Dynamic changes in serum (1-3)-β-D-glucan caused by intravenous immunoglobulin infusion: A prospective study

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the dynamic changes in serum (1-3)-beta-D-glucan (BDG) caused by intravenous immunoglobulins (IVIG) infusion in adults. Methods: This study included patients who received IVIG infusion from October 2021 to October 2022 during hospitalization. We randomly examined two IVIG samples for every patient. Serum samples were collected at nine time points: before (Tpre), immediately (T1-0), 6h (T1-1) and 12h (T1-2) later on the first day; immediately (T2-0) and six hours later (T2-1) on the second day during IVIG infusion, and within three days after IVIG infusion (Ta1, Ta2, and Ta3, respectively). The Friedman test was used for statistical analysis. Results: A total of 159 serum BDG from 19 patients were included in the analysis. The BDG content of IVIG ranged from 249 pg/ml to 4812 pg/ml. Patients had significantly elevated serum BDG on T1-0 (176 (113, 291) pg/ml, p = 0.002) and Ta1 (310 (199, 470) pg/ml, p < 0.001), compared with Tpre (41 (38, 65) pg/ml). The increments of serum BDG (Delta BDG) were associated with BDG concentration of IVIG (Spearman r = 0.59, p = 0.02). Individuals with abnormal renal function indexes showed higher serum Delta BDG values at Ta1 (403 (207, 484) pg/ml) than patients with normal renal function (172 (85, 316) pg/ml, p = 0.036). Conclusion: Patients who received IVIG had significantly higher serum BDG values. Elevated BDG levels correlate with BDG content of IVIG and abnormal renal function indexes.