Identificazione dell’alfa-1 glicoproteina acida (AGP) nel latte e possibilità di applicazione come strumento diagnostico

α1-acid glycoprotein (AGP) is an immunomodulatory protein expressed by hepatocytes in response to the systemic reaction that follows tissue damage caused by inflammation, infection or trauma. This paper presents the detection of the bovine AGP (boAGP) in milk, colostrum and mammary gland tissue. Bovine AGP was detected in all the samples analysed, and could be quantified in colostrum, in mature milk the boAGP concentration clearly decreased and was no longer detectable. The concentration of AGP in bovine milk with low SCC (< 250000/ml) was very similar to that from bovine with high SCC (> 250000/ml). In order to investigate the origin of AGP in bovine milk, a search for mRNA was carried out in somatic cells and mammary gland tissue: mRNA expression of boAGP gene was detected in mammary gland tissue, but not in somatic cells.