SERUM LAMININ IN PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC ACTIVE HEPATITIS AND MILD LIVER-DISEASES

Laminin is a component of the basement membranes synthesized by Ito cells. We have measured the serum levels of laminin in 15 chronic active hepatitis patients and in 29 patients with mild liver diseases, who also underwent a complete clinical and laboratory evaluation. Abnormal levels of laminin were observed in 13.3% of chronic active hepatitis and in 10.3% of mild liver disease patients. Patients with chronic active hepatitis had higher serum levels of laminin than patients with mild liver diseases (P = 0.016). However, the usefulness of laminin to differentiate between these two groups was limited. Highly significant correlations were found between laminin and total protein (r = 0.79, P < 0.0001), gamma-globulins (r = 0.78, P < 0.0001), and IgG (r = 0.73, P = 0.0001) in the chronic active hepatitis group and lower in the mild liver diseases group. A possible role of defective immunoregulation in the increase of laminin is suggested.