Electrophoretic Heterogeneity and Relationships of Pepsinogens in Human Urine, Serum, and Gastric Mucosa

The demonstration of Pg 6 and Pg 7 in serum and the failure to find an inhibitor of these pepsinogens in urine suggests that the usual absence of these zymogens in normal urine is due neither to their failure to enter the circulation nor to their inhibition by urine.

Abstract

The molecular forms of pepsinogen in urine and their relationship to six of the seven pepsinogens in gastric mucosa have been examined by an electrophoretic method.Pepsinogen (Pg) 1 is present in low concentration in mucosa and urine and was not considered in this study.Of 180 individuals without known renal or peptic ulcer disease, 152 were found to excrete Pg 2, Pg 3, Pg 4, and Pg 5 and 28 were found to excrete only Pg 2, Pg 3, and Pg 4. These two patterns, which have been designated A and B, respectively, have been shown to be absolutely constant for the individual.Of 23 subjects from whom gastric mucosa was available, 19 had Pg 2, Pg 3, Pg 4, and Pg 5 in both their mucosa and urine, while 3 had only Pg 2, Pg 3, and Pg 4 in their mucosa and urine.Only Pg 2 and Pg 3 were found in the mucosa of 1 subject who had Pg 2, Pg 3, and Pg 4 in his urine; biopsies from this individual revealed moderately severe atrophic gastritis.Pg 6, Pg 7, or both were found in the urine of only 8 of the 180 control subjects, 5 of whom had proteinuria.These pepsinogens were found in 13 of 15 patients with renal disease and proteinuria.The demonstration of Pg 6 and Pg 7 in serum and the failure to find an inhibitor of these zymogens in urine suggests that the usual absence of these zymogens in normal urine is due neither to their failure to enter the circulation nor to their inhibition by urine.Recent investigations have indicated that the human pepsinogens may be divided into two groups on the basis of their distribution in gastric and duodenal mucosae.These studies have shown that some forms of pepsinogen are limited to the body and fundus of the stomach while others are found in these locations and in antrum