Acid hydrolases in sera and plasma from patients with cystic fibrosis

The enzyme activities of alpha-fucosidase (pH 4.0 and pH 5.5), alpha-galactosidase, beta-galactosidase, alpha-glucosidase (pH 4.5 and pH 6.0), beta-glucosidase, beta-glucuronidase, beta-hexosaminidase, and alpha-mannosidase (pH 4.5 and pH 5.5) were investigated in sera from cystic fibrosis (CF) patients. Several of these activities were significantly increased in sera from patients compared to age-matched control children. CF-patients in a more advanced stage of the disease had a tendency to higher values of some of these hydrolases than those in better condition. No new isoenzymes of these hydrolases were found. Only minor differences could be detected in the pH-profiles of alpha-mannosidase and acid phosphatase from age-matched normal controls, heterozygotes and homozygotes for CF. With our technique, alpha-mannosidase and acid phosphatase showed the same thermostability in CF-patients. CF-heterozygotes and age-matched controls, except at 56 degrees C, when the activity of acid-phosphatase in the plasma from adult CF-heterozygotes decreased more than that from adult controls