Immunoelectrophoretic investigations of the serum of carriers of Duchenne's progressive muscular dystrophy

Elevations of Hemopexin Levels in Neuromuscular Disease

“…Elevations of hemopexin level were not correlated with serum creatine phosphokinase (CPK) activity in any group, eg, in Duchenne's dystrophy patients and carriers (Fig 1) and in myasthenia gravis patients (who had normal CPK values). Hemopexin value elevations did not seem to be a nonspecific response because (1) patients with various acute or chronic illnesses did not show consistent elevations; (2) in 27 patients there was no correlation between hemopexin level elevation and serum haptoglobin value (an acute-phase reactant) (Fig 2); (3) in six normal volunteers injected with the potent inflammatory agent etiocholanolone for 11 days (in another investigator's study11), there were fe¬ ver and serum elevations of ferritin and depressions of serum iron but no consistent change of hemopexin; (4) previous studies showed no increase in humans with acute trauma.12…”