[daniellerene89]

Elevated IgA and total light chain levels - meaning?

by daniellerene89 on Fri Mar 25, 2016 8:12 am

Hi,

My boyfriend's GP ran some tests and he hasn't officially been diagnosed with anything but someone please help me understand what these numbers may mean. They did an auto­immune panel and some other things but I am worried about these elevated numbers.

GAMMA GLOBULIN 1.4 Ref. range 0.8-1.7 g/dL

Electrophoretic studies revealed that one or more fractions
were outside the reference interval. Please interpret these
results within the context of all clinical and laboratory data
available. Beta-2 globulins appear increased relative to beta-1
globulins. The presence of a monoclonal protein cannot be ruled
out. Please consider immunofixation analysis if indicated and
not already ordered.

KAPPA/LAMBDA LIGHT CHAINS TOTAL, SERUM

KAPPA 380 H Ref. range 74-295 mg/dL
LAMBDA 227 H Ref range 32-156 mg/dL
KAPPA/LAMBDA RATIO 1.7 Ref range 1.3-2.7

IMMUNOFIXATION, SERUM

Reference Range: No Monoclonal Proteins Detected
No monoclonal proteins detected by immunofixation studies

IMMUNOGLOBULINS

IMMUNOGLOBULIN A 486 H Ref range 81-463 mg/dL
IMMUNOGLOBULIN G 1399 Ref range 694-1618 mg/dL
IMMUNOGLOBULIN M 85 Ref range 48-271 mg/dL

CARDIO IQ(R) ADVANCED LIPID PANEL

CHOLESTEROL, TOTAL 164 Ref range 125-200 mg/dL

[Multibilly]

Re: Elevated IgA and total light chain levels - meaning?

by Multibilly on Fri Mar 25, 2016 8:55 am

Hi Daniellerene89,

I wouldn't jump to any conclusions about these numbers being caused by something like multiple myeloma.

The key test you listed here was the serum immunofixation test and it shows no monoclonal protein. That rules out most forms of multiple myeloma.

Also, note that the light chain test you listed here is not the one that is used for testing for multiple myeloma. One uses what is called a serum FREE light chain test for those purposes. But the fact that both the kappa and lambda values are elevated also tends not to point to multiple myeloma.

An elevated IgA level in the absence of any monoclonal protein can be caused by infections, autoimmune disease, etc.

In any case, I'd suggest letting the doctor finish the tests and develop a diagnosis rather than try to pre-guess a diagnosis on the web. Hope this helps a bit.