Abstract
Scleroderma (literally: ‘hardening of the skin’) occurs in two forms: diffuse and localized. The diffuse form is a progressive systemic disease of the connective tissue throughout the body 1 , 2 The localized form on the other hand appears clinically to be limited to the skin and is a much milder disease. In spite of numerous investigations, the pathogenesis of scleroderma remains obscure. Observations on the serum proteins have been limited to an occasional routine determination showing a decrease in the albumin /globulin ratio with little change in the value for total proteins 3 It seemed possible that a more detailed analysis by the Tiselius method of electrophoresis might yield additional information of value.
Methods and Materials. Serum was obtained in the fasting state from 12 normal subjects, 5 patients with diffuse scleroderma, and one patient with localized scleroderma. Four ml of serum were dialyzed against 2 liters of barbiturate buffer (ionic strength 0.1, pH 8.6) for 48 hours at 4°C, then diluted 1:3 with buffer. Electrophoresis was carried out in the Tiselius apparatus using a double section cell and an optical system of the type described by Philpot 4 It proceeded for 80 minutes at a potential gradient of 8 volts per cm and a temperature of 1°C. Patterns were photographed directly, enlarged 5X? and the areas measured with a planimeter. Components were delineated by vertical lines drawn from the minima of the curves to the baseline. Ascending and descending pattern areas were averaged for each component except $-globulin; here only the ascending pattern area was used. Total and nonprotein nitrogen were determined by the micro-Kjeldahl method.
Results. In diffuse scleroderma, as shown in Table I, the albumin fraction of the serum proteins decreases and the y-globulin fraction increases, but no significant change occurs in the total protein value.
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