Serum kappa and lambda light immunoglobulin chains in cynomolgus macaques ( Macaca fascicularis) during the first twenty months of age

Growth is coupled to physiological modifications of the immune system which reaches the functional capabilities according to age-related milestones. Few data are available on the circulating immunoglobulin levels and no data exist on total immunoglobulin light chains in infant macaques. Therefore we studied by a nephelometric assay, the age-dependent variations of κ and λ serum light chains in the experimental animal model Macaca fascicularis during the first 20 months of age. Both κ and λ showed a marked increase in their concentrations during the first 7–8 months of life. Infants' light chain levels were anyhow significantly lower than those of the nursing dams and of the control group, never attaining, even at the 20th month, the same concentration as the adult, although the value of the κ λ ratio was apparently the same.