hypogammaglobulinemia

(hī″pō-gam″ă-glob″yŭ-lĭ-nē′mē-ă)

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[hypo- + gamma globulin + -emia]
A deficiency of one or more of the five classes of immunoglobulins. It is caused by detective functioning of B lymphocytes or by drugs that delete B lymphocytes, e.g. rituximab. People who manufacture insufficient quantities of immunoglobulins become susceptible to infections from pyogenic organisms, e.g., staphylococci, streptococci, and pseudomonas species.

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