A new approach was developed to obtain an efficient and cost effective purification of IgG from human plasma. Porous monoliths were obtained by the bulk polymerization of 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) and N-methacryloyl(L)-histidinemethylester (MAH) conducted in a glass tube. Poly(HEMA-MAH) monolith had a specific surface area of 145.8 m(2)/g. Poly(HEMA-MAH) monolith was characterized by swelling studies, FTIR, scanning electron microscopy and elemental analysis. Poly(HEMA-MAH) monolith with a swelling ratio of 68%, and containing 47.8 mu mol MAH/g were used in the adsorption/desorption of IgG from aqueous solutions and human plasma. The maximum amount of IgG adsorption from aqueous solution in phosphate buffer was 9.8 mg/g at pH 7.4. A higher adsorption value was obtained from human plasma (up to 96.5 mg/g) with a purity of 95.3%. It was observed that IgG could be repeatedly adsorbed and desorbed with Poly(HEMA-MAH) monolith without significant loss in the adsorption capacity. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.