Serum beta2-microglobulin measured by immunonephelometry: expression patterns and reference intervals in healthy adults.

Background: Serum beta2-microglobulin (beta2m) has been established as a marker of disease activity in malignancies, autoimmune conditions and infections. Despite its important role in prognosis assessment and disease monitoring, relatively few studies are available on its expression in healthy individuals. Furthermore, interpretation of results is hampered by the variety in reference limits due to differences in methodology, sample population and statistics.

C1-inhibitor (C1-INH) autoantibodies in hereditary angioedema. Strong correlation with the severity of disease in C1-INH concentrate naïve patients.

The presence of autoantibodies to C1-inhibitor (C1-INH-Abs) is a hallmark of acquired C1-inhibitor deficiency. However, only scarce data are available on their prevalence in hereditary angioedema (HAE). In a prospective study performed between 2001 and 2004 in 95 patients with Type I or II HAE, serum samples were taken one to three times a year and clinical status of the patients was registered.

[Intravenous immunoglobulin treatment of recurrent spontaneous abortion with immunopathological background].

Introduction: Recurrent spontaneous abortion (RSA) is diagnosed if three or more spontaneous abortions follow each other typically in the first trimester. The root cause of miscarriages often can not be found. A significant proportion of this unexplained RSA cases may be caused by immunopathological failure.