Abstract

High concentrations of circulating immune complexes were detected by polyethylene glycol precipitation in 11 of 20 patients with myelofibrosis secondary to chronic myeloproliferative disease. Circulating immune complexes showed a positive correlation with plasma IgG concentrations both in patients and controls. Covariance analysis of the two groups showed significantly increased polyethylene glycol precipitable IgG in patients when adjusted for plasma IgG concentrations, indicating that the patients had significantly increased concentrations of complexed IgG. The immune complexes contained IgG, C3, and fibronectin and were inversely correlated with plasma fibronectin concentrations, suggesting that this major non-specific opsonin is important for the normal clearance of immune complexes. Therapeutic plasmapheresis efficiently removed circulating complexes and produced an increase in plasma fibronectin. This suggests that plasmapheresis may be useful for controlling immune complex mediated complications of these disorders.