Polyclonal gammopathies associated with chronic diseases in nonhuman primates

Serum samples collected from clinically healthy rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) were compared with serums from animals diagnosed as having malignant lymphoma, atypical tuberculosis, progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy, or more than 1 of these. Electrophoretic analyses of serum proteins (in grams per deciliter) indicated that mean values in a clinically normal group were as follows--total protein, 8.30; albumin, 4.07; alpha-globulin, 0.85; beta-globulin, 2.23; and gamma-globulin, 1.15. In macaques with malignant lymphoma, mean values were--total protein, 7.60; albumin, 2.72; alpha-globulin, 0.91; beta-globulin, 1.71; and gamma-globulin, 2.23. In macaques with atypical tuberculosis, these values were 8.47, 2.92, 0.84, 2.18, and 2.52, respectively, and those with progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy, 9.06, 4.01, 6.71, 2.42, and 1.93. Where multiple serum samples were available from 1 macaque for analysis, gamma-globulin values were increased before clinical disease was apparent. Evaluation of serums from macaques may be used as a means of detecting preclinical lymphoproliferative disease.