Gamma globulin is a mixture of proteins in plasma, the fluid portion of blood. It contains antibodies produced in the liver, spleen, bonemarrow, and lymphatic glands to protect the body from invading viruses or bacteria. Each disease antigen stimulates production of a specific antibody, which circulates in the blood for a period of time. Since the gamma globulin contains these antibodies, it is sometimes taken from patients who have recovered from chickenpox, hepatitis, and other infectious diseases and given to confer a rapid but short- term immunity on persons recently exposed to those diseases.
Persons who suffer from an unusual deficiency of gamma globulin known as agammaglobulinemia are deficient in antibodies and may require periodic infusions of gamma globulin to maintain protection. In 1969 scientists in England and at Rockefeller University determined the chemical structure of gamma globulin, an important advance in the knowledge of immunity. Research Gamma Globulin
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Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research Gamma Globulin
