The key difference between convalescent plasma and monoclonal antibodies is that convalescent plasma is the blood plasma collected from patients who recovered from an infection, while monoclonal antibodies are proteins made in laboratories that act like antibodies in the human body.
Convalescent plasma and monoclonal antibodies are currently used to treat various infectious diseases such as COVID-19 and influenza. Therapies involving convalescent plasma and monoclonal antibodies are categorized under a specific therapy group called targeted therapy. Moreover, convalescent plasma and monoclonal antibodies are very effective in eliminating various infectious diseases in the world at the moment.
CONTENTS
1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Convalescent Plasma
3. What are Monoclonal Antibodies
4. Similarities – Convalescent Plasma and Monoclonal Antibodies
5. Convalescent Plasma vs Monoclonal Antibodies in Tabular Form
6. Summary – Convalescent Plasma vs Monoclonal Antibodies
What is Convalescent Plasma?
Convalescent plasma is the blood plasma collected from a patient who recovered from an infection in order to be used to treat various infectious diseases. This technique has been popular since the early 20th Century. However, the ill person needs to have recovered from the infection before the plasma is extracted.
Figure 01: Convalescent Plasma
When a person is infected with a pathogen, the body mounts an immune response, which includes activating immune cells such as T cells and B cells. B lymphocytes make antibodies that attach to antigens in the pathogen. This marking will destroy the pathogen by other immune cells. For example, if a person is recovered from an infection such as COVID-19, the blood can be extracted. This blood plasma is later put through a process known as plasmapheresis. Plasmapheresis separates the blood into components. Only the fluid part, which is the plasma, is collected and used for transfusion into another sick individual in convalescent plasma. The rest of the blood again returns back to the recovered person. Furthermore, convalescent plasma is primarily used to treat illnesses that are caused by viruses such as COVID-19, influenza, and Ebola. However, the disadvantage of convalescent plasma is that, in some cases, it results in allergic responses and lung damage.
What are Monoclonal Antibodies?
Monoclonal antibodies are proteins made in laboratories that act like antibodies in the human body. They can be used to treat various infectious diseases. Monoclonal antibodies are clones of just one antibody. They only bind to one specific antigen. Monoclonal antibodies are made using a technology called hybridoma technology.
Figure 02: Monoclonal Antibodies
Monoclonal antibodies have been used to treat several conditions such as cancer, organ transplant rejection, inflammatory disorders including allergies, infections like COVID-19, osteoporosis, eye conditions, migraines, high cholesterol, and nervous system disorders. There are several advantages of monoclonal antibodies. One of the main advantages is that they are made specifically for a target antigen in a pathogen. Another big advantage is that since they synthesize in laboratories, they can be produced on a mass scale. Furthermore, the disadvantages of monoclonal antibodies are their expense and the time-consuming nature of their production.
What are the Similarities Between Convalescent Plasma and Monoclonal Antibodies?
- Convalescent plasma and monoclonal antibodies are currently used to treat various infectious diseases.
- They are both proteins in nature.
- Therapies involving convalescent plasma and monoclonal antibodies are categorized under a specific therapy group called targeted therapy.
- Both are extremely important to save millions of lives of people around the world against very lethal diseases such as COVID-19, HINI, and influenza.
- They are highly specific in action.
- Both convalescent plasma and monoclonal antibodies have advantages as well as disadvantages.
What is the Difference Between Convalescent Plasma and Monoclonal Antibodies?
Convalescent plasma is the blood plasma collected from patients recovered from an infection, while monoclonal antibodies are proteins made in laboratories that act like antibodies in the human body. Thus, this is the key difference between convalescent plasma and monoclonal antibodies. Furthermore, convalescent plasma is made naturally. On the other hand, monoclonal antibodies are made artificially in laboratories.
The below infographic presents the differences between convalescent plasma and monoclonal antibodies in tabular form for side by side comparison.
Summary – Convalescent Plasma vs Monoclonal Antibodies
Convalescent plasma and monoclonal antibodies are used to treat various infectious diseases such as COVID-19 and influenza. Both are involved in targeted therapies. Convalescent plasma is the blood plasma collected from patients recovered from an infection. On the other hand, monoclonal antibodies are proteins made in laboratories that act like antibodies in the human body. So, this is the key difference between convalescent plasma and monoclonal antibodies.
Reference:
1. “Convalescent Plasma.” IDSA Home, 8 Feb. 1970.
2. “Monoclonal Antibodies: Definition & How Treatment Works.” Cleveland Clinic.
Image Courtesy:
1. “Ppat.1008735.g002” By Montelongo-Jauregui D, Vila T, Sultan AS, Jabra-Rizk MA (2020) Convalescent serum therapy for COVID-19: A 19th century remedy for a 21st century disease. PLoS Pathog 16(8): e1008735. (CC BY 4.0) via Commons Wikimedia
2. “Development of better monoclonal antibodies for human therapy and their nomenclature” By Mjeltsch – Own work (CC BY-SA 4.0) via Commons Wikimedia