Dictionary of Allergies .. Agammaglobulinemia (Hypogammaglobulinemia)

Agammaglobulinemia (Hypogammaglobulinemia)

A deficiency of all major classes of serum immunoglobulins.  In 1952, Colonel Ogden Bruton demonstrated that a young boy with recurrent infections lacked antibody. That was succeeded because of an electrophoresis apparatus obtained from Sweden at the Walter Reed Institute of Research.  Noting that the multiple infections were related to the absence of gamma globulin.  Colonel Bruton treated the boy with gamma globulin injections. From that time on, the 4-year-old boy had few or no infections. The disorder was named agammaglobulinemia[1]

Hypogammaglobulinemia is associated with increased risk of opportunistic infections, particularly during the 6-month posttransplant period when viral infections are most prevalent. The preemptive use of immunoglobulin replacement results in a significant reduction of opportunistic infections in patients with moderate and severe hypogammaglobulinemia. Monitoring immunoglobulin G levels may aid in clinical management of solid organ transplant recipients. The preemptive use of immunoglobulin replacement may serve as a new strategy for managing solid organ transplant recipients with hypogammaglobulinemia[2].

1. Bruton, O.C.:  Agammaglobulinemia.  Pediatrics 1952; 9:722-8.

2. Mawhorter S, Yamani MH. Hypogammaglobulinemia and infection risk in solid organ transplant recipients. Curr Opin Organ Transplant. 2008 Dec;13(6):581-5