Abstract
To evaluate the role of IgG4 in infants with gastrointestinal (GI) disease, we measured serum IgG4, total IgG, and IgA in seven patients with milk allergic enterocolitis (MAE), confirmed by milk challenge after stabilization on milk restriction, 10 patients with nonallergic chronic diarrhea ≤ 24 months old (ND), and randomly chosen normoalbuminemic control infants without GI disease. IgG4 was measured using a monoclonal anti-IgG4 radio-immunoassay. Lower limit of sensitivity was 0.01 μg/ml. IgG and IgA were measured by nephelometry. The ratio of IgG4 to total IgG was calculated. Differences between groups were evaluated by the Wilcoxon rank sum test.
No patient was IgA deficient. Three patients with ND and IgG4 ≤ 10 μg/ml had enteric pathogens (1 Giardia, 2 Salmonella). We conclude that in infants with chronic diarrhea, low IgG4 and IgG4/IgG are associated with allergic enterocolitis and enteric pathogens. We speculate that IgG4 may function as a GI mucosal protective antibody, and that its measurement may be useful in predicting allergic or infectious causes of chronic diarrhea.
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Grill, B., Bui, H. & Juahar, R. EVALUATION OF IgG4 IN CHRONIC DIARRHEA IN INFANTS. Pediatr Res 18 (Suppl 4), 197 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198404001-00626
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198404001-00626
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