Intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) is used in the therapy of various autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. Recent studies in experimental models propose that anti-inflammatory effects of IVIg are mainly mediated by α2,6-sialylated Fc fragments. These reports further suggest that α2,6-sialylated Fc fragments interact with DC-SIGN(+) cells to release IL-33 that subsequently expands IL-4-producing ...

OBJECTIVES Some studies have shown efficacy of intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) in the treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) but its use still lacks of confirmation in large cohorts. METHODS This observational, retrospective, single-centre clinical study included 52 SLE patients who received at least one cycle of IVIG (400 mg/kg/day for 5 days) from January 2001 to February 2011. T...

The use of intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg), which is immunoglobulin G pooled from thousands of healthy donors, in the treatment of immunodeficient and autoimmune diseases has grown during the past 2 decades. Although its initial application was largely limited to replacement therapy in hypogammaglobulinemia, IVIg is gaining acceptance as therapy for autoimmune thrombocytopenia purpura, and a ...

PURPOSE There is currently little evidence to support intravenous immune globulin (IVIG) therapy for pediatric myocarditis. The purpose of our retrospective study was to assess the effects of IVIG therapy in patients with presumed myocarditis on survival and recovery of ventricular function and to determine the factors associated with its poor outcome. METHODS We reviewed all consecutive case...

PURPOSE Medium-dose (1 g/kg) intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) is effective in the majority of patients with Kawasaki disease (KD) but some patients who do not respond to medium-dose IVIG are at high risk for the development of coronary artery lesions (CALs). The purpose of this study was to identify the clinical predictors associated with unresponsiveness to medium-dose IVIG and the developmen...

The aim of this retrospective study is to evaluate the efficacy and safety of intravenous immune globulin (IVIg) as immunomodulatory treatment in patients with inflammatory myopathies. We analyzed six patients, observed in a single-center from 2004 to 2012, affected by polymyositis (PM), dermatomyositis (DM) or inclusion body myositis (IBM) and treated with IVIg. IVIg has been successfully used...

Intravenous immunoglobulin G (IVIG) is used in the therapy of various autoimmune and inflammatory conditions. The mechanisms by which IVIG exerts anti-inflammatory effects are not completely understood. IVIG interacts with numerous components of the immune system including dendritic cells, macrophages, T and B cells and modulate their functions. Recent studies have reported that heme oxygenase-...

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES Tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) is regarded as one of the immune factors that can induce demyelination of peripheral nerves in patients with Guillian-Barre syndrome (GBS). This present study was undertaken to find out the role of TNF-alpha and soluble TNF receptors in the pathogenesis of GBS; and to study the effect of intravenous immunoglobulin (ivIg) therapy o...

Despite an increasing use of high-dose therapy of i.v. gammaglobulin (IVIg) in the treatment of various T cell- and Ab-mediated inflammatory and autoimmune diseases, comprehension of the mechanisms underlying its therapeutic benefit has remained a major challenge. Particularly, the effect of IVIg in T cell-mediated autoimmune conditions remains unexplored. Using an actively induced experimental...

BACKGROUND The role of intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) as an adjunctive treatment for severe sepsis remains controversial. We hypothesized that IVIG could be effective for treating pneumonia patients who have septic shock. METHODS Mechanically ventilated pneumonia patients with septic shock were identified in the nationwide Japanese Diagnosis Procedure Combination inpatient database from 1 ...