Antibodies never have to worry about unemployment, because they have a lifelong job in the fight against infections. Antibodies are also called immunoglobulins because they are part of your immune system and they are a type of protein that is referred to as a globular protein. Whenever they respond to a foreign substance, that is called active immunity because your body is actively creating a response to a foreign invader. But if you have to get antibodies that have been created in someone else, that is passive immunity. One type of passive immunity is IV immune globulin.
Hemolytic Disease of the Newborn
During birth, some of the fetus' blood and the mother's blood will mix. If the fetus has an Rh(D) antigen on its red blood cells and the mother does not, the mother's immune system will think that the Rh(D) antigen is a foreign substance. Thus, her immune system will make antibodies against it. The next time she is pregnant, if that fetus also has Rh(D) antigen, her antibodies will destroy all of its red blood cells. (This is called hemolysis.) IV immune globulin is given to the mother during her first pregnancy and delivery to prevent her from making antibodies.
Hepatitis B
A hospital worker could accidentally prick his finger with a needle that was used on a patient with hepatitis B. If the worker never had the hepatitis vaccine, he is now at risk of contracting hepatitis. IV immune globulin is used to give the exposed individual immediate antibodies against hepatitis B.
Kawasaki Syndrome
This disease affects young children. It causes a high fever, swollen hands and feet, rash, swollen lymph nodes, peeling fingertips and conjunctivitis. These children are also at risk of developing aneurysms in the coronary arteries of the heart. IV immune globulin is used to prevent aneurysms.
Immune Thrombocytopenic Purpura (ITP)
This disease affects children and adults. Children can contract this disease after a virus, but they usually spontaneously recover. This is not the case for adults; they will need treatment. In ITP, the immune system makes antibodies against the body's platelets. For most patients, this results in mild bleeding. For those adults who suffer from severe bleeding, IV immune globulin is part of their treatment, to increase their platelet count.
Guillain-Barre
According to Stephen Hauser, M.D., chairman of the department of neurology at the University of California, there are approximately 3,500 cases of Guillain-Barre every year in the U.S. In this disease, antibodies attack the body's peripheral nerves (the nerves outside of the brain and spinal cord), leading to weakness and paralysis in the legs. But then, this paralysis will progress upward, potentially affecting breathing as well as the heart. IV immune globulin is used to neutralize antibodies from attacking the nerves.
Immunodeficiency Diseases
There are many immunodeficiency diseases, but what they have in common is some type of deficiency in the cells and/or organs that make up the immune system. Thus, IV immune globulin is used in X-linked immunodeficiency, where baby boys have low levels of the white blood cells that make antibodies. It is also used in common variable immunodeficiency where there are low levels of two types of antibodies. It is used in Wiskott-Aldrich as well, where boys have a mutation that affects two types of white blood cells. IV immune globulin is used to treat many of these types of diseases.
Snake and Spider Bites
IV immune globulin is also used to treat black widow spider bites, as well as rattlesnake and coral snake bites.
References
- "Basic & Clinical Pharmacology"; Bertram Katzung, M.D., PhD, Susan Masters, PhD, Anthony Trevor, PhD; 2009
- "Goodman & Gilman's The Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics"; Laurence Brunton, PhD; 2006
- "Introduction to Microbiology"; John Ingraham, Catherine Ingraham; 1995
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