Use of TPA in hepatology of infectious nature. Initial observations

The tissue polypeptide antigen, TPA, is a tumour-associated antigen which is synthesized during the S phase of cellular division and released later by the tissues when rapid growth takes place. For this reason, the TPA is considered to be a specific phase tumour-associated antigen. Since Björklund detected the antigen in 1957 much less has been written about research into the presence of the TPA in high concentration in the blood of subjects with tumours in different sites. The TPA can, however, be measured in moderate quantities in healthy individuals and in those with hepatic pathology (hepatitis and cirrhosis) and pathology of a viral nature. In hepatic parenchymal pathology, repeated measurements of this marker show normalization with the benign course of the disease. The aim of this work is to evaluate if the use of the TPA can be useful in hepatology of an infectious nature as an index of cytoreproduction, a phenomenon which often affects the hepatocytic cytolysis which is found in acute viral hepatitis.