Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 23, 2026
Antibody Binding Specificity for Kappa (Vκ) Light Chain-containing Human (IgM) Antibodies: Polysialic Acid (PSA) Attached to NCAM as a Case Study
Published on: June 29, 2016
Longitudinal analysis of tetanus- and influenza-specific IgG antibodies in myeloma patients
Sebastian Kobold1, Tim Luetkens, Britta Marlen Bartels
1Department of Internal Medicine II, and Department of Oncology, Hematology, Bone Marrow Transplantation Section of Pneumology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, 20246 Hamburg, Germany.
Background:
Multiple myeloma (MM) and its therapies may induce a severely compromised humoral immunity. We have performed a longitudinal analysis of IgG-antibody responses against influenza virus (FLU) and tetanus toxoid (TT) as surrogate markers for the B cell-mediated immunity in MM patients.
Methods:
1094 serum samples of 190 MM patients and samples from 100 healthy donors were analyzed by ELISA for FLU- and TT-specific antibodies.
Results:
MM patients evidenced lower levels of FLU- and TT-specific antibodies than healthy controls (P < 0.001). Immunoreactivity decreased with progressing disease and worsening clinical status. Levels of FLU- and TT-specific antibodies increased shortly (0-6 months) after alloSCT (P < 0.001), a time-period during which intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) is routinely applied. Thereafter, antibody concentrations declined and remained suppressed for 3 years in the case of FLU-specific and for more than 5 years in the case of TT-specific antibodies.
Conclusions:
We found that MM is associated with a profound disease- and therapy-related immunosuppression, which is compensated for a few months after alloSCT, most likely by application of IVIG. This and the differences regarding the recovery of anti-FLU and anti-TT antibody titers during the following years need to be taken into account for optimizing IVIG application and immunization after alloSCT.
