intravenous immunoglobulin

noun

variants or less commonly intravenous immune globulin

: a therapeutic preparation containing antibodies and especially IgG antibodies obtained from the pooled blood plasma of usually thousands of blood donors that is administered via a vein especially to treat immunodeficiency, autoimmune, or inflammatory conditions (such as severe combined immunodeficiency, Guillain-Barré syndrome, posttransfusion purpura, or dermatomyositis)

She was treated with steroids and intravenous immunoglobulin therapy, used to reduce the severity of infections by giving the body antibodies to protect against bacteria and viruses.

Some worry that supplies of intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG), which is made of blood plasma from donors, may run short if a clinical trial confirms its effectiveness at slowing the progress of Alzheimer's.

—Susannah Cahalan

—abbreviation IVIG

Examples of intravenous immunoglobulin in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Nath is currently running a Long Covid trial of intravenous immunoglobulin, which broadly modulates the immune system, including neutralizing autoantibodies. —Byjennifer Couzin-Frankel, science.org, 21 June 2024

A couple years into her time at Cigna, Day noticed some doctors prescribing a costly treatment called intravenous immunoglobulin, or IVIG, that helps patients with weakened immune systems fight off infections. —Patrick Rucker, ProPublica, 29 Apr. 2024

The signs were clear enough for the infant’s medical team, overseen by Burns, to start her on intravenous immunoglobulin, a concoction of human antibodies often used to help many types of patients fight off infections. —Paul Sisson, San Diego Union-Tribune, 13 Feb. 2024

Yet because of the burgeoning demand for large quantities of plasma needed for products such as intravenous immunoglobulin or IVIG, today no nation has a fully voluntary blood supply. —Adam Gaffney, The New Republic, 16 Aug. 2023

Word History

First Known Use

1979, in the meaning defined above