title: Immunoglobulin G subclass deficiency in children with high levels of immunoglobulin E and infection proneness.
abstract: Of 32 unrelated children with serum IgE greater than 1,000 U/ml, 17 were found to have infection proneness according to standard clinical criteria, and 15 were not infection prone. There were no statistical differences between these 2 groups of children with regard to age, sex, serum IgE levels or prevalence of asthma. However, the prevalence of eczema was significantly lower in the infection-prone group (p = 0.035). Of greater interest was the finding that 7 children in the infection-prone group had IgG subclass and/or IgA deficiency compared with none in the non-infection-prone group (p = 0.006). These results suggest that IgG subclass studies may be warranted in children with markedly elevated levels of serum IgE and proneness to infection.
authors.affiliation: Department of Child Health, University of Queensland, Mater Children's Hospital, South Brisbane, Australia.
authors.forename: R K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Loh
authors.forename: Y H
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Thong
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ferrante
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001249:Asthma / Q000276:immunology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004406:Dysgammaglobulinemia / Q000276:immunology*; D004485:Eczema / Q000276:immunology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006942:Hypergammaglobulinemia / Q000276:immunology*; D017099:IgG Deficiency; D007073:Immunoglobulin E / Q000032:analysis*; D008297:Male; D012141:Respiratory Tract Infections / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D007073:Immunoglobulin E