Skip to main content
NCBI home page
The Journal of Experimental Medicine logoLink to The Journal of Experimental Medicine
. 1966 Mar 31;123(4):615–627. doi: 10.1084/jem.123.4.615

THE IGA SYSTEM

I. STUDIES OF THE TRANSPORT AND IMMUNOCHEMISTRY OF IGA IN THE SALIVA

Mary Ann South 1, Max D Cooper 1, Frank A Wollheim 1, Richard Hong 1, Robert A Good 1
PMCID: PMC2180464  PMID: 4160397

Abstract

1. Five patients with congenital or acquired agammaglobulinemia, lacking detectable IgA in serum or saliva, were transfused with 1 to 2 liters of normal plasma. In 2 of these patients IgA was demonstrated in parotid saliva collected after transfusion, but in none of the 5 was salivary IgG or IgM found. This observation indicates the selective transport of IgA into saliva. 2. The observation by others of an immunochemical difference between serum and sahvary IgA globulin was confirmed. In contrast to serum IgA, salivary IgA is attached to a protein having antigenicity which migrates as a gamma1 globulin. We have termed this protein component "transport piece". 3. The transport piece has been found in an unbound form in the saliva of persons completely lacking IgA: agammaglobulinemic patients, ataxia-telangiectasia patients, a healthy person lacking IgA, and a newborn infant. Free transport piece still occurs in the normal child's saliva after IgA production begins. By adulthood there is usually no free transport piece in the saliva. 4. Heat-aggregated salivary IgA, like heat-aggregated serum IgA, does not fix complement. 5. Our findings offer support for the view that there is a distinct local antibody system for the protection of the mucous surfaces.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (720.7 KB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. BURROWS W., WARE L. L. Studies on immunity to Asiatic cholera. VII. Prophylactic immunity to experimental enteric cholera. J Infect Dis. 1953 Mar-Apr;92(2):164–174. doi: 10.1093/infdis/92.2.164. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Bernier G. M., Cebra J. J. Frequency distribution of alpha, gamma, kappa and lambda polypeptide chains in human lymphoid tissues. J Immunol. 1965 Aug;95(2):246–253. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. CHODIRKER W. B., TOMASI T. B., Jr GAMMA-GLOBULINS: QUANTITATIVE RELATIONSHIPS IN HUMAN SERUM AND NONVASCULAR FLUIDS. Science. 1963 Nov 22;142(3595):1080–1081. doi: 10.1126/science.142.3595.1080. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. CRABBE P. A., CARBONARA A. O., HEREMANS J. F. THE NORMAL HUMAN INTESTINAL MUCOSA AS A MAJOR SOURCE OF PLASMA CELLS CONTAINING GAMMA-A-IMMUNOGLOBULIN. Lab Invest. 1965 Mar;14:235–248. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. CURBY W. A. Device for collection of human parotid saliva. J Lab Clin Med. 1953 Mar;41(3):493–496. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. DE ST. GROTH S. F., GRAHAM D. M. Studies in experimental immunology of influenza. X. Passive immunity and its enhancement. Aust J Exp Biol Med Sci. 1954 Jun;32(3):369–386. doi: 10.1038/icb.1954.40. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. FLEISCHMAN J. B., PAIN R. H., PORTER R. R. Reduction of gamma-globulins. Arch Biochem Biophys. 1962 Sep;Suppl 1:174–180. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. HEREMANS J. F., VAERMAN J. P., VAERMAN C. STUDIES ON THE IMMUNE GLOBULINS OF HUMAN SERUM. II. A STUDY OF THE DISTRIBUTION OF ANTI-BRUCELLA AND ANTI-DIPHTHERIA ANTIBODY ACTIVITIES AMONG GAMMA-SS, GAMMA-IM AND GAMMA-1A-GLOBULIN FRACTIONS. J Immunol. 1963 Jul;91:11–17. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. HUNTLEY C. C., LYERLY A. IMMUNE GLOBULIN DETERMINATIONS IN ALLERGIC CHILDREN. Am J Dis Child. 1963 Dec;106:545–552. doi: 10.1001/archpedi.1963.02080050547003. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Ishizaka K., Ishizaka T., Lee E. H., Fudenberg H. Immunochemical properties of human gamma-A isohemagglutinin. I. Comparisons with gamma-G and gamma-M-globulin antibodies. J Immunol. 1965 Aug;95(2):197–208. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. KEIMOWITZ R. I. IMMUNOGLOBULINS IN NORMAL HUMAN TRACHEOBRONCHIAL WASHINGS: A QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE STUDY. J Lab Clin Med. 1964 Jan;63:54–59. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. MELLORS R. C., KORNGOLD L. THE CELLULAR ORIGIN OF HUMAN IMMUNOGLOBULINS (GAMMA-2, GAMMA-1M, GAMMA-1A). J Exp Med. 1963 Sep 1;118:387–396. doi: 10.1084/jem.118.3.387. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. REMINGTON J. S., VOSTI K. L., LIETZE A., ZIMMERMAN A. L. SERUM PROTEINS AND ANTIBODY ACTIVITY IN HUMAN NASAL SECRETIONS. J Clin Invest. 1964 Aug;43:1613–1624. doi: 10.1172/JCI105037. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. ROCKEY J. H., HANSON L. A., HEREMANS J. F., KUNKEL H. G. BETA-2A AGLOBULINEMIA IN TWO HEALTHY MEN. J Lab Clin Med. 1964 Feb;63:205–212. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. SCHEIDEGGER J. J. Une micro-méthode de l'immuno-electrophorèse. Int Arch Allergy Appl Immunol. 1955;7(2):103–110. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. TOMASI T. B., Jr, ZIGELBAUM S. THE SELECTIVE OCCURENCE OF GAMMA-1A GLOBULINS IN CERTAIN BODY FLUIDS. J Clin Invest. 1963 Oct;42:1552–1560. doi: 10.1172/JCI104840. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Wollheim F. A., Williams R. C., Jr Immunoglobulin studies in six kindreds of patients with adult hypogammaglobulinemia. J Lab Clin Med. 1965 Sep;66(3):433–445. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Wollheim F. A., Williams R. C., Jr Studies on the macroglobulins of human serum. I. Polyclonal immunoglobulin class M (IgM) increase in infectious mononucleosis. N Engl J Med. 1966 Jan 13;274(2):61–67. doi: 10.1056/NEJM196601132740202. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from The Journal of Experimental Medicine are provided here courtesy of The Rockefeller University Press

RESOURCES