New Insights Into a Multifaceted Disease

Systemic amyloidoses are a group of clinically overlapping conditions characterized by misfolding and extracellular deposition of one of a diverse array of circulating proteins in different tissues and organs in the form of amyloid fibrils.1 Among these conditions, immunoglobulin light chain (AL) amyloidosis is caused by a plasma cell clone secreting toxic, amyloidogenic light chains, most often of λ isotype, targeting vital organs, mainly the heart and the kidneys.2 The conversion of soluble light chains into amyloid fibrils is catalyzed by the presence of fibrils, and even at very low concentration, the light chain can feed the amyloid deposit, worsening the target organ function.
Source: Mayo Clinic Proceedings - Category: Internal Medicine Authors: Tags: Editorial Source Type: research