodies were found to belong to IgG and IgM classes in both normal and hepatic patients. The normal level of AAA increased in pathologic conditions, the increase recorded for IgM AAA being higher than that for IgG AAA. The dissociation rate of AAA from the radiolabeled antigen in normal and hepatic sera showed that the affinity of AAA was higher in normal sera than in sera of patients with chronic liver disease and acute viral hepatitis. Anti-albumin antibodies were fractionated into two populations (AAA1 and AAA2) by a two-step chromatographic procedure. AAA1 and AAA2 were found different as regards their affinity for the antigen; specifically, AAA1 affinity was higher than that of AAA2. The other difference between AAA1 and AAA2 might stand in their specificity for the haptenic and structural determinants present in the glutaraldehyde-treated albumin.