Electrophoretic Studies on the Protein Distribution in the Serum of Multiple Myeloma Patients

Abstract

The blood sera of 91 patients suffering from multiple myelomatosis were studied by electro-phoresis. 78% of these sera exhibited major anomalies in their electrophoretic diagrams while the remaining 22% showed only minor anomalies. Of the former group, 6.6% revealed the presence of major abnormal protein components of the range of alpha-globulin mobility, while 15.4% showed major peaks of beta-globulin mobility and 55% disclosed abnormal components of the general range of gamma-globulin mobility. The total protein concn. and the relative distr. of the various protein components present in the sera of these patients were detd. Data are also presented on the sera of 5 myeloma patients where significant changes in the protein distr. or in the electrophoretic mobility of the anomalous protein components were observed as a function of time.