Gamma Globulin (redirected from gammopathy)

gamma globulin, a group of globulin proteins in human blood plasma, including most antibodies. These antibody substances are produced as a protective reaction of the body's immune system to the invasion of disease-producing organisms (see immunity). Injections of gamma globulin are used to create a rapid but temporary immunity in patients who have been exposed to certain diseases. Children who have been exposed to, but are not immunized against, measles and patients with hepatitis receive some protection from gamma globulin when it is administered during the incubation period of the infection. The gamma globulin used for such purposes is extracted from blood plasma from a large, diverse adult population; the resulting mixture is thus likely to contain antibodies from individuals who had been exposed to the appropriate infections.

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gamma globulin

Subgroup of the globulins. In humans and many other mammals, most antibodies are in the gamma globulin fraction of blood. A human gamma globulin preparation may be administered (by injection) to persons lacking immunity, either generally or to a particular disease, after exposure or before expected exposure.

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gamma globulin [′gam·ə ′gläb·yə·lən]

(immunology)

Any of the serum proteins with antibody activity.

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Gamma Globulin 

a fraction of globulins in blood plasma containing the most antibodies. In comparison with other protein fractions of the blood, gamma globulin has the slowest electrophoretic mobility. Gamma globulin is obtained either from the blood of donors or from blood from the placenta. So-called specific gamma globulin with an especially high content of antibodies to specific pathogens is isolated from the serum of humans or animals that have been immunized with the corresponding antigens. For example, anti-whooping-cough gamma globulin is prepared from the serum of humans hyperimmunized with whooping-cough vaccine; antirabies gamma globulin comes from the serum of horses hyperimmunized against rabies. Concentrated solutions of gamma globulin contain considerably more antibodies than the initial serums. In the USSR gamma globulin is produced in the form of a 10 percent solution (introduced intramuscularly). Gamma globulin is used for prevention and treatment of infectious diseases mainly in children (measles, whooping cough, poliomyelitis, epidemic hepatitis, and other diseases). Gamma globulin also has a certain nonspecific (stimulating) effect and for this reason it is prescribed for children with chronic inflammations, decline in appetite, and so on.