Use of kappa and lambda chain quantitation for the detection of immunoglobulin abnormalities in serum

Quantitation of kappa and lambda light chains was investigated as an alternative to immunoelectrophoresis or immunofixation in the analysis of sera for abnormal immunoglobulins. Normal values for the ratios of total immunoglobulins to total light chains, and for total kappa chains to total lambda chains, were established in 104 control sera and were 1.070 +/- 0.074 and 1.770 +/- 0.337, respectively. Protein electrophoresis plus quantitation of immunoglobulin heavy and light chains provided sufficient data for the analysis of 79% of apparent normal sera, 76% of apparent abnormal sera which did not have monoclonal components, 73% of abnormal sera which contained monoclonal components, and 53% of pediatric sera. However, this protocol failed to detect monoclonal components known to be present in two sera. These data indicate that this analytic approach cannot replace the subjective analysis of sera by immunoelectrophoresis or immunofixation.