Synthesis of canine seromucoid before and after total hepatectomy

¹ Department of Surgery, Veterans Administration Research Hospital and Northwestern University Medical School; and Department of Biological Chemistry, University of Illinois College of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois

The incorporation rate of S³⁵ DL-methionine into the perchloric acid-soluble (seromucoid) fraction of serum was studied in the same four dogs before and after a one-stage total hepatectomy. This incorporation rate was used as an index of seromucoid synthesis. In all dogs before hepatectomy there was a rapid incorporation rate reaching a maximum synthesis in approximately 6 hr after injection. After hepatectomy the average incorporation rate was reduced to about one-third of prehepatectomy levels. It is concluded that in the dog most of the perchloric acid-soluble (seromucoid) fraction is of hepatic origin whereas a smaller part is synthesized by extrahepatic tissues.