[Investigation of serum IgG subclass distributions and anti-HBs response in healthy adults after hepatitis B vaccination].

The aim of this study was to evaluate the distribution of serum total IgG (tIgG) subtypes before and after hepatitis B vaccinations in young adults and the relationship between anti-HBs titers and tIgG subtypes. Thirty-eight young adults (29 female, 9 male; age range: 18-20 years) who were the students of Malatya Health Care Profession High School were included in the study. Their anti-HBs and total anti-HBc markers' were negative. The study group were immunized with 20 microg/mL recombinant HBV vaccine intramuscularly (Engerix B) at 0, 1st, and 6th months. The tIgG subtype distributions before vaccination and anti-HBs and tlgG subtype distributions after vaccination were investigated. Serum samples were collected one month after the third dose vaccination, and anti-HBs were found negative (<10 IU/ml) in 8 subjects (21%), low positive (10-100 IU/ml) in 14 subjects (37%), and high positive (>100 IU/ml) in 16 subjects (42%). There was no difference between the response groups in terms of tIgG subtype distributions obtained before vaccination. After vaccination, while there was no increase in the tIgG subtypes in the unresponsive group, increased IgG1 levels were determined in low and high response groups. The IgG1 increment ratio was more evident in high response cases. We concluded that IgG1 subtype titer was the most important indicator for the evaluation of the efficacy of active HBV immunization.