Sex differences in blood protein patterns: Two dimensional electrophoretic analysis of the acidic proteins of rat plasma

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Abstract
Plasma from normal male and female rats was analyzed, after removal of albumin by affinity chromatography, by two‐dimensional electrophoresis. The results demonstrated gender differences in two plasma proteins with apparent molecular weights of 70 000 and 84 000 and isoelectric points ranging from 6.2 to 6.4, and 5.1 to 5.5, respectively. Both proteins were found to be more concentrated in the plasma minus albumin (P‐alb) fraction of females than males in both Wistar and Sprague‐Dawley rats. The 70 000 protein is serum albumin which was more completely removed from male plasma than female plasma. A possible mechanism responsible for this difference is discussed. The results support the existence of “maleness” and “femaleness” in blood protein patterns of rats.