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Abnormal surface distribution of the human asialoglycoprotein receptor in cirrhosis
Author(s) -
Burgess James B.,
Baenziger Jacques U.,
Brown William R.
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
hepatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.488
H-Index - 361
eISSN - 1527-3350
pISSN - 0270-9139
DOI - 10.1002/hep.1840150425
Subject(s) - asialoglycoprotein receptor , immunoperoxidase , cirrhosis , receptor , pathology , biology , cell surface receptor , microbiology and biotechnology , chemistry , medicine , hepatocyte , biochemistry , immunology , antibody , monoclonal antibody , in vitro
Serum concentrations of asialoglycoproteins are increased in cirrhosis. We hypothesized that this increase results from abnormalities in the asialoglycoprotein receptor, which is located on the sinusoidal and lateral membrane of hepatocytes. Therefore we searched for morphological alterations in the distribution of the asialoglycoprotein receptor in human liver, using a light microscopic immunoperoxidase method in autopsy livers. In 24 of 25 (96%) of patients without liver disease, the asialoglycoprotein receptor was located on the sinusoidal and, less prominently, the lateral surface of hepatocytes but not the canalicular surface. In contrast, in 12 of 18 (67%) patients with cirrhosis of various causes, the receptor also was localized strikingly along the canalicular surface, with a corresponding decrease on the sinusoidal and lateral surfaces. We conclude that an abnormal cell‐surface distribution of the asialoglycoprotein receptor commonly occurs in cirrhosis. This abnormality might result in impaired clearance of desialylated glycoproteins from plasma. (Hepatology 1992;15:702–706).