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STUDIES ON HAPTOGLOBIN AND HAEMOPEXIN IN THE PLASMA OF CATTLE
Author(s) -
Bremner KC
Publication year - 1964
Publication title -
australian journal of experimental biology and medical science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.999
H-Index - 104
eISSN - 1440-1711
pISSN - 0004-945X
DOI - 10.1038/icb.1964.62
Subject(s) - haptoglobin , blood proteins , albumin , chemistry , hemopexin , biochemistry , globulin , blood plasma , biology , endocrinology , medicine , enzyme , heme
Summary Haem‐binding proteins with properties similar to human haptoglobin and haemopexin have been demonstrated in the plasma of healthy calves electrophoresis on filter paper. Boviue haptoglobin had an electrophoretic mobility similar to that of fibrinogen, and the haemopexin migrated as a β 1 ‐globulin. The haemoglobin binding capacity of normal calf plasma ranged from 0–50 mg./100 ml. Subcutaneous injections of turpentine produced marked increases in the plasma concentrations of both these proteins. Plasma concentrations of haemopexin were elevated transiently in three calves infected experimentally with the nematode Oesophagostomum radiatum , but the concentration, of plasma haptoglobin rose markedly in only one of these animals. Complexes of haemoglobin‐haptoglobin and haematin‐haemopexin were formed in vivo after the intravenous injection of lysates ol erythrocytes, and the clearance of the complexes from the plasma resulted in a depletion of the plasma concentrations of the haem‐binding proteins. Both haemopexin and haptoglobin disappeared from the plasma of calves during the haemolytic crisis of babesiosis. It was concluded that the simultaneous absence of both these proteins from bovine plasma was indicative of pathological haemolytic processes.