Measuring quantity and function of pneumococcal antibodies in immunoglobulin products

Immunoglobulin replacement therapy is a cornerstone of the treatment of primary immunodeficiencies. Preparations used for replacement therapy are processed by purifying immunoglobulins from large pools of plasma, which were obtained from healthy donors. The constituent antibodies in these products depend on the immune history of the donor pool as well as manufacturing processes that differ among manufacturers. For these reasons various methods have been proposed to examine the levels and function of antibodies to organisms such as Streptococcus pneumoniae, which frequently causes infections in patients with immunodeficiencies. Pneumococcal antibody levels or antibody function can be measured with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) or multiplexed opsonophagocytosis assay (MOPA). Although these assays were developed initially to assess the immunogenicity of pneumococcal vaccines, the techniques have been adapted to evaluate immunoglobulin products as well.

This article provides a concise review of the analytic techniques for measuring pneumococcal antibodies and prior studies of immunoglobulin products utilizing these methods.

Studies utilizing these assays have demonstrated that antibody levels of immunoglobulin products can vary with time, location, and manufacturer.

We highlight current issues and future considerations concerning measurement of pneumococcal antibodies in immunoglobulin products, and the assays used for this purpose.