CRYOGLOBULINS IN BEHCETS SYNDROME AND RECURRENT ORAL ULCERATION - ASSAY BY LASER NEPHELOMETRY

  • 1 January 1979
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 38  (3) , 436-444
Abstract
The presence of cryoglobulins was investigated in 90 patients with recurrent oral ulcers (ROU) and 61 patients with Behcet''s syndrome (BS). The immunodiffusion method was compared with laser nephelometry for the analysis of Ig[immunoglobulin]G, IgM, IgA and C3 [complement component 3] in cryoglobulins. The 2 methods of assessment showed a very significant agreement, but laser nephelometry was more sensitive than double diffusion precipitation and was used for quantitative analysis of cryoglobulins. The prevalence of any type of cryoglobulin was 64% in ROU and 75% in BS as compared with controls (15%). In ROU significant levels of IgA were found in minor (P = 0.0196) and major (P = 0.0114) aphthous ulcers and to a lesser extent in herpetiform ulcers (P = 0.0624). Among the 4 types of BS, significant increases in C3 were found in the arthritic type (P = 0.0068) and ocular type (P = 0.0275); IgM (P = 0.0031) and IgG (P = 0.0369) were increased only in the mucocutaneous type. Sequential studies showed that disease remissions or exacerbations were correlated with a decrease or increase in IgM or IgG classes of cryoglobulins. The converse was found with IgA which may inhibit some functions of polymorphonuclear leukocytes and this may be responsible for the failure to remove damaging IgG, IgM and C3 complexes from the circulation.