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Immunoglobulin M (IgM) is the largest of several isotypes of antibodies (also known as immunoglobulin) that are produced by vertebrates. IgM is the first antibody to appear in the response to initial exposure to an antigen ; [ 1 ] [ 2 ] causing it to also be called an acute phase antibody.
Free light chains (FLCs) are immunoglobulin light chains that are found in the serum (blood) in an unbound (free) state. In recent decades, measuring the amount of free light chains (FLCs) in the blood has become a practical clinical test. FLC tests can be used to diagnose and monitor diseases like multiple myeloma and amyloidosis.
Multiple myeloma is diagnosed based on blood or urine tests finding abnormal antibody proteins (often using electrophoretic techniques revealing the presence of a monoclonal spike in the results, termed an m-spike), bone marrow biopsy finding cancerous plasma cells, and medical imaging finding bone lesions. [6]
Serum protein electrophoresis showing a paraprotein (spike/peak in the gamma zone) in a patient with multiple myeloma.. A myeloma protein is an abnormal antibody (immunoglobulin) or (more often) a fragment thereof, such as an immunoglobulin light chain, that is produced in excess by an abnormal monoclonal proliferation of plasma cells, typically in multiple myeloma or Monoclonal gammopathy of ...
Serum protein electrophoresis (SPEP or SPE) is a laboratory test that examines specific proteins in the blood called globulins. [1] The most common indications for a serum protein electrophoresis test are to diagnose or monitor multiple myeloma , a monoclonal gammopathy of uncertain significance (MGUS), or further investigate a discrepancy ...
Nephelometry is a technique used in immunology to determine the levels of several blood plasma proteins. For example, the total levels of antibodies isotypes or classes: Immunoglobulin M, Immunoglobulin G, and Immunoglobulin A. [1] It is important in quantification of free light chains in diseases such as multiple myeloma.
Blood tests show the level of IgM in the blood and the presence of proteins, or tumor markers, that are the key signs of Waldenström macroglobulinemia. A bone marrow biopsy provides a sample of bone marrow, usually from the lower back of the pelvis bone. The sample is extracted through a needle and examined under a microscope.
Most hypergammaglobulinemias are caused by an excess of immunoglobulin M (IgM), because this is the default immunoglobulin type prior to class switching. Some types of hypergammaglobulinemia are actually caused by a deficiency in the other major types of immunoglobulins, which are IgA , IgE and IgG .