ORIGIN OF CIRCULATING GROUP-II PHOSPHOLIPASE-A2 IN HEPATOCYTES IN A PATIENT WITH EPITHELOID HEMANGIOENDOTHELIOMA OF THE LIVER

The concentration of group II phospholipase A2 was measured in blood p lasma samples before and after liver transplantation in a 27-year-old woman who suffered from a massive epitheloid hemangioendothelioma of t he liver. The pretransplantation concentration of group II phospholipa se A2 was 830 mu g/L, which is markedly above the upper limit of the r eference interval (10.8 mu g/L). After the transplantation, there was a dramatic decrease in the group II phospholipase A2 level (33 mu g/L on the first posttransplantation day). In situ hybridization of mRNA a nd immunohistochemistry revealed synthesis of group II phospholipase A 2 in hepatocytes in non-neoplastic areas of the liver. Tumor cells did not contain group II phospholipase A2. The results indicate that grou p II phospholipase A2 circulating in blood plasma originates in hepato cytes.