Occurrence of monoclonal components in general practice: clinical implications.
We report on the occurrence of monoclonal components observed in a provincial hospital in northern Italy from 1987 to 1990. The monoclonal components were detected by visual inspection of high-resolution acetate serum electrophoreses and typed by immunofixation. The percentage of monoclonal components increases steeply with age, and reaches a plateau of 7-8% in individuals over 55 years old. Besides the high percentage of monoclonal component, the other relevant finding of this study is that approximately 80% of monoclonal components are of low concentration (less than 5 g/l). Most of these subjects with small monoclonal component passed undetected in the previous studies on the prognostic significance of monoclonal gammapathy. These findings indicate the need for a revision of the current concepts on the biological and clinical significance of MC discovered by chance.
Aguzzi
F
F
Central Laboratory, Hospital of Stradella, Pavia, Italy.
Bergami
M R
MR
Gasparro
C
C
Bellotti
V
V
Merlini
G
G
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001536:Bence Jones Protein / Q000652:urine; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004588:Electrophoresis, Cellulose Acetate; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007070:Immunoglobulin A / Q000032:analysis; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000032:analysis; D007075:Immunoglobulin M / Q000032:analysis; D007145:Immunoglobulin kappa-Chains / Q000032:analysis; D007146:Immunoglobulin lambda-Chains / Q000032:analysis; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008998:Monoclonal Gammopathy of Undetermined Significance / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology
D007070:Immunoglobulin A; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D007075:Immunoglobulin M; D007145:Immunoglobulin kappa-Chains; D007146:Immunoglobulin lambda-Chains; D001536:Bence Jones Protein