[Behavior of total IgE in normal and atopic subjects of various ages]. / Comportamento delle IgE totali in soggetti normali e atopici di varie età.

We have determined total IgE in serum of 640 healthy subjects and 620 atopic asthmatic subjects of both sexes, aged between 1 and 70. Values of antibody E after decimal logarithmic transformation have acquired a path as in Gaussian curves. Healthy subjects, chosen for sex and for unit of ten years of life, constantly show mean values in serum have appeared in the first and second decade of life in males; in second and third in females. Those facts should be originated by genetic factors connected with sex. We have described physiopathological conditions in which an increase of serum IgE could be connected with genetic factors and mechanism ascertained today, both responsible for the control of IgE.

Rapid resolution of transferrin C subtypes through isoelectric focusing with 2-mercaptoethanol.

The technique of choice currently used for the detection of serum transferrin molecular polymorphism is isoelectric focusing on polyacrylamide slab gels. However, this procedure is unsatisfactory for routine purposes, since a long pretreatment of the serum with iron-donor compounds or neuraminidase is necessary in order to obtain a complete resolution of the transferrin molecule. A very fast and highly economical standardized procedure for transferrin typing which enables a fair molecular resolution within only 3 1/2 h is reported. Protracted pretreatment of serum with neuraminidase or with iron-donor compounds can be totally avoided. An ultrathin layer of polyacrylamide gel is employed for the run, using pH ranges of 4-6.5 or 5-7. A short pretreatment of serum with a 13% solution of 2-mercaptoethanol is performed before the samples are placed on the gel. This technique has been used to perform transferrin typing in 396 cord serum samples from newborn infants of Arezzo (Tuscany), without occurrence of artifacts or the appearance of extra bands in transferrin patterns.