Turnover of Gamma Globulin in a Patient With Agammaglobulinemia as Measured by Radioiodinated Human Gamma Globulin

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
The survival of injected human gamma globulin labeled with radioactive iodine was followed in a patient lacking this protein in her blood. The half-time survival was 11 days with one lot of labeled protein and 24 days with a second preparation. Both values were within normal ranges. A transfusion of 1430 ml of plasma containing 13.3 g of gamma globulin accompanied the second injection of labeled protein. This unlabeled gamma globulin had a half-time survival of about 20 days. Estimations were made of the survival times of the albumin and the alpha and beta globulins after the plasma transfusion. The half-time survival of albumin exceeded 7 days; the alpha1, alpha2 and beta globulins all disappeared at a much faster rate, with half-time survivals of about 2 or 3 days. It is suggested that gamma globulin loses its electrophoretic characteristics simultaneously with loss of its I131 label and that the freed I131 cannot be transferred within the body from the gamma globulin to other proteins.