Background: The presence of macroenzymes can cause significant
diagnostic confusion and their detection can involve relatively cumbersome analytical
procedures.
Methods: Using a simplified polyethylene glycol precipitation technique
and isoenzyme electrophoresis, this report describes the construction of reference
ranges of precipitable activity for each of seven commonly measured enzymes in
plasma.
Results: The proposed reference ranges are reported. Since introducing
the protocol, 12 cases of macroenzymaemia have been encountered. Three typical case
histories are described in some detail.
Conclusions: The polyethylene glycol precipitation method has thus far
proved to be a simple and effective additional test for the detection of macroenzymes
when the plasma enzyme activity is elevated.
