Polyclonal immunoglobulins for intravenous use induce interleukin 10 release in vivo and in vitro

Polyclonal intravenous immunoglobulins (IVIg) are increasingly used in clinical practice, not only as substitutive agents but also in the treatment of immunologically mediated diseases.1,2 How IVIg modulate the immune system is not yet clear, but several immunoregulatory mechanisms have been postulated.2 We studied the production of the immunosuppressive cytokine interleukin 10 (IL10)3 as a potential explanation for the beneficiary effects of IVIg in autoimmune diseases. IL10 concentrations were measured in six patients: one patient (aged 19) with X-linked agammaglobulinaemia, two patients (aged 63 and 64) with common variable immunodeficiency, one patient (aged 15) with hyper IgM syndrome, two patients (aged 4) with IgG2 subclass deficiency. All patients or their parents gave informed consent. Blood was collected before and immediately after infusion of IVIg (Sandoglobulin; Novartis, Brussels, Belgium), and IL10 levels were measured with a sandwich enzyme linked …