Circulating immune complexes (CIC) in Hodgkin's disease. I. Levels and two-dimensional analysis.

A polyethylene glycol 6000 (PEG) mediated precipitation procedure was used to estimate the levels of CIC in sera of healthy donors and patients with Hodgkin's disease (HD). In comparison with the normal serum samples, sera from untreated HD patients showed elevated CIC levels scattered over a wider range and a mean which differed significantly. Sera from treated patients who were in clinical remission exhibited decreased CIC levels. However, the mean level in this category was still above the mean found in the normal sera. The analysis of the data showed that the sera from HD patients in Stage I and II, and with LP and MC type histology showed preferential increase in CIC levels. The analysis of these CICs in 2D-SDS-PAGE and a careful scrutiny of the polypeptide patterns obtained revealed significantly elevated amounts of a component with a Mr of 40 kD and a pI of 5.6 in CICs from the untreated HD patients. Congruent peptide maps of this component and its decreased amounts in CICs from sera of patients in remission suggests its quantitative involvement in the disease.