Partial in vivo response to corticosteroid treatment in common variable immune deficiency.

The case of a 13-year-old girl with CVI is presented who required steroid treatment for myositis. After three weeks of treatment, the serum IgM level increased about ten-fold. Specific antibodies to vaccination antigens, which despite adequate vaccination were absent prior to any kind of treatment, could be synthesized following steroid treatment. The effects observed were only transient. Steroid influences on immunoregulatory T cell may have contributed to the improvement of humoral immunity in this patient.