title: Measurement of salivary, urinary and fecal secretory IgA levels in children with partial or total IgA deficiency.
abstract: We measured salivary, urinary and fecal secretory IgA (sIgA) levels in 11 children with total IgA deficiency and in 6 children with partial IgA deficiency using an ELISA technique. This was based on flexible microplates coated with antisecretory component (SC) and peroxidase-conjugated anti-IgA as a second antibody. Selective IgA deficiency is diagnosed as a serum IgA concentration < or = 0.05 g/l; partial IgA deficiency is diagnosed as a serum concentration of IgA > 0.05 g/l but 2 SD below normal levels. No salivary or fecal sIgA, and only low levels of urinary sIgA, were detected in the selective IgA-deficient group. The partial IgA-deficient children presented with low levels of salivary, urinary and fecal sIgA. Fecal sIgA levels correlated with salivary sIgA levels (p < 0.01) but not with urinary sIgA levels (p > 0.05) in the IgA-deficient patients. We found that all the children with partial IgA deficiency, except one, had detectable, but low values of secretory IgA. Our data suggest that these patients also have a partial mucosal IgA deficiency.
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, Universidade de Saõ Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: A T
authors.initials: AT
authors.lastname: Nagao
authors.forename: F H
authors.initials: FH
authors.lastname: Mai
authors.forename: A B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Pereira
authors.forename: M M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Carneiro-Sampaio
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005243:Feces / Q000737:chemistry; D006801:Humans; D017098:IgA Deficiency / Q000276:immunology*; D007071:Immunoglobulin A, Secretory / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000652:urine; D007223:Infant; D012463:Saliva / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D007071:Immunoglobulin A, Secretory