ABSTRACT
Homogeneous immunoglobulins are frequently detected in the serum of patients undergoing allogeneic bone marrow transplantation (BMT). The aim of the present study was to further characterize the incidence of this phenomenon and its correlations with laboratory and clinical data. Serum samples were gathered from 29 patients undergoing allogeneic or syngeneic BMT for chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), and serial protein (IgG, IgA and IgM) quantification, electrophoresis and immunofixation were performed. Transient mono- or oligoclonal gammopathies were observed in 23 out of 29 patients between days 20 and 1,750 following transplantation. The presence of homogeneous immunoglobulins was not correlated with the following clinical parameters: graft-versus-host disease, bacterial sepsis, Epstein-Barr virus or cytomegalovirus infection or invasive fungal infection. Therefore, the development of mono- or oligoclonal immunoglobulins may represent a complex disorder of B cell regeneration which may be caused by an intrinsic B cell defect, or a failure in the regenerating T cell system, or both, manifesting itself in a restricted antibody diversity after allogeneic BMT.
Subject(s)
Bone Marrow Transplantation/immunology , Immunoglobulins/blood , Adolescent , Adult , Antibodies, Monoclonal/blood , Antibody Diversity , B-Lymphocytes/immunology , Female , Humans , Leukemia, Myelogenous, Chronic, BCR-ABL Positive/immunology , Leukemia, Myelogenous, Chronic, BCR-ABL Positive/therapy , Male , Middle Aged , Models, Immunological , Transplantation, Homologous , Transplantation, IsogeneicABSTRACT
We have investigated the influence of apo(a) genetics on the relationship between interleukin (IL)-6, and lipoprotein (a) [Lp(a)] levels in 154 patients with monoclonal gammopathy and 189 healthy subjects. No significant differences in Lp(a) levels and distribution of subjects with different sizes of apo(a) isoforms were found between patients and healthy controls. Relationship between IL-6 and Lp(a) levels was strongly dependent on the size of apo(a) isoforms. In patients with high-size apo(a) isoforms Lp(a) levels positively correlated (r=0.475, P=0.0007) to IL-6 concentrations, whereas no correlation was found in patients with low apo(a) isoforms. Our present finding may provide a plausible explanation for the contradictory findings about the acute phase protein nature of Lp(a).
