Antibodies to enteroviruses in hypogammaglobulinemic patients

Paralytic poliomyelitis in a child with agammaglobulinemia

This paper gives the clinical, immunological and virological data on a patient with agammaglobulinemia who developed paralytic poliomyelitis. The patient was a 3 year-old boy who had a typical B-cell defect without a T-cell defect. He had profound hypogammaglobulinemia and defective plasma cells and had repeated pyogenic infections which were controlled by gammaglobulin replacement therapy. At 3 years of age, he was admitted to our hospital with suspected meningitis. He had fewer, tremor and neck stiffness for 3 days and subsequently developed paralysis in his left arm and right leg. There was lymphocytosis in the cerebrospinal fluid. A non vaccine-like strain of poliovirus type 2 was isolated from the stool.

Immunologic responses to bacteriophage phi-X 174 in immunodeficiency diseases

Immunologic responses to bacteriophage varphiX 174 were studied in 26 patients with immunodeficiency diseases. In eight cases of infantile X-linked agammaglobulinemia, there was prolonged circulation of phage and no detectable antibody response. The remaining 18 patients cleared phage normally and produced antibodies. 10 of these patients made only IgM antibody in spite of repeated immunization; all of these have recurrent respiratory tract infections and require treatment with gamma globulin and antibiotics. Eight patients made both IgM and IgG antibody; they experience either milder or no infections, and only one requires treatment with gamma globulin. Prolonged circulation of bacteriophage varphiX 174 and the absence of a detectable antibody response appear to be distinguishing characteristics of X-linked agammaglobulinemia if severe combined immunodeficiency can be excluded.

Antibody studies in hypogammaglobulinemia

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