%0 Journal Article
%T Longitudinal Analysis of Tetanus- and Influenza-Specific IgG Antibodies in Myeloma Patients
%A Sebastian Kobold
%A Tim Luetkens
%A Britta Marlen Bartels
%A Yanran Cao
%A York Hildebrandt
%A Orhan Sezer
%A Henrike Reinhard
%A Julia Templin
%A Katrin Bartels
%A Nesrine Lajmi
%A Friedrich Haag
%A Carsten Bokemeyer
%A Nicolaus Kr ger
%A Djordje Atanackovic
%J Clinical and Developmental Immunology
%D 2012
%I Hindawi Publishing Corporation
%R 10.1155/2012/134081
%X Background. Multiple myeloma (MM) and its therapies may induce a severely compromised humoral immunity. We have performed a longitudinal analysis of IgG-antibody responses against influenza virus (FLU) and tetanus toxoid (TT) as surrogate markers for the B cell-mediated immunity in MM patients. Methods. 1094 serum samples of 190 MM patients and samples from 100 healthy donors were analyzed by ELISA for FLU- and TT-specific antibodies. Results. MM patients evidenced lower levels of FLU- and TT-specific antibodies than healthy controls (<0.001). Immunoreactivity decreased with progressing disease and worsening clinical status. Levels of FLU- and TT-specific antibodies increased shortly (0-6 months) after alloSCT (<0.001), a time-period during which intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) is routinely applied. Thereafter, antibody concentrations declined and remained suppressed for 3 years in the case of FLU-specific and for more than 5 years in the case of TT-specific antibodies. Conclusions. We found that MM is associated with a profound disease- and therapy-related immunosuppression, which is compensated for a few months after alloSCT, most likely by application of IVIG. This and the differences regarding the recovery of anti-FLU and anti-TT antibody titers during the following years need to be taken into account for optimizing IVIG application and immunization after alloSCT.
%U http://www.hindawi.com/journals/cdi/2012/134081/