Gaucher's disease: lack of antibody response in 12 patients following repeated intravenous infusions of mannose terminal glucocerebrosidase.

An amplified ELISA has been employed for monitoring the safety of repeated intravenous infusions of modified human placental glucocerebrosidase. The enzyme infusions consisted of biweekly injections of macrophage targeted glucocerebrosidase over a 6 month duration. Serum samples collected throughout the study were assayed by use of an ELISA using alkaline phosphatase coupled to alcohol dehydrogenase for amplification. Using this protocol, 0.2-5 ng affinity purified immunoglobulin specific for glucocerebrosidase can be detected. Occasional false positives necessitate multiple repeat assays over time to accurately assess immunogenic response. Blinded ELISAs were performed on sera from both infused patients with Gaucher's disease and uninfused control patients and compared with apparent immunoglobulin concentration in 54 normal control sera. Although several samples showed apparently elevated immunoglobulin levels, repeat analyses failed to demonstrate high levels reproducibly. Furthermore, these sera were unable to neutralize enzyme or to precipitate radiolabelled enzyme, confirming the absence of antibody. Problems with high sensitivity ELISA formats are discussed.