Serum immunoglobulin A and antibody to M-associated protein in patients with acute glomerulonephritis or rheumatic fever.

Abstract

Serum immunoglobulin A (IgA) was markedly increased in 80% of 50 patients with acute rheumatic fever in Trinidad in contrast to 20% of 63 patients with acute glomerulonephritis, whereas serum IgG was increased in nearly all of both groups. Since total antibody to M-associated protein (MAP) (assessed by complement fixation) is the only antibody as yet consistently found to be of higher titer in patients with acute rheumatic fever than in patients with acute glomerulonephritis in Trinidad, it was measured and the titers were related to serum levels of IgA. The titers of total antibody to MAP were greater than or equal to 40 in 58% of the rheumatic fever patients, 43% of the nephritis patients, and 8% of well school-children. However, its presence in rheumatic fever patients did not correlate directly with amounts of serum IgA present (r = 0.0507). Moreover, titers of total antibody to MAP related equally well to enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay indicated amounts of IgG antibody (r = 0.3939) and IgA antibody (r = 0.3054) to MAP in rheumatic fever patients but not in nephritis patients (r = 0.0301 for IgA antibody and 0.6909 for IgG antibody to MAP), whereas they related best to IgM antibody to MAP in the school-children (r = 0.4204).