[Value of serum immunoglobulin assays in early myocardial infarction].

Serum immunoglobulin (Ig) levels were assayed in 672 patients admitted for acute myocardial infarction with onset within 24 hours of hospitalization. Supranormal Ig levels (A > or = 300, G > or = 1,200) or subnormal Ig levels (M < 40 mg/100 ml) were seen in patients with one or several risk factors (diabetes mellitus, alcohol abuse) or a history of previous myocardial infarction. Patients with one or more Ig anomalies were more likely to exhibit unfavorable outcomes, including early death, suggesting that increased viscosity due to aggregation of Ig molecules may occur.

Cardiovascular risk factors in a sample of a rural Belgian population: the Bellux MONICA Study.

A sample of 1949 subjects of the population of the Belgian province of Luxembourg was screened for levels of cardiovascular risk factors. Cigarette smoking was more prevalent among males (51%) than among females (17%). The relationship between smoking and socio-economic status was inverse in males (M) and direct in females (F).

[Serum immunoglobulins in cardiovascular pathology].

The authors measured as a routine IgA, IgG and IgM serum immunoglobulins in a hundred subjects free from any cardiac or hypertensive disease, in 51 patients with coronary heart disease in in 50 hypertensive subjects. They found that in 2% of the normal subjects and in 28% of the coronary heart disease or hypertension, the level of one of the three serum immunoglobulins was outside the following limits: IgA 100 to 480 mg/100 ml, IgG 500 to 1900 mg/100 ml and IgM 45 to 380 mg/100 ml. The 2 normal subjects and 12% of the patients with coronary heart disease or hypertension presented an abnormally low level of one of the immunoglobulins, while an abnormally high level was observed in 16% of the subjects with coronary heart disease or hypertension.