Department of Laboratory Medicine, Seoul Clinical Laboratories, Seoul Medical Science Institute, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Am J Hematol. 2011 Sep;86(9):752-5. doi: 10.1002/ajh.22095. Epub 2011 Jul 22.
Research on the epidemiology of monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS) is limited in Korea. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and characteristics of MGUS in an elderly urban Korean population. A random sample of 1118 Korean elders was selected from residents aged 65 years or older living in Seongnam, Korea 1 year from August 2005. We obtained plasma samples remaining after scheduled tests for the Korean Longitudinal Study on Health and Aging. The mean age of the study population was 72 years (range, 65-97 years). To screen for MGUS, immunofixation and free light-chain (FLC) assays were performed. Age-adjusted and gender-adjusted MGUS prevalence rates in 680 responders were estimated as 3.3% [95% confidence interval (CI) = 2.0-4.6%], and the estimated age-adjusted prevalence of MGUS was 4.3% in men (95% CI = 1.9-6.6%) and 2.6% in women (95% CI = 1.0-4.2%). Abnormal FLC ratios were detected in 10% of MGUS cases. Multivariate analysis of 945 participants revealed that significant risk factors for MGUS included advanced age, male sex, hyperproteinemia, increased erythrocyte sedimentation rate, and abnormal FLC ratio. MGUS is less prevalent among elderly Koreans (3.3%) than other races. This is the first study to estimate the prevalence of MGUS in the Korean elderly population. Our findings should be confirmed with additional studies analyzing follow-up samples from 2010.
韩国对意义未明的单克隆丙种球蛋白血症（MGUS）的流行病学研究有限。本研究旨在确定韩国老年城市人群中 MGUS 的流行率和特征。从韩国 2005 年 8 月开始的 1 年内，从居住在水原市的 65 岁或以上的居民中随机抽取了 1118 名韩国老年人作为样本。我们获得了在韩国健康老龄化纵向研究中预定检测后剩余的血浆样本。研究人群的平均年龄为 72 岁（范围，65-97 岁）。为了筛查 MGUS，进行了免疫固定和游离轻链（FLC）检测。在 680 名应答者中，估计年龄和性别校正后的 MGUS 患病率为 3.3%（95%可信区间[CI] = 2.0-4.6%），估计年龄校正后的男性 MGUS 患病率为 4.3%（95%CI = 1.9-6.6%），女性为 2.6%（95%CI = 1.0-4.2%）。10%的 MGUS 病例存在异常 FLC 比值。对 945 名参与者的多变量分析显示，MGUS 的显著危险因素包括年龄较大、男性、高球蛋白血症、红细胞沉降率升高和异常 FLC 比值。老年韩国人（3.3%）MGUS 的患病率低于其他种族。这是第一项估计韩国老年人群 MGUS 患病率的研究。我们的研究结果应通过分析 2010 年的随访样本的进一步研究加以证实。
