Treatment with high doses of polyclonal IgG reduces atherosclerosis in mice (Nicoletti et al
Treatment with high doses of polyclonal IgG reduces atherosclerosis in mice (Nicoletti et al., 1998) but it is questionable if IgG at the concentrations normally found in humans can have this effect. CHD than those in the lowest IgG tertile. The association between low IgG levels and CHD remained when controlling for the variables used in the Framingham risk score and inclusion of IgG improved risk prediction and decreased misclassification into low and high risk individuals. The findings could potentially be of considerable clinical importance and raise two interesting questions. First, should analyses of total plasma Ig be used clinically as a biomarker to improve prediction of cardiovascular risk? This is an attractive possibility because the assay for total Ig is simple, robust and relatively cheap. However, as pointed out…