title: Immunoglobulin G subclasses in older persons with Down syndrome.
abstract: IgG subclasses were measured in sera from 33 persons with Down syndrome (DS) (mean age 55 +/- 7 years) and 33 age- and sex-matched control individuals using a mouse monoclonal antibody based sandwich enzyme linked immunosorbent assay. Significantly higher levels of IgG1 and IgG3 and lower levels of IgG2 and IgG4 subclasses were found in the DS group compared to the control individuals. The higher levels of IgG1 and IgG3 subclasses found in DS persons were consistent with those seen in patients with autoimmune diseases and chronic viral infections; the lower levels of IgG2 and IgG4 subclasses were consistent with those seen in patients with recurrent infections. Our findings are similar to those reported in children with DS. We speculate that the subclass levels may have little or no relationship to the development of brain lesions typical of Alzheimer disease in older persons with DS. There were no significant differences between the levels of IgG subclasses of persons with DS showing signs of dementia of the Alzheimer type compared to those without such manifestations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, New York State Institute for Basic Research in Developmental Disabilities, Staten Island 10314.
authors.forename: P D
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: Mehta
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Dalton
authors.forename: S P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Mehta
authors.forename: M E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Percy
authors.forename: E A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Sersen
authors.forename: H M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Wisniewski
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000097:blood / Q000209:etiology / Q000276:immunology; D000918:Antibody Specificity; D001327:Autoimmune Diseases / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology; D004314:Down Syndrome / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications / Q000276:immunology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000097:blood / Q000145:classification*; D007239:Infections / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged
chemical_list: D007074:Immunoglobulin G