the following description of the preferred embodiment ( s ) is merely exemplary in nature and is in no way intended to limit the invention , its application , or uses . in one embodiment , the invention provides a method for medical treatment of humans comprising the step of administering by inhalation an aerosol composition . the aerosol composition contains an iga component which can be derived from a number of sources . the aerosol composition contains an iga component which can be derived from a number of sources . the by - product is obtained from pooled human plasma following cohn cold ethanol fractionation to produce fraction iii precipitate as performed by those of skill in the art of protein separation . iga by - product is further purified by adsorption onto a ion exchange medium in neutral or slightly acidic conditions as performed by those of skill in the art of protein purification . a more detailed description of isolation of an iga component as a by - product from pooled human plasma or hyperimmune pooled human plasma is as follows . ethanol fractionation of pooled human plasma is a well known process to prepare immunoglobulin g . pooled human plasma is first obtained from licensed plasmapheresis centers in the united states and tested for various pathogens including the hiv virus . the first manufacturing step of most commercial immunoglobulin g preparations involves a modified cold ethanol fractionation according to cohn to produce cohn fraction ii . in the fractionation process , many infectious viruses are eliminated from the pooled human plasma . following fractionation , the cohn fraction ii is subjected to adsorption onto an ion exchange medium . this step may selectively reduce the iga concentration to less than 0 . 1 %. such a step is important for producing immunoglobulin g for intravenous infusion into humans . this is because some individuals undergo an anaphylactic - like reaction if treated with intravenous igg that contains iga as an impurity . the modified cold ethanol fractionation process according to cohn is a series of fractionations using various levels of ethanol , ph , and temperature to produce a fraction ii which is further treated to produce immunoglobulins as described above . in the fractionation method , pooled human plasma is first treated to produce a cryoprecipitate and cryo - supernatant . the cryo - supematant is subjected to a first ethanol fractionation to yield a supernatant i . supernatant i is subjected to a second ethanol fractionation to yield fraction ii + iii . fraction ii + iii is subjected to a third ethanol fractionation procedure to yield a supernatant iii and fraction iii precipitate . the fraction iii precipitate enriched in iga is generally discarded as an unwanted by - product . according to the invention , this unwanted iga following ion exchange adsorption purification , is further treated by incubation with immobilized hydrolases to inactivate viruses and vasoactive substances . such treatment has been proven to eliminate many viruses tested including hiv , sindbis , and vaccinia . following incubation to remove viruses , the concentration of the active material is adjusted with sterile saline or buffered solutions to ensure a constant amount of active material per milliliter of reconstituted product . finally , the solution with a constant amount of reconstituted product is sterilized by filtration before use . the ethanol fractionation process according to cohn is well known in the art and is described in cohn , et al ., j am chem soc 1946 ; 68 : 459 - 475 , oncley , et al , j am chem soc 1949 ; 71 : 541 - 550 , and in most detail in pages 576 - 602 , kirk - othmer encyclopedia of chemical technology , vol 3 , second edition ( 1963 ), the disclosure of which is hereby expressly incorporated by reference . in a preferred embodiment , the compositions of the invention contain , in addition to the iga component , one or more further components selected from the group consisting of recombinant human j chains , recombinant secretory component , and combinations thereof . the production of human j chains by genetically recombinant biological techniques is disclosed in symerski , et al ., mol immunol 2000 ; 37 : 133 - 140 , the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference . human secretory component can be produced by recombinant techniques as described in croftet , et al , biochem j 1999 ; 341 : 299 - 306 , disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference . in a preferred embodiment the iga may be coupled to recombinant j chains by disulfide bonding which is accomplished in mildly oxidizing conditions . the resulting iga - j chain conjugates are purified . iga - j chain conjugates may then be further coupled to recombinant secretory component . in a preferred embodiment , the coupling is accomplished by forming disulfide bonds under mildly oxidizing conditions . iga containing both j chain and secretory component is again purified by ion - exchange and size exclusion chromatography and / or ultrafiltration as described in lullau , et al ., j . biol chem 1996 ; 271 : 16300 - 16309 , corthesy , biochem soc trans 1997 ; 25 : 471 - 475 , and crottet , et al ., biochem j 1999 ; 341 : 299 - 306 , as performed by those of skill in the art of protein purification , the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference . while recombinant expression of iga with the incorporation of j chain and secretory component has been accomplished , hybridoma production of iga may not include incorporated j chains and secretory component . according to the invention , the recombinant j chains , recombinant secretory component , or mixtures of them may be combined with the monoclonal iga after production of the iga by hybridoma techniques . such iga may be coupled to recombinant j chains and secretory component as described above . purified iga containing j chain and secretory components can be stabilized for example by the addition of human serum albumin to a final concentration of 5 %. the presence of the human j chains and secretory component in the compositions of the invention leads to inhaled doses of immunoglobulin which are more physiologically effective than compositions without such components . in another embodiment , an iga containing component is isolated as a by - product from hyperimmune pooled human plasma for coupling with j chain and secretory component . hyperimmune pooled human plasma is obtained from donors who have been immunized against a specific disease . in another embodiment , the iga component can be prepared by hybridoma techniques to provide antigen - specific iga . hybridoma techniques are described originally in kohler and milstein , nature 1975 ; 256 : 495 - 497 with more recent advances summarized in berzofsky et al ., fundamental immunology , third edition , 1993 , pp 455 - 462 , the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference . hybridoma production involves the fusion of an immortalized immunoglobulin - producing myeloma cell with an antibodyproducing cell from an immunized individual . the product is an immortalized cell culture which produces the specific antibody against the antigen that the donor individual is immune to . for example , a mouse monoclonal iga antibody has been prepared against respiratory syncytial virus f glycoprotein as described in weltzin , et al ., j infect dis 1996 ; 174 : 256 - 261 and weltzin , eta ., antimicrob agents chemother 1994 ; 38 : 2785 - 2791 . the compositions of the invention for pulmonary delivery of aerosol compositions generally contain in addition to the iga component and optional j chains and secretory component known pharmaceutical excipients and buffering agents . non - limiting examples of such excipients include proteins as for example , human serum albumin and recombinant human albumin . other pharmaceutical excipients include carbohydrates , sugars , and alditols . non - limiting examples of suitable carbohydrates include sucrose , lactose , raffinose , and trehalose . suitable alditols include mannitol , and pyranosyl sorbitol . polymeric excipients include polyvinylpyrolidone , ficolls , soluble hydroxyethyl starch , and the like of suitable molecular weight . non - limiting examples of suitable buffering agents include salts prepared from organic acids such as citric acid , glycine , tartaric acid , lactic acid , and the like . other useful excipients include surfactants and chelating agents . the compositions of the invention are readily aerosolized and rapidly deposited in the lungs of a host . doses are formulated from the compositions of the invention by combining the iga component with or without human j chain and secretory component , and pharmaceutical excipients so as to contain an effective dose of the active ingredient . a typical dose would include about 5 milligrams of active material . the dose amount may be adjusted up or down as required to meet the treatment needs of an individual , or to provide for ease and convenience in administering the dose . the compositions of the invention can be administered by nebulization or by metered dose inhalers . nebulizers and metered dose inhalers are well know in the art and are described for example , in wolff and niven , j aerosol med 1994 ; 7 : 89 - 106 . diseases and conditions for which aerosol pulmonary administration of the compositions of the invention is to be used therapeutically or prophylactically include , but are not limited to : common variable immunodeficiency , iga deficiency , human immunodeficiency virus ( hiv ) infection , lower respiratory tract infection with influenza , lower respiratory tract infection with respiratory syncytial virus , lower respiratory tract infection with rhinovirus , lower respiratory tract infection with adenovirus , chronic lymphocytic leukemia , multiple myeloma , macroglobulinemia , chronic bronchitis , bronchiectasis , asthma , immune suppression associated with bone marrow transplantation , immune suppression associated with cyclophosphamide administration , immune suppression associated with azathiaprine administration , immune suppression associated with methotrexate administration , immune suppression associated with chlorambucil administration , immune suppression associated with nitrogen mustard administration , immune suppression associated with 6 - mercaptopurine administration , immune suppression associated with thioguanine administration , severe combined immunodeficiency , adenosine deaminase deficiency , major histocompatibility class i ( bare leukocyte syndrome ) and class ii deficiencies , purine nucleoside phosphorylase deficiency , digeorge syndrome , transient hypogammaglobulinemia of infancy , x - linked agammaglobulinemia , x - linked agammaglobulinemia with growth hormone deficiency , transcobalamin ii deficiency , immunodeficiency with thymoma , immunodeficiency with hereditary defective response to epstein barr virus , immunoglobulin deficiency with increased igm , k chain deficiency , ataxiatelangiectasia , and immunodeficiency with partial albinism . as used here , the term therapeutic treatment means that the patient being administered a dose of a composition of the invention has been diagnosed as having the condition to be treated . prophylactic treatment means that the patient is being treated to prevent infection . such treatment is often indicated where a patient is at risk for lower respiratory tract infection . polyclonal iga is obtained from pooled human plasma following cohn cold ethanol fractionation to produce fraction iii precipitate . iga is further purified by adsorption onto an ion exchange medium in neutral or slightly acidic conditions . alternatively , monoclonal iga is obtained from an iga - producing hybridoma . the iga is then coupled to recombinant j chains by disulfide bonding which is accomplished in mildly oxidizing conditions . the molar ratio of iga to j chain is 2 : 1 or 3 : 1 . iga - j chain conjugates are purified . iga - j chain conjugates may then be further coupled to recombinant secretory component again by disulfide bonding in mildly oxidizing conditions , preferably at a molar ratio of secretory componant to iga - j chain conjugates of 1 : 1 . iga containing both j chain and secretory component is again purified . purified iga containing j chain and secretory componant is stabilized by the addition of human serum albumin to a final concentration of 5 %. the final solution , adjusted to a therapeutic dose of 5 mg iga , is then placed in a nebulizer for self - administration . the description of the invention is merely exemplary in nature and , thus , variations that do not depart from the gist of the invention are intended to be within the scope of the invention . such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention .
pooled human plasma is processed by cold ethanol fractionation to produce purified immunoglobulin g antibodies for intravenous administration . immunoglobulin a is an unwanted by - product since intravenous administration of immunoglobulin a - containing immunoglobulin g can cause life - threatening anaphylaxis in some people . the present invention is the aerosol administration , by metered dose inhaler or nebulizer , of by - product immunoglobulin a for the prevention or treatment of diseases including immunodeficiencies and infections . antigen - specific monoclonal immunoglobulin a may be used . immunoglobulin a from any of the aforementioned sources may then be coupled with recombinant j chain , and may then be additionally coupled with recombinant secretory component in order to render the immunoglobulin a more physiologically active . immunoglobulin a , with or without j chain and secretory component , is then administered by aerosol inhalation .