The development of three major immunoglobulin serum levels in healthy children between 2 and 16 years of age with regard to sex.

The levels of three major immunoglobulins were followed in the sera of 447 healthy children in order to explore age and sex-dependent differences; the childhood period from 2 to 16 years was graduated t 1 year intervals. The geometric means and 95% confidence limits were assessed on log-transformed data. A significant sex-related distribution and higher values in girls were shown for IgM class through the whole age period under study. IgG attained levels of adult subjects by about year 8, i.e. in children between and 8 years old, IgM by about year 5 and IgA did not reach adult levels until year 16. At the age of 11 years a transient significant decline of IgM could be observed in the boys. The regression analysis on individual immunoglobulin with age in months were performed separately for boys and girls. All the three major immunoglobulin values showed a linear positive correlation with age. Using regression analysis, sex related differences could be confirmed mainly for the IgM class.