This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. (help, get involved!) Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. This article has been tagged since June 2007.

Schematic representation of a protein electrophoresis gel

Gamma globulins, or Ig's, are a class of proteins in the blood, identified by their position after serum protein electrophoresis. The most significant gamma globulins are antibodies. Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links Electrophoresis. ... Image File history File links Electrophoresis. ... Schematic representation of a protein electrophoresis gel In chemistry and medicine, protein electrophoresis is a method of analysing a mixture of proteins by means of gel electrophoresis, mainly in blood serum (blood plasma is not suitable). ... A representation of the 3D structure of myoglobin, showing coloured alpha helices. ... Serum protein electrophoresis is a laboratory test that examines specific proteins in the blood called globulins. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ...

Injections

Gamma globulin injections are usually given in an attempt to temporarily boost a patient's immunity against disease. Injections are most commonly used on patients who have been exposed to hepatitis A or measles, or to make a donor and a kidney recipient compatible regardless of blood type of tissue match. Injections are also used to boost immunity in patients who lack the ability to produce gamma globulins because of an immune deficiency, such as X-linked agammaglobulinemia and hyper IgM syndrome. Such injections are less common in modern medical practice than they were previously, and injections of gamma globulin previously recommended for travelers have largely been replaced by the use of hepatitis A vaccine. Hepatitis A (formerly known as infectious hepatitis) is an acute infectious liver disease caused by the hepatovirus hepatitis A virus. ... In medicine, immune deficiency (or immunodeficiency) is a state where the immune system is incapable of defending the organism from infectious disease. ... X-linked agammaglobulinemia (also called X-linked hypogammaglobulinemia, XLA, Bruton type agammaglobulinemia) is a rare X-linked genetic disorder that affects the bodys ability to fight infection (origin of the name: A=no, gammaglobulin=Antibody). ... The introduction to this article provides insufficient context for those unfamiliar with the subject matter. ... Hepatitis A (formerly known as infectious hepatitis) is an acute infectious liver disease caused by the hepatovirus hepatitis A virus. ... A vaccine is an antigenic preparation used to establish immunity to a disease. ...

Gamma globulin infusions are also used to treat immunological diseases, such as immunological thrombocytopenia purpura (ITP), a disease in which the platelets are being attacked by antibodies, leading to seriously low platelet counts. Gamma globulin apparently causes the spleen to ignore the antibody-tagged platelets, thus allowing them to survive and function.

Another theory on how gamma globulin administration works in autoimmune disease is by overloading the mechanisms which degrade gamma globulins. Over loading the degradation mechanism causes the harmful gamma globulins to have a much shorter halflife in sera.

Pathology

An excess is known as hypergammaglobulinemia. Gamma globulins, or Igs, are a class of proteins in the blood, identified by their position after serum protein electrophoresis. ...

A disease of gamma globulins is called a "gammopathy" (for example, in monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance.) Monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS, unknown or uncertain may be substituted for undertermined) is a condition in which a low or non-quantifiable level of a monoclonal paraprotein is detected in the blood by means of protein electrophoresis. ...

Disease treatments

• Kawasaki disease

Kidney Transplant: Intravenous Gama globulin was FDA approved in 2004 to reduce antibodies in a patient in kidney failure to allow that person to accept a kidney from a donor who has a different blood type, (ABO incompatible) or is an unacceptable tissue match. Dr. Stanley Jordan at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles pioneered this treatment. Kawasaki disease, also known as lymph node syndrome, mucocutaneous node disease, infantile polyarteritis and Kawasaki syndrome, is a poorly understood self-limited vasculitis that affects many organs, including the skin and mucous membranes, lymph nodes, blood vessel walls, and the heart. ...

External links

• MeSH gamma-Globulins
• http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/12/041208234532.htm