The Metabolism of Gamma Globulins in Myeloma and Allied Conditions.

Previous investigations of the turnover of normal and "pathological" gamma globulins using radioisotopically in vitro trace-labeled proteins in patients with multiple myeloma, macroglobulineniia, and benign M-type hypergammaglobulinemia (1-10) have yielded different results. The present study was undertaken to delineate and compare simultaneously the metabolism of normal gamma globulin and M-components in nine patients with M-component disease. This has been made possible by the use of a) two radioactive isotopes of iodine to study two proteins at the same time in a single patient and b) a recently developed method of analysis particularly suited to this sort of investigation.