[Biochemical studies on heat-stable alkaline phosphatase in uterine cervix and endometrium]

Heat-stable alkaline phosphatase (HS-ALP) has been attracting attention as one of the placental proteins as well as one of the oncodevelopmental proteins. In this paper, biochemical methods were used to examine ALP isoenzyme patterns in both normal endometrium and cervical tissue with special reference to HS-ALP. Results 1) Most of the ALP in both normal endometrium and cervical tissue showed the biochemical characteristics of tissue-unspecific ALP isoenzyme. 2) In normal cervical tissue, a higher level of HS-ALP was found than in normal endometrium. HS-ALP in cervical tissue showed the same biochemical characteristics as Regan isoenzyme. 3) In normal endometrium, very small amount of Regan isoenzyme was found, but some of the HS-ALP showed the same biochemical characteristics of L-L sensitive types as D-variant of normal placenta. From the results of these biochemical tests, it may be concluded that the ALP isoenzyme profiles of endometrium and cervical tissue are different from each other both qualitatively and quantitatively, although the endometrium and cervix developed from the same ancestral "Mullerian duct".