[Determination of plasma fibronectin (Fn) levels. Comparison between normal subjects and patients with various...

Fibronectin is a glycoprotein secreted by connective tissue cells into their environment and into the blood. Plasma fibronectin in circulation exhibits some important interactions with other proteins in several diseases. We have detected plasma fibronectin levels in 187 normal subjects and in 126 patients. The mean value of this glycoprotein was strongly influenced by age but not by sex. 99 cancer patients showed lightly lower fibronectin levels than in normal controls. On the contrary, 25 chronic hepatic failure patients had higher values than normal controls. The mean level of plasma fibronectin in 20 hemodialyzed patients and in 7 plasmocytoma patients did not offer from what we detected in normal controls.