02051nas a2200313 4500000000100000008004100001260001300042653001500055653002900070653001400099653001800113653003100131653000800162653001100170653002700181653001200208653003400220100001300254700001000267700001500277700001500292700001600307700001700323245012900340300001100469490000800480520123500488022001401723 1977 d c1977 Aug10aAntibodies10aAntigen-Antibody Complex10aCell Line10aComplement C110aComplement System Proteins10aDNA10aHumans10aImmunologic Techniques10aleprosy10aLupus Erythematosus, Systemic1 aTung K S1 aKim B1 aBjorvatn B1 aKronvall G1 aMcLaren L C1 aWilliams R C00aDiscrepancy between Clq deviation and Raji cell tests in detection of circulating immune complexes in patients with leprosy. a216-210 v1363 a

Samples of serum from 45 patients with different clinical forms of leprosy and from 17 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus were studied in parallel for circulating immune complexes with use of two different in vitro tests adjusted to the same degree of sensitivity. The Clq deviation test relied upon the reaction of the complement component Clq with immune complexes. The Raji cell test detected complement-fixed immune complexes that bound to the complement receptors on cultured, bone marrow-derived lymphocyte-like Raji cells. Thirty (67%) of 45 patients with leprosy showed immune complexes according to the Clq deviation test; however, only two (7%) of the 30 samples of sera with positive Clq test results were positive by the Raji cell test. In contrast, 54% of 13 samples of sera from patients with systemic lupus erythematosus positive by the Clq test were positive according to the Raji cell test. Since Clq is known to react with DNA as well as with bacterial antigens, the Clq reaction may in fact be detecting antigenemia in many instances. Considerable caution is warranted in application of sensitive screening tests for assay of circulating immune complexes in various states of infectious diseases.

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