A once obscure medical treatment is seeing new popularity thanks to an improved understanding of the role the immune system plays in conditions as varied as obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and Alzheimer's disease. Some worry that supplies of intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG), which is made of blood plasma from donors, may run short if a clinical trial confirms its effectiveness at slowing the progress of Alzheimer's.
IVIG contains an antibody known as IgG that helps to ward off infection, modulates the immune system and reduces inflammation, although the full extent of how IVIG works remains unknown. When IVIG was first approved commercially in the early 1980s—it was prescribed to replace antibodies in patients with primary immunodeficiency disease (PIDD) and, later, was used to regulate the immune system in autoimmune conditions such as multiple sclerosis. Today IVIG has over 100 off-label indications, which represent the fastest-growing sector of its market.
Among these are an emerging crop of psychiatric illnesses, including some forms of schizophrenia and OCD, that may have autoimmune causes. IVIG is now often prescribed to patients with autoimmune encephalitis, a group of rare conditions in which antibodies attack the brain, causing such symptoms as psychosis and catatonia. And there are clinical trials, due to be completed in 2016, studying the effects of IVIG on children with sudden-onset OCD, which some researchers believe can be caused by antibodies to Streptococcus bacteria crossing the blood-brain barrier.
Researchers are also hoping that IVIG may be able to slow the progression of Alzheimer's. A recent study at Weill Cornell Medical College suggested that IVIG might reduce the buildup of aberrant proteins in the brain and quell the damage caused by inflammation. Although IVIG's Alzheimer's application is still in late-stage trials, the market is bracing itself for a surge in demand—up from 7 to 12 percent a year—if approval is met. “It's a real concern because [IVIG] is not just a pill that you make. It's not an unlimited resource,” says Jordan Orange, professor of pediatrics, pathology and immunology at the Baylor College of Medicine. Doctors are urging one another to reexamine how they prescribe IVIG treatments and to seek alternatives in cases where the benefits are less clear.
This article was originally published with the title Linking Immunity and Mental Health.
Already a Digital subscriber? Sign-in Now
If your institution has site license access, enter here.
See what we're tweeting about
5 Comments
Add CommentA lot of fear-mongering over nothing. If there's a significant increase in demand, someone will start manufacturing cell-lines to produce recombinant IVIG custom-tailored to each condition. The technology for it has been around for over a decade.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI have hyper IGE syndrome and use IVG transfusions once a month. No one would listen to me when I told them that my body was regecting the 9 embryos I tried to keep. That was the 60's. I begged for the treatment two years ago and my blood had a factor of some sort that said I was a candidate. It is working. Why did I have to beg my allergist to try it? If I had not seen a little girl with an IVG treated skin disorder on local Halifax tv, I would still be bright red with inflammation. I am not even thinking about the miscarriages, the depression...but the lack of good science makes me want to cry for the missed years. Lori Secouler-Beaudry, PhD, R.Psych
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisNIMH has known for years that IVIG is a treatment that works with PANDAS kids. This is our daughter's story.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thishttp://youtu.be/0nGLoNVLtOM
Same pseudoscience as once professed for hemodialysis curing schizophrenia!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisSame trolling post by a science hating yutz.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisSee how that works? You don't give any evidence to back up what you say so anyone can post anything they like putting you down. Now go get your diaper changed while the grownups have a real discussion.