A CASE OF MU-HEAVY CHAIN DISEASE - COMBINED FEATURES OF MU-CHAIN DISEASE AND MACROGLOBULINEMIA

A case of mu-heavy chain disease (HCD) is described. The patient, a 40 -year-old man, presented with an intracranial tumor. The bone marrow o f this patient showed infiltration with both plasma cells and lymphocy tes. The majority of plasma cells were vacuolated and the result of im munoelectrophoresis of serum protein revealed an are with anti-IgM ant iserum and an additional rapid migrating are of different mobility wit h anti-kappa antiserum. The urine contained a kappa-type Bence Jones p rotein. An enzyme-linked antibody study showed that the majority of pl asma cells in bone marrow contained both mu and kappa antigenic determ inants in their cytoplasm. On Sephadex G-200 gel filtration, the monoc lonal IgM-kappa protein and the p-chain fragment were detected in the serum, suggesting the combined features of mu-HCD and macroglobulinemi a. The molecular weight of the mu-chain fragment was approximately 45 000 daltons. The intracranial tumor completely disappeared after irrad iation therapy. However, he died 1 year later after development of a h uge abdominal tumor. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd.