[The search for circulating immune complex (IC) (author's transl)]

There are at present a large number of methods of searching for circulating immune complexes. No method is totally satisfactory, but the use of several methods simultaneously now permits us to draw a few conclusions. The very frequent presence of circulating immune complexes in the serum during systemic lupus erythematous, rheumatoid arthritis, and acute glomerulonephritis, is further evidence in favour of circulating immune complexes in these diseases. Furthermore, circulating IC may be observed in numerous circumstances, without causing obvious pathological consequences. It is nevertheless possible that they may play a role in the control mechanisms of immune function.