Eleven days after administration of multiple penicillin analogs, a 55-year-old female developed a Coombs-positive hemolytic anemia. The patient's erythrocytes were coated with IgG, complement components (C4/C3) and her serum contained elevated 125I-Clq binding activity (a measure of the presence of immune complexes). Her serum, in the presence of fresh complement and penicillin, induced complement sensitization of normal erythrocytes. Immune complex-mediated complement activation and the haptene type of erythrocyte sensitization accounted for accelerated red blood cell destruction in this patient.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.