Immunologic status of hemophilia patients treated with cryoprecipitate or
lyophilized concentrate
GF Gjerset, PJ Martin, RB Counts, LD Fast and JA Hansen
We evaluated 37 patients with moderate or severe hemophilia A and six
patients with severe factor IX deficiency for clinical or laboratory
evidence of immune abnormalities. Patients were assigned to one of four
groups according to the type of clotting factor replacement. Twenty
patients had received only cryoprecipitate during the two years preceding
the evaluation (group I); 11 additional patients were treated predominantly
with cryoprecipitate but had also received up to nine bottles of factor
VIII concentrate (group II); six patients received factor VIII concentrate
(group III); six patients received factor IX concentrate (group IV). There
was no clinical or laboratory evidence of immunodeficiency among the 43
patients. The mean absolute number of Th cells was normal in all patient
groups, but the mean absolute number of Ts cells was increased compared
with controls, both in patients treated with cryoprecipitate and in
patients treated with factor VIII or factor IX concentrate. There was no
correlation between the Th/Ts ratio and patient age, alanine
aminotransferase level, hepatitis serology, in vitro lymphocyte function,
or amount of clotting factor administered. Our observations demonstrate
that the volunteer or commercial origin of clotting factor replacement
cannot fully explain the alterations in lymphocyte subset distribution
previously described in patients with hemophilia A.
Volume 64,
Issue 3,
pp. 715-720,
09/01/1984
Copyright © 1984 by The American Society of Hematology
