IMMUNOGLOBULIN LEVELS FROM THE NEWBORN PERIOD TO ADULTHOOD AND IN IMMUNOGLOBULIN DEFICIENCY STATES*

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Abstract
Serum levels of B2A and B2M globulins in infants and children, measured by a method combining the quantitative precipitin reaction with immunoelectrophoretic analysis, indicate that synthesis of these proteins in the infant starts at different times. B2M , probably synthesized to some extent in the fetus, is formed at an increasing rate on the 2nd or 3rd day of life with the serum level reaching that of the adult by age 9 months. In contrast, B2A is not produced until age 7 weeks and the serum level slowly increases to reach the adult average probably at puberty. Several antibody deficiency states have immunoglobulin patterns suggesting arrest of maturation of the synthetic mechanism. The agammaglobulinemic resembles the fetus in that none of the immunoglobulins are being synthesized while synthesis in the dysgammaglobulinemic is similar to that of the infant at age 1 week. In the hypogammaglobulinemic, synthesis corresponds to that of the infant of about four weeks. A number of children were found with absence or very low levels of B2A. None had symptoms of antibody deficiency.