CELLULOSE-ACETATE ELECTROPHORETIC DETERMINATION OF BONE ALKALINE-PHOSPHATASE ACTIVITY IN HEALTHY-SUBJECTS AND DIABETIC-PATIENTS WITH AND WITHOUT OSTEOPENIA

We adapted the electrophoretic method of bone alkaline phosphatase (ALP) determination using neuraminidase from Vibrio cholerae to separate bone and liver ALP on cellulose acetate membrane. Treatment of separator plus serum (1:8, neuraminidase 111 U/l in final) for 10 min at room temperature (25 +/- 1-degrees-C) and subsequent electrophoresis made it possible to quantify bone ALP activity simply and rapidly. The precision of the data was at the.level of CV of 1.6% (within-day) and 4.7% (day-to-day), with recovery rates of 97-103%. The normal range of bone ALP activity depended on age and sex. Seventy-eight diabetes mellitus (DM) patients, excluding those with renal failure, were divided into two groups of those with and without osteopenia with matching of age (+/- 3 years) and sex. Bone ALP (P < 0.001) and total ALP (P < 0.05) activities and urine calcium/creatinine ratio (P < 0.05) were significantly higher in DM with osteopenia than in DM without osteopenia. Therefore, bone formation and absorption may be accelerated in DM with osteopenia in comparison with DM without osteopenia.