title: Immunological abnormalities in thalassaemia major. I. A transfusion-related increase in circulating cytoplasmic immunoglobulin-positive cells.
abstract: Multiply transfused patients with beta-thalassaemia major have elevated serum immunoglobulin levels and a transfusion-related increase in (T8+) T-suppressor cells. We report here that these patients also have a significantly increased (P less than 0.001) proportion of B-cells that contain cytoplasmic immunoglobulin when visualized immediately upon isolation. On the other hand, the same cell populations do not exhibit an increase in the proportion of immunoglobulin-secreting cells as measured by a reverse haemolytic plaque assay. These results, together with those of ongoing studies, suggest that the cells containing the cytoplasmic immunoglobulin are likely to be terminally differentiated B-cells which persist in the circulation. While the reason for this phenomenon is not yet known, we have found that the increase in these cells is transfusion-related.
mesh_terms: D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D001803:Blood Transfusion; D003593:Cytoplasm / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D007136:Immunoglobulins / Q000378:metabolism*; D007958:Leukocyte Count; D009000:Monocytes / Q000276:immunology; D010587:Phagocytosis; D011947:Receptors, Antigen, B-Cell / Q000378:metabolism; D011961:Receptors, Fc / Q000378:metabolism; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D013789:Thalassemia / Q000276:immunology* / Q000628:therapy
chemical_list: D007136:Immunoglobulins; D011947:Receptors, Antigen, B-Cell; D011961:Receptors, Fc