Human secretory component. II. Easy detection of abnormal amounts of combined secretory component in human sera

A simple method, allowing easy detection of abnormally increased sIgA levels is described. It consists in quantitation of combined SC by gel double diffusion, using appropriate anti-SC immune sera. The technical conditions, locating the threshold of sensitivity of precipitation at about 25 microgram/ml, a value higher than that found in normal sera, were established. Comparison with other classical methods (SRID, ELISA and IHA) emphasizes the validity and simplicity of the technique which has shown convenient whenever a large number of sera have to be tested.