Materials and Methods

A simple, rapid method is described for quantita-tive estimation of albumin, transferrin, and a2-macroglobulin on strips of antibody-spread gela-tinized cellulose acetate. Samples are applied on a strip with ‘Ml micropipets and a volumetric dis-tributor is used to Coat the strip with 2,l of a diluted antiserum per square centimeter. Electrophoresis requires 2 h for albumin and at least 3 h for ar macroglobulin and transferrin. Precipitate peaks are sharply defined. As little as 10 ng of protein can be estimated, so urinary proteins can be studied without concentrating the sample. Additional Keyph rases albumin. cr2-macroglobulin, transferrin. nanogram samples Electroimmunodiffusion (BID) as described by Laurell (1, ) is a useful method for protein esti-mation. The technique is usually performed in antibody-containing agarose gel (3, 4). A technique in which the dry cellulose acetate membrane is dipped in antiserum has been used by Kr#{216}11(5). By our technique we introduce gelatinized cel-lulose acetate as a supporting medium, and this, we find, produces better results. Instead of the strip being dipped in the antiserum, an exactly measured volume of diluted antiserum is spread upon the strip. In our laboratory, albumin, a2-macroglobulin, and transferrin have been quantitatively deter-mined in serum and urine