Analysis of chicken bile by gel precipitation reactions using a lectin in the place of antibody.

A lectin obtained from black turtle beans (BTB) was precipitated with IgA in chicken bile samples in various forms of agarose gel systems. Ouchterlony-type double-diffusion (ODD) precipitation patterns between the lectin, bile IgA, and heavy chain-specific antibody contained spurs of the type suggestive of partial immunologic identity. The immunoelectrophoresis precipitation patterns between the same three reactants were mirror images and fused on the cathodic side of the immunoelectrophoresis origin. In addition to use in ODD-type gels, BTB could also be incorporated into agarose gels suitable for Mancini (radial immunodiffusion) or Laurell-type rocket electrophoresis. Bile samples obtained from Cornell lines OS and C, broiler breeder males, and University of California-Davis congenic lines were investigated using BTB- and antibody-based methods. The results of this study indicated that IgA was the most frequently detected isotype in bile, occurring in 139 of 156 (89%) samples. Most bile samples (128/156; 82%) also contained IgG, whereas fewer (19/156; 12%) contained IgM. Cornell lines appeared to differ from broiler breeders, having a higher frequency of IgM-positive samples. Of the total bile samples studied, 11% (17/156) of samples from broiler breeders and the Cornell lines appeared to be devoid of IgA; the bile of one broiler breeder was found to be devoid of all three isotypes. Instances were found in which bile samples shown to be negative for IgA by antibody-ODD were shown to be positive by BTB-ODD. Thus BTB appears to be a suitable adjunct to antibody for the study of IgA.