Distribution of Human IgG Subclasses in Commercial Intravenous Immunoglobulin Preparations: A Rate Nephelometric Method

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
The relative amount of human IgG subclasses and/or subclass-specific determinants were measured in 7 commercial i.v. Ig preparations and 1 human serum preparation-Paul Ehrlich Institute Plasma Protein Reference No.2 Quantification was done using subclass-specific antisera and a human IgG subclass standard HOO-02 using the recently established rate nephelometric method. The differences between the 1 human serum preparation and those of normal human serum are much smaller than those between the i.v. Ig preparations, being for IgG2 the greatest and for IgG3 the smallest. This does not come as a surprise because the various treatment processes used in the manufacture of i.v. Ig preparations are likely to cause loss and/or masking of the subclass-specific determinants. Although little is known about the genetical ramifications which could arise through the use of i.v. Ig preparations in which there is variation in the subclass distribution, attention should be given to this subject as passive immunotherapy becomes more popular.