| dc.description.abstract | Immune-mediated hemolytic anemia (IMHA) is a type II immune reaction in which circulating
red blood cell (RBC) destruction is antibody-mediated (cytotoxic) (Day 2014, Tizard 2013,
Chabanne 2006, Day in Fieldman et al. 2000). Antibody attachment to erythrocyte surface
depends on two main causes:
1. The majority of primary IMHA are idiopathic or associated with other autoimmune
diseases in the autoimmune form of the disease, antibodies (auto-antibodies) recognize
a self-antigen of the erythrocyte membrane. Hemolysis dominates the clinical picture
in the absence of any other coexisting disorder. Autoimmune hemolytic anemia may
occur as a single clinical entity (idiopathic), may be recognized concurrently with
autoimmune thrombocytopenia (Evans syndrome), or maybe part of a multisystemic
autoimmune disease like systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). The development of
autoimmunity results from a failure of the normal control mechanisms of the immune
system. Autoimmune diseases are multifactorial disorders in which clinical expression
relies on the presence of an optimum array of predisposing factors. Genetic factors are
key determinants of disease susceptibility that explain breed or familial predispositions.
Other predisposing factors must be important: hormonal background, age, and
environmental factors (infectious agents, drugs and chemicals, etc.). The aim in the
treatment of IMHA as with all autoimmune diseases is to manipulate (to down-regulate
or suppress) the immune response that causes the disease so that the process is reduced
or abolished (Berentsen 2011, Petz and Garratty 2004, Gehrs and Friedberg 2002). ... | id |
