Protein composition of circulating immune complexes in patients with periodic disease complicated or not complicated by renal amyloidosis.

The level of circulating immune complexes (CICs) in the blood is an indicator of the organismal immune status. CIC formation is considered to be a normal physiological reaction. In the case of an antigens (AGs) or antibodies (ABs), small complexes are formed in which AGs prevail; at an whereas at the equimolar AG-to-AT ratio, large complexes are formed in which Abs prevail. CICs are capable of interacting with components of both cellular and humoral immunity, thus stimulating the immune response. These complexes are normally rapidly eliminated from the blood due to phagocytosis. AGs circulating for a long time significantly increase the level of CICs in the blood and cause their deposition in tissues, which results in tissue damage and further stimulation of the immune responses in the organism because of complement activation [1]. Thus, the negative effect of increased CIC concentrations on almost all physiological processes in a living organism leads to development of various pathological states. In this study, we determined the concentrations and protein compositions of both large and small CICs isolated from the serum of patients with periodic disease (familial Mediterranean fever; PD). Since renal amyloidosis is an inevitable PD complication [2], the same parameters were estimated in patients with PD complicated and not complicated with amyloidosis. The statistical data obtained for different groups of patients and those of healthy volunteers (control group) were compared. The sample consisted of PD patients (in the period of exacerbation) who had or had no amyloidosis; the control group consistent of healthy volunteers. The table show the average parameters of the persons studied. The material of the study was blood serum of these persons. The material was obtained from Geratsi First Hospital (Ministry of Health of Armenia).