IMMUNOELECTROPHORETIC DIFFERENTIATION OF ALPHA-FETOPROTEIN IN DISORDERS WITH ELEVATED SERUM ALPHA-FETOPROTEIN LEVELS OR DURING PREGNANCY

Our study aims to make differential diagnosis by immunoelectrophoresis for some common conditions ,vith elevated levels of serum alpha-fetop rotein (AFP), One hundred and nine cases with elevated AFP levels were included in this study: yolk sac tumor (n = 8), hepatocellular carcin oma (n = 26), gastric cancer (n = 12), chronic hepatitis (n = 27) and normal pregnancy (n = 36), Lectin agarose gel electrophoresis, antibod y-affinity blotting, and immunoreaction were used to identify the spec ific patterns of AFP in the respective conditions. The results showed that there were three possible bands: L1, L2 and L3. Yolk sac tumor pr oduced a prominent L2 band and a light L3 band, Hepatocellular carcino ma produced a prominent L1 band and a light L3 band, Gastric cancer pr oduced only an LI band, Chronic hepatitis had a light L1 band and a pr onounced L3 band. In pregnancy, the AFP pattern is similar to that of hepatocellular carcinoma, Immunoelectrophoresis is a useful method fac ilitating the differentiation of AFP origins.