On the presence of antibodies against bovine, equine and poultry immunoglobulins in human IgG preparations, and its implications on antivenom production.

Specific immunoassays were developed to detect anti-horse, anti-chicken and anti-bovine immunoglobulins in human IgG preparations. Three samples of 5% human IgG for intravenous use ("Inmunoglobulina G Endovenosa al 5%"(trade mark), Quimbiotec CA), were studied. All samples were produced from pools of >2500 plasma units from different donors. One sample was produced from an only Venezuelan plasma pool (2660 donors) and the other two were produced from a 1:1 blend of Venezuelan and Canadian plasma pools. The amounts of human IgG detected were 0.017 (0.015,0.020) mg/ml (n=18) against horse IgG, 0.37 (0.28, 0.48) mg/ml (n=18) against cattle IgG and 1.27 (1.15, 1.40) mg/ml (n=15) against chicken IgY. Similar results were obtained on individual Venezuelan plasma samples. The differences probably reflect the consumption and antigenicity of meat. Poultry and bovine meat are widely consumed in Venezuela and Canada, while equine meat is not consumed; also chicken is more heterologous to man and may be more antigenic than bovine meat. This suggests that when IgY immunotherapeutics are used in populations with an important dietary component of poultry meat and eggs, there is a risk of producing untoward reactions and less efficient antivenoms.