Anti–myelin-associated glycoprotein IgM antibody titers in neuropathy associated with macroglobulinemia

Twenty-seven patients with neuropathy and IgM monoclonal gammopathy were tested for antigen specificity of the M-protein and for anti–myelin-associated glycoprotein (MAG) IgM levels by immunoblot. In 16 patients (59.2%) the M-protein reacted with MAG and with cross-reactive glycoconjugates. Anti-MAG IgM titers in these patients ranged between 1 : 12,800 and 1 : 100,000. A fainter IgM reactivity with MAG and related glycoconjugates was detected in 3 additional patients with neuropathy, but also in 8 of 24 patients with IgM M-protein without neuropathy (33.3%). This reactivity was not due to the M-protein and corresponded to antibody titers of 1:400 or less in all but 1 patient with a titer of 1 : 3,200. Low titers of anti-MAG IgM (1 : 200 or less) were also detected in 17 of 101 control patients without IgM M-proteins (16.8%), while 1 patient with neuropathy of unknown cause had anti-MAG IgMk titers of 1 : 25,600. In 1 patient with neuropathy and IgM M-protein that was not anti-MAG, the M-protein bound to other antigens in nerve, while in 6, other possible causes or mechanisms for the neuropathy were found. In this study, high titers of anti-MAG IgM antibodies were always associated with neuropathy. The presence of low levels of anti-MAG IgM in a significant proportion of controls suggests that monoclonal expansion of naturally occurring B-cell clones secreting anti-MAG IgM may be responsible for the high incidence of this antigen specificity of the M-protein.