THE METABOLISM OF GAMMA GLOBULINS IN MYELOMA AND ALLIED CONDITIONS*

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Abstract
Normal gamma-globulin and M-component metabolism was studied in 9 patients. Using I125 and I131, two proteins were studied simultaneously in each patient. Intravascular and extravascular catabolic rates, extravascular/intra-vascular pool ratios, and mass turnover were calculated for 16 proteins in 8 patients. The catabolic rates of the pair of proteins studied in each patient were shown to be the same in most instances. An exception was a patient with macroglobulinemia in whom normal gamma-globulin was catabolized intravascularly at a normal rate, whereas the M-component was catabolized only extravascularly. The present data support the contention that the high serum concentration of M-components and the low serum concentrations of normal gamma-globulin observed commonly in these patients are secondary to high and low synthetic rates, respectively. Extravascular catabolism superimposed on essentially normal intravascular catabolism may also contribute to the low serum concentrations of normal gamma-globulin.