[Presence of immunoglobulins and complement in the walls of the coronary arteries in atherosclerosis]

A histopathological and histoimmunological comparison was performed on 143 fragments on coronary arteries taken from 43 patients who died of ischemic heart disease and from 20 patients who died of other diseases. The immunological study research of Ig (A, G, M) and C3 fraction of complement in the 3 coronary layers was done by the immuno-peroxidase technique. The fixation was essentially observed in fibromyocytes. A good correlation existed between atherosclerosis lesions and fixation of Ig and C3 fraction of complement in both the media and the intima. On the other hand, this correlation was not observed in the adventitia. Accumulation of immunoglobulins and of the C3 fraction of complement in atherosclerosis seemed specific and proportional to the degree of arterial well lesion. The significance and the role of this accumulation remains to be studied. It may be hypothesized that Ig and complement fixation on fibromyocyte cell receptors or on the fibrous tissue fundamental substance is followed by the formation of antigen-antibody complexes, which act as foreign bodies which are either responsible for (or a reflection) of the onset of lesions or, at least, of their increasing severity or their persistence.