Rheumatic heart disease: a profile of serum immunoglobulins and complements

ABSTRACT

Sera [From 72 patients with rheumatic heart disease [RHD], 20 patients with non rheumatic heart disease [NRHD], and 30 healthy individuals were examined for estimation of immunoglobulins [IgG, IgM, and IgA] together with com plement components [C3 and C4] levels. AII serum immunoglobulins and C3 component were significantly elevated in patients with RHD compared with healthy individuals. More significant rise of immunoglobulins and C3 component [levels was observed in patients with recurrence of rheumatic activity [RR] compared with RHD patients and healthy individuals. No statistically significant difference in C4 complement component level was observed between RHD, NRHD, and RR patients as compared with healthy individuals. Although, there was no statistically significant difference in any of the serum immunoglobuhns nor complement components between patients with subacute bacterial endocarditis [SBE] and healthy individuals, yet those patients had significantly reduced lgG and C3 levels as compared with RHD patients