Correlation of the Km(1) immunoglobulin allotype with anti-polysaccharide antibodies in Caucasian adults.

Km allotype antigens are serologic markers expressed on kappa light chains of human immunoglobulins. To determine whether th Km phenotype of an individual is related to his ability to make antibodies to polysaccharide antigens, we correlated the Km allotypes of 129 healthy caucasian adults with the concentrations of specific antibodies to three bacterial polysaccharide antigens after immunization. The 14 individuals expressing the Km(1) allotype had lower concentrations of IgG, IgM, and IgA antibodies by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and total antibody by radioimmunoassay to Haemophilus influenzae type b and Neisseria meningitidis group C capsular polysaccharides when compared with the 115 Km(1) negative individuals. The Km-associated differences in H. influenzae type b and N. meningitidis group C antibody concentrations were confined to kappa light chain-containing antibody (P = 0.029 and 0.003, respectively). Similarly, the Km(1) positives had slightly lower kappa chain-containing Ig than the Km(1) negatives (P = 0.079). We conclude that genes in or near the kappa light chain locus play a role in the regulation of kappa-containing antibody production to some bacterial polysaccharides and perhaps to other antigens.