Immunomodulation of Autoimmune and Inflammatory Diseases with Intravenous Immune Globulin

Intravenous immune globulin has been used in the treatment of primary and secondary antibody deficiencies for more than 25 years. It is a safe preparation with no long-term side effects. Intravenous immune globulin was first demonstrated to be effective in an autoimmune disorder — idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura — two decades ago. Since then, it has been established to be efficacious in the treatment of the Guillain–Barré syndrome, chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy, myasthenia gravis, corticosteroid-resistant dermatomyositis, and Kawasaki's syndrome and in the prevention of graft-versus-host disease in recipients of allogeneic bone marrow transplants. Benefits have been reported in many other autoimmune . . .