My IgG value is at 1440...is there any reason to believe that these antibodies may not be perfectly functioning antibodies due to CLL?

[jettyguy1]

Today I reviewed a recent video interview with Dr. Keating. I may have mistakenly interpreted the discussion as it pertained to IgG antibodies,but i thought that he indicated that sometimes CLL B cells even cause IgG antibodies to not function appropriately. So my question is,if that's the case--and you can have a high IgG value while the antibodies may not truly do their job,why do we all get so nuts ,when the number is very low? I mean what difference does it make--whether my number is 1440 or 240,if my antibodies aren't doing the job properly? Or is it just better to have a higher count because the more antibodies the better,even if they only work partially well?

[cllady01 Former Volunteer]

My thinking: your last statement is a possibility. The main thing for me in my 17 yrs. with the diagnosis (no treatment, yet, but becoming more likely) is that it is in my best interest to think about myself as immuno—compromised and take the precautions needed to avoid getting respiratory virus/bacteria illnesses.

I had a pretty tough respiratory illness (3 months and 2 antibiotics) last January/February/March, so, with the cold and flu season and knowing the flu vaccination doesn't necessarily do a complete job for we who are older and have CLL, I want to be more careful than in the more carefree summer days.

I know, not the educational discussion you may be seeking, but didn't you already have that with Neil and Chris—a very informative one at that.

[jettyguy1 in reply to cllady01]

Hi CLL Lady(like your name) Well I like to get different opinions as we all have something to offer. But No...this particular question is in response to aPatient Power video i watched. Also my CLL specialist mentioned to me that it was interesting just how high my IgG was,so I took that as a positive thing. However he kind of hinted that that does not mean that having high IgG guarantees that my antibodies are completely functional. What I was hoping to get from, whoever, was some input if the non-functioning or poorly functioning CLL B cells actually affect the IgG antibodies?? Also on another CLL site, one very veteran CLLer(very medically CLL savvy) mentioned that I should be thrilled to have such a high IgG value and I really am curious if having this 1440 value means a lot ---as in, are they giving me some sort of good anti-infection edge. I feel great and fortunately haven't had any infections in the last eight months. Just trying to piece it all together.

[AussieNeil Administrator in reply to jettyguy1]

Bear in mind that our antibodies are millions of different globulin proteins that just lock onto pathogens or parts of pathogens which match their specific key. It's the rest of our immune system that actually then is triggered to remove the labelled pathogen and that process doesn't function that well due to our CLL's various negative influences on our immunity. More importantly, it's the match of the mix of specific immunoglobulins in the total IgG count that determines how well we respond to infections - we need to have sufficient immunoglobulins specific to the infection. That's why batches of IgG are made from blood donations from a minimum of 1,000 donors.

When we have an infection our humoral response involves plasma cells (what healthy B cells eventually mature into) churning out billions of cloned IgG proteins specific to that pathogen and these then decrease over time after the infection has passed (half life of about 22 days). Theoretically I think it is possible to have a high proportion of antibody clone(s) which could bump up the overall IgG count, particularly with IGHV mutated CLL, where the CLL cells could be contributing to the IgG count with antibodies that may not be effective. It's much more of an issue with myeloma.

Neil