Homogeneous Immunoglobulins in Sera of Mice During Aging

Open Access
Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
One of the striking features of the immune response in man during aging is an increasing tendency to produce homogeneous immunoglobulins, the so-called “idiopathic paraproteins” or “benign monoclonal γ-globulins” (1, 2). The frequency of idiopathic paraproteinaemias is reported by several groups of investigators to be about 1% of the adult population, increasing gradually from 0 in the third decade up to 19% in the tenth decade (3, 4). Although a large amount of clinical data on such cases has been accumulated during the last 15 years, very little is known about the etiology, the mechanisms, and the significance of this particular form of the immunoglobulin production in aging man. No similar findings have been reported in animals. Without an experimental animal model, any attempt at more detailed investigations would be difficult. We report here the appearance of homogeneous immunoglobulins (H-Ig)1 in the serum of mice during aging that show some features comparable to those described in man under the term “idiopathic paraproteinaemias.”

This publication has 0 references indexed in Scilit: