A suppressor T-cell defect in tropical splenomegaly syndrome.

Serum-IgM is always abnormally high in tropical splenomegaly syndrome. It is postulated that patients with this disease have an abnormal immunoglobulin response to malaria because they lack effective T suppressor cells. This defect may be genetically determined, thus explaining the tribal and familial aggregation of the disease. Hypermacroglobulinaemia is associated with the formation of large amounts of high-molecular-weight immune complexes. These complexes are important in the pathogenesis of the clinical features of the syndrome.