Pharmaceutical preparations of normal human immunoglobulin (IgG) are known to contain high-avidity and neutralizing antibodies (Ab) to the cytokines interleukin (IL)-1alpha, IL-6, and interferon (IFN)alpha. To test for other cytokine Ab, 23 batches of IgG were tested for saturable binding to eight 125I-labeled recombinant cytokines. All batches bound granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) with high avidity (Kav approximately 10 pmol/L) and capacities of up to 5 mumol GM-CSF/mol IgG. Only 1 of 15 batches bound IL-5, also with high avidity, whereas 13 of 15 batches bound to IL-10 but with lower capacities and avidities. None of the IgG preparations bound IL-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1ra), IL-2, IL-3, IL-4, or G-CSF. Cross-binding and absorption analyses revealed identical or slightly stronger binding of recombinant GM-CSF, IL-5, and IL-10 than their native counterparts. GM-CSF-IgG complexes did not bind to cellular GM-CSF receptors, but Fc-dependent binding occurred to blood polymorphonuclear cells. Increased binding of GM-CSF to patient sera correlated positively with the binding capacities of infused IgG preparations. Patient and normal sera did not interfere with the binding of Ab to GM-CSF. From these and previous experiments, we conclude that pools of normal human IgG contain variable amounts of specific and high-avidity Ab to some cytokines, and that Ab to GM-CSF constitute a dominant anti-cytokine activity in these preparations. These Ab are available for reaction in vivo following IgG therapy.