Circulating immune complexes of xanthine oxidase in normal subjects

An antigen-specific enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was developed to detect immune complexes of xanthine oxidase (XODIC), and applied to assay serum XODIC in normal subjects. It was found that XODIC of both IgM and IgG isotypes could be detected in all the 85 sera tested. XODIC levels as a percentage of total xanthine oxidase antibody (XODAb) in the free and bound forms were mostly less than 20%, and there was also significant correlation in XODIC and XODAb levels for both IgM and IgG isotypes. The implications of these findings are discussed.