During the procedure of the differential centrifugation
of small specimens of liver taken by blind needle
biopsy, a loss of extractable protein appeared. The loss occurred
only in the soluble 12,500 g fraction of the liver and
amounted to 38% thereof, compared to a specimen 7 times
as heavy, taken at laparotomy. The activity of alkaline
phosphatase was increased in all subcellular fractions of the liver in acute hepatitis,
chronic hepatitis, and obstructive jaundice, but not in fatty liver, as compared with
the control. The main part of the enzyme is localized in the nonsoluble fractions of
the liver (nucleus-free 600 g and mitochondrial fractions). The correlation between
the activity of alkaline phosphatase in the sera and that in the subcellular fractions
of the inflamed noncholestatic liver was poor. The affinity of enzyme from different
fractions for the substrate p-nitrophenylphosphate is identical.