Autoimmune Neutropenia

Abstract

Serologic tests for antineutrophil antibodies were used to determine if autoantibodies cause neutropenia. The serums of five patients with idiopathic neutropeniaopsonized normal neutrophils, causing them to be ingested by rabbit macrophages or else to activate glucose oxidation rates of other normal neutrophils by at least twice the rate of controls. Some of the serums inhibited the ability of normal neutrophils to ingest by 62 to 56 per cent. At splenectomy in two of the patients splenic macrophages contained ingested neutrophils, suggesting that the opsonic activity of the serum demonstrated in vitro had pathogenetic importance. In two adults, and possibly in an infant, corticosteroids raised the neutrophil count, although antibody activity remained in the serum of the adults. The findings indicate that autoantibodies are the basis of some cases of idiopathic neutropenia, and that they act by promoting the clearance of neutrophils by mononuclear phagocytes.

A rare case of autoimmune pancytopenia (AIP) preceded by refractory anemia: possible involvement of cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection in pathogenesis

“…However, the availability of methods to demonstrate anti-neutrophil antibodies is limited in the clinics. AIN is known as a common form of neutropenia in childhood and is characterized by chronic neutropenia presenting a low absolute neutrophil count of less than 1.5 × 10 9 /L for more than 6 months [3][4][5][6]. This definition of neutropenia is applied also to neutropenia of AIP.…”

“…Recently, more reliable techniques for assaying anti-granulocytic antibodies had been established, and the presence of neutropenia caused by autoantibody against neutrophils has been documented. This disorder is referred to as autoimmune neutropenia (AIN) [3][4][5][6]. Afterwards, a number of composite cases of AIN, AIHA and autoimmune thrombocytopenia have been found and documented.…”

Pure Neutrophil Aplasia Associated with Thymoma

“…Autoimmune origin for acquired hypoplastic neutropenia had been demonstrated in several conditions: in idiopathic neutropenia [9,10], associated with rheumatic diseases [11,12], drugs [13,14], infection [15,16], and lymphoproliferative disorders [17]. One of the mechanisms is mediated by circulating autoantibodies [17].…”

Antigenic Modulation and Turnover in Human Neutrophils

“…The increased clearance causes clinical diseases, such as autoimmune hemolytic anemia, thrombocytopenic purpura, and autoimmune neutropenia (1,2). Only elution or interaction with phagocytic cells can remove a coating of antibody from erythrocytes.…”