BIG PLASMA GLUCAGON IN PATIENTS WITH LIVER CIRRHOSIS: The Discrepancy in Values of Immunoreactive Glucagon Measured by Use of Two Different Antisera Against Pancreatic Glucagon, 30K and OAL-123

When immunoreactive glucagon (IRG) in plasma was measured by use of two different antisera against pancreatic glucagon, 30K and OAL-123, discrepancy was seen between the two values, IRG with 30K antiserum (30K-IRG) and OAL-123 antiserum (OAL-IRG), in eight cases out of eleven with liver cirrhosis, but not seen in all three healthy controls tested. In order to investigate the causes of this discrepancy observed, we examined the heterogeneity of plasma IRG by gel filtration on a column of Bio Gel P-10. The two kinds of antisera gave similar IRG values in fractions with molecular weight of about 3500 (IRG3500) in each case of all the patients with liver cirrhosis and controls. The correlation coefficient (r) between the two values measured with the two antisera was 0.978 (p