IMMUNOGLOBULIN IgG SUBCLASS 4 (IgG4)

IgG immunoglobulins are comprised of 4 subclasses designated IgG1 through IgG4. Of total IgG, approximately 65% is IgG1, 25% is IgG2, 6% is IgG3, and 4% is IgG4. IgG subclass 4-related disease is a recently recognized syndrome of unknown etiology most often occurring in middle-aged and older men. Several organ systems can be involved and encompasses many previous and newly described diseases such as type1 autoimmune pancreatitis; Mikulicz disease and sclerosing sialadenitis; inflammatory orbital psuedotumor; chronic sclerosing aortitis; Riedel thyroiditis, a subset of Hashimoto thyroiditis; IgG4-related interstitial pneumonitis; and IgG4-related tubulointerstitial nephritis. Elevated serum concentrations of IgG4 are found in 60% to 70% of patients diagnosed with IgG4-related disease.