Influence of intravenous immunoglobulins administered early in life on the development of atopy in infants: a preliminary report

One hundred and fourteen preterm infants, aged 8-24 months, were skin-tested for 14 inhalant and food allergens. As part of a larger study, 44 preterms had been randomly selected to receive intraveinous immunoglobulins (IVIg) during the first 4 weeks of life, whereas 70 had not received IVIg. The frequency of cutipositive subjects was signicantly lower in IVIg-treated (4,5%) than in untreated (20.0%) and control (20.9%) infants. In IVIg-treated infants a decreased frequency of atopic diseases was observed. It is suggested that, as previously demonstrated in animal models, also in man allergen-specific IgG may influence the development of an atopic condition, when these antibodies are passively acquired early in life