Intravenous gamma-globulin inhibits binding of anti-GM1 to its target antigen

U Malik1, L Oleksowicz, N Latov

  • 1Department of Oncology, Montefiore Hospital, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY 10467, USA.

Annals of Neurology
|January 1, 1996
PubMed

In this study, we preincubated the sera of 3 patients with neuropathies associated with elevated titers of IgM anti-GM1 antibodies, with increasing concentrations of intravenous Ig (IVIg) and assayed the inhibitory effect of this mixture on antibody binding to immobilized GM1 by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Pharmacologic concentrations of IVIg, ranging from 0.1 microgram/ml to 100 mg/ml, inhibited anti-GM1 binding to its target antigen from 26 +/- 3 to 71 +/- 7%, respectively, in a dose-dependent manner. A similar inhibition of binding was also observed with IVIg F(ab')2 fragments. These findings provide a possible mechanism for the clinical efficacy of IVIg in motor neuropathies.

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