부산대학교 도서관

Immunoglobulin preparations enriched with IgM and IgA are used in the therapy of severe bacterial infections and for the treatment of acute graft-versus-host disease, but not as yet, in the treatment of autoimmune diseases. We investigated the potential of an IgM- and IgA-enriched immunoglobulin preparation to neutralize activity autoantibodies from patients with autoimmune diseases. We demonstrate that Pentaglobin[sup ®] was at least as effective as intravenous immunoglobulin (Sandoglobulin[sup ®]) in inhibiting autoantibody activity. Each of the immunoglobulin isotypes present in Pentaglobin[sup ®] may be responsible for the inhibitory effect. Pentaglobin[sup ®] immobilized on an affinity matrix retained the disease associated autoantibodies and interacted with F(ab′)[sub 2] fragments of IgG autoantibodies. Suppression of autoantibody activity is dependent, at least in part, on idiotypic interactions. The present findings provide a rationale for considering these preparations for the immunomodulation of autoimmune disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]