Humoral immunity in steroid-dependent children with asthma and hypogammaglobulinemia.

OBJECTIVE

To determine primary and secondary antibody responses in children with hypogammaglobulinemia attributed to corticosteroid use.

RESULTS

In seven patients with steroid-dependent asthma and significant hypogammaglobulinemia (IgG concentration, 275 to 443 mg/dl), antibody responses to protein and polysaccharide antigens were shown to be normal, as were primary and secondary responses to a neoantigen, bacteriophage phi X174.

CONCLUSIONS

Patients with asthma, and with hypogammaglobulinemia resulting from steroid therapy, have normal humoral immunity, and immunoglobulin replacement therapy is not indicated.