Alpha-chain disease with pulmonary manifestations.

A case of alpha-chain disease of the pulmonary type is described in a man presenting with dyspnoea, mottling on chest x-ray picture, and a CO-transfer factor of 36%, suggestive of fibrosing alveolitis. The serum IgA consisted entirely of abnormal alpha chains devoid of light chains. This protein had the unusual property of reacting by immunofluorescence with rat mitochondria but not with human issues or with those of other species. Postmortem examination showed enlarged mediastinal lymph nodes with no evidence of malignancy or fibrosing alveolitis.