Secondary Antibody Deficiency

Secondary antibody deficiencies are characterized by reduced immunoglobulin levels due to acquired causes. They can be the result of decreased antibody production (e.g. due to immunosuppressive agents, hematologic malignancies or malnutrition) or increased loss (e.g. through the gut or kidneys). They are more common than primary and are expected to become even more prevalent with the widespread use of a growing number of immunosuppressive agents. They are currently recognized as an important cause of recurrent infections in these patients and can lead to increased morbidity and mortality.

Patients with secondary antibody deficiencies may present to a broad range of specialties and the goal of this research topic is to increase awareness for these disorders. Early diagnosis and intervention are key for these patients and timely withdrawal of the aetiopathogenic agent may lead to reversal of the clinical picture. Data on the natural history and best approach to management in individual patients e.g. monitoring vs. therapy with immunoglobulin replacement or antibiotics is limited. As such, this topic is going to focus on recent advances in the clinical and laboratory assessment of these patients, along with the recommended treatment pathway- including immunoglobulin replacement.

The scope of this research topic includes original research or case series on antibody deficiencies that are secondary to immunosuppressive drugs, biologics, chemotherapy, CAR T-cell therapy, antiepileptics, leukaemia, multiple myeloma, lymphoma, Good's syndrome, malnutrition, protein losing enteropathy, proteinuria etc. The focus will be on novel factors that can cause these disorders, their laboratory assessment, patient clinical presentation and up to date treatment options. Reviews, perspectives, hypotheses and theory articles are also welcome.

Note that Dr Patrick Yong has received support with conference attendance and speaker/consulting fees from CSL Behring and Takeda. Please also note that manuscripts consisting solely of bioinformatics or computational analysis of public genomic or transcriptomic databases which are not accompanied by robust and relevant validation (clinical cohort or biological validation in vitro or in vivo) are out of scope for this Research Topic.