T cell subpopulations defined by monoclonal antibodies in autoimmune hemolytic anemia.
T cell subsets were studied using monoclonal anti-T cell antibodies in 10 patients with IgM cold agglutinins and 30 patients with IgG warm autoantibodies. Two of the 10 patients with cold agglutinin disease had abnormally low helper/suppressor T cell ratio. In the 30 patients with IgG warm autoantibodies this ratio was abnormally low in 7 and abnormally high in 7 other patients. Treatment by steroids or immunosuppressive agents tended to decrease OKT4/OKT8 ratio since high ratios were essentially found in untreated patients. This report documents the high incidence of T cell imbalance in autoimmune hemolytic anemia due to IgG warm autoantibodies and comments on its significance in the light of the great heterogeneity of this syndrome.
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000744:Anemia, Hemolytic, Autoimmune / Q000276:immunology*; D000818:Animals; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000276:immunology; D005260:Female; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D006041:Goats / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000276:immunology; D008297:Male; D008750:Methyldopa / Q000494:pharmacology; D051379:Mice; D008815:Mice, Inbred Strains; D008875:Middle Aged; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*
D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D008750:Methyldopa