Immunoglobulin Heavy and Light Chain Isotypes in Multiple Myeloma Patients

Abstract

The frequency of expression of immunoglobulin (Ig) light and heavy chain isotypes was analyzed in myelomaproteins (M-proteins) from sera of 40 Indian patients with clinically established multiple myeloma. Patientssamples were screened by a combination of electrophoresis, immunoelectrophoresis (IEP) and ELISA techniquesin this study. We found that majority of the myeloma proteins (58%) were of the IgG isotype followed by IgA(24%) and biclonal gammopathy associated with IgG and IgA (5%). Both kappa and lambda light chains wereassociated with the heavy chain isotypes. We recommend the triangular combination for detection of M-proteinsand biclonal gammopathy of cancerous plasma cells as biomarkers for diagnosis of myeloma.