Varying effects of intravenous immunoglobulin on mononuclear cell proliferation in vitro.

Intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) is being increasingly used to treat numerous immune-mediated diseases. However, there is a paucity of knowledge on the specific mode of action of IVIG in vivo. In this study, the in vitro effects of IVIG on peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) proliferation using phytohemagglutinin (PHA), anti-CD3 monoclonal antibody (MAb), phorbol myristate acetate (PMA), or purified protein derivatives (PPD) have been analyzed. The PBMCs were obtained from more than 10 individual donors. In all cases, IVIG almost completely inhibited PBMC proliferation at concentration above 20 mg/mL except when used in conjunction with PMA. PHA-induced proliferation of PBMCs at concentrations ranging from 1 to 15 mg/mL did not show significant differences. Anti-CD3 MAb-induced proliferation showed dose-dependent inhibition at concentrations ranging from 1 to 10 mg/mL. Interestingly, PMA-induced proliferation of PBMCs showed a dose-dependent increase at the same concentration range. PPD-induced proliferation of PBMC at concentrations ranging from 1 to 10 mg/mL did not show any statistically significant differences. These results suggest that high dose IVIG may be necessary to immune modulation in vivo and IVIG has various effects on PBMCs proliferation in limited concentration in vitro.