Lymphocyte phenotype and function changes in burn patients after intravenous IgG therapy

D. G. Burleson, A. D. Mason Jr, A. T. McManus and B. A. Pruitt Jr
US Army Institute of Surgical Research, Fort Sam Houston, San Antonio, Tex 78234-6200.

The effects of prophylactic administration of intravenous IgG on immune-cell phenotype and function in burn patients were compared with those of patients receiving standard therapy. Intravenous IgG infusions were given twice weekly for three weeks postburn or until wound closure. Intravenous IgG had no effect on the proportion of total T-lymphocytes, T-helper lymphocytes, or T-suppressor lymphocytes, but the proportion of B-lymphocytes decreased 40% in treated patient samples. Lymphocytes from treated patients incorporated less thymidine when stimulated with concanavalin A or pokeweed mitogen, but not with phytohemagglutinin. The amount of IgM secreted by pokeweed mitogen-stimulated cultures from treated patients increased by 24%, while the amount of IgG remained constant. The changes in beta-lymphocyte number and functional response may have been induced by the increased serum IgG levels in the intravenous IgG-treated patients.