STUDIES OF THE SERUM PROTEINS. III. A SYNDROME ASSOCIATED WITH ALPHA-3 GLOBULINEMIA

Abstract

Alpha-3 globulin is an abnormal component of the serum proteins which has an electrophoretic mobility intermediate between alpha-2 and beta globulins. In the authors'' series of approximately 2,000 electrophoretic fractionations, alpha-3 globulin was observed in concentrations greater than 0.3 g/100 ml in sera from 26 patients who suffered from a variety of neoplastic, infectious and metabolic disturbances. In 7 of the patients, alpha-3 globulinemia was associated with a distinctive clinical picture which included chronic myalgia, arthralgia, anemia, emaciation, fever, dermatitis and pleurisy. No etiologic agent or specific pathologic lesion could be identified. In this group of patients, the age incidence (55-68 years), symptomatology, physical and laboratory findings and chronic clinical courses bore such striking similarities that the authors believe they warrant special classification.