Leucine-rich alpha(2)-glycoprotein (LRG) is a plasma protein in which leucine-rich repeats (LRRs) were first discovered. Although the physiological function of LRG is not known, increases in the serum level of LRG have been reported in various diseases. In this study, we found that LRG was induced by recombinant human IL-6 in human hepatoma HepG2 cells. The induction of LRG by IL-6 was up-regulated synergistically with either IL-1beta or TNFalpha in a pattern similar to those for type 1 acute-phase proteins. We also found that lipopolysaccharide (LPS) administered intraperitoneally to mice enhanced dose-dependently the expression of LRG mRNA in the liver as well as those for mouse major acute-phase proteins. These results strongly suggest that LRG was a secretory type 1 acute-phase protein whose expression was up-regulated by the mediator of acute-phase response.

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␤-Type phospholipase A 2 inhibitory protein (PLI␤) from the serum of the venomous snake Gloydius brevicaudus neutralizes basic phospholipase A 2 (PLA 2 ) from its own venom, and it has 33% sequence homology with human leucine-rich ␣ 2 -glycoprotein (LRG), which has been recently reported to bind cytochrome c

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