Structural evaluation of plasma alpha2-macroglobulin in acute pancreatitis.

In this work we evaluate the proteolytic state of plasma alpha2-macroglobulin in acute pancreatitis. In addition, the plasma activity of matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2), MMP-9 and serine proteinases were analyzed. A total of 33 patients with acute pancreatitis were studied, of whom 16 were diagnosed as having mild and 17 as having severe acute pancreatitis.