Pharmacokinetics of an Anti-Cytomegalovirus Hyperimmunoglobulin after Single Intravenous Administration to Healthy Volunteers

By selecting blood donors with high cytomegalovirus (CMV) antibody titres, a plasma pool was obtained which was used to produce an IgG hyperimmunoglobulin by means of pepsin fractionation. After administration of approximately 100 mg/kg body weight to healthy subjects, the time course both of anti-CMV IgG antibody titres by ELISA and of virus neutralisation (VN) titres was followed for 15 days. Seronegative subjects showed an increase in CMV-IgG antibodies as well as a significant enhancement of VN. The time course of both titres was non-uniform. The decline of both titres was biphasic: CMV-IgG antibodies fell slowly during the first week and remained unchanged thereafter, whereas VN titres decreased markedly faster in the first than in the second week. In seropositive subjects, on the other hand, VN remained unchanged. CMV-IgG antibodies increased by approximately 3 times, followed by a similar biphasic decline as seen in seronegative subjects. Due to the differences between seronegative and seropositive subjects and to the non-uniform time course, no calculations of the elimination rate were feasible.