Serum electrophoresis were performed in 13,400 healthy adult subjects
(blood donors) and 20 cases of monoclonal gammapathy were detected: ten cases out of
10,300 blood donors from Paris and ten out of 3,100 blood donors from Saint-Nazaire.
The frequency of ‘M Component’ was of 0.1 and 0.3%, respectively. Four cases were
related to myeloma or Waldenstrom’s macroglobulinaemia and the other 16 cases could be
ascribed to a ‘benign essential monoclonal gammapathy’ (BEMG). The distribution of
heavy and light chain classes in BEMG was 13 γ (11 K and 2 L) and 3 MK. This screening
of a normal population allowed detection of either clinically premalignant states or the
occurrence and evolution of benign essential forms of gammapathies.
The frequency of isolated IgA deficiency was determined in a healthy population of 15,200 volunteer French blood donors. The screening was performed either by inhibition of passive haemagglutination or by double diffusion analysis in gel. The results obtained with the two methods were concordant. In the Parisian population, the incidence of selective IgA deficiency characterized by a serum level below 0.5 IU, was found to be 1/3,040. This index is lower than that reported by most other investigators: 1/300- 1/3,000. These discrepancies depend on the type of population chosen for inquiry. In open and ethnically mixed populations, the incidence of IgA deficiency is lower than in more sedentary, rural, populations in which the probability of distant consanguinity is increased.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.