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Thromb Haemost 1984; 51(02): 207-211
DOI: 10.1055/s-0038-1661060
Original Article
Schattauer GmbH Stuttgart

Immunological Alterations in Haemophiliacs Treated with Lyophilized Factor VIII Cryoprecipitate from Volunteer Donors

J L Ceuppens
The Divisions of Clinical Immunology and of Bleeding and Vascular Disorders (Department of Medicine), the Laboratory of Medical Virology, University of Leuven, and the Blood Transfusion Centre, Leuven, Belgium
,
J D Vermylen
The Divisions of Clinical Immunology and of Bleeding and Vascular Disorders (Department of Medicine), the Laboratory of Medical Virology, University of Leuven, and the Blood Transfusion Centre, Leuven, Belgium
,
J Colaert
The Divisions of Clinical Immunology and of Bleeding and Vascular Disorders (Department of Medicine), the Laboratory of Medical Virology, University of Leuven, and the Blood Transfusion Centre, Leuven, Belgium
,
J Desmyter
The Divisions of Clinical Immunology and of Bleeding and Vascular Disorders (Department of Medicine), the Laboratory of Medical Virology, University of Leuven, and the Blood Transfusion Centre, Leuven, Belgium
,
K Gautama
The Divisions of Clinical Immunology and of Bleeding and Vascular Disorders (Department of Medicine), the Laboratory of Medical Virology, University of Leuven, and the Blood Transfusion Centre, Leuven, Belgium
,
E Stevens
The Divisions of Clinical Immunology and of Bleeding and Vascular Disorders (Department of Medicine), the Laboratory of Medical Virology, University of Leuven, and the Blood Transfusion Centre, Leuven, Belgium
,
A L The
The Divisions of Clinical Immunology and of Bleeding and Vascular Disorders (Department of Medicine), the Laboratory of Medical Virology, University of Leuven, and the Blood Transfusion Centre, Leuven, Belgium
,
G Vanham
The Divisions of Clinical Immunology and of Bleeding and Vascular Disorders (Department of Medicine), the Laboratory of Medical Virology, University of Leuven, and the Blood Transfusion Centre, Leuven, Belgium
,
C Vermylen
The Divisions of Clinical Immunology and of Bleeding and Vascular Disorders (Department of Medicine), the Laboratory of Medical Virology, University of Leuven, and the Blood Transfusion Centre, Leuven, Belgium
,
M Verstraete
The Divisions of Clinical Immunology and of Bleeding and Vascular Disorders (Department of Medicine), the Laboratory of Medical Virology, University of Leuven, and the Blood Transfusion Centre, Leuven, Belgium
› Author Affiliations
Further Information

Publication History

Received 18 November 1983

Accepted 23 January 1984

Publication Date:
19 July 2018 (online)

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Summary

We studied immune function in Belgian haemophiliacs treated with Factor VIII from volunteer donors. No patient had clinical evidence of immune deficiency. We found a decrease in T-helper cells (p <0.0005), in the ratio of T-helper over T-cytotoxic/ suppressor cells (1.72 ± 0.47 versus 2.24 ± 0.82 in controls, p <0.005) and in lymphocyte responsiveness to mitogens (p <0.05).

These findings could not be linked to the amount of F VIII received over the last year, the time since last F VIII administration, circulating immune complexes (54% positive patients, 7% positive controls, p <0.005), increased ALT levels, antibodies to cytomegalo-virus (85% of the patients, 45% of the controls, p <0.005), antibodies to Epstein-Barr virus, nor to the presence of HLA-DR 5 which was found in 56% of the haemophiliacs (20% of the overall Belgian population, p <0.005).

Either F VIII induces long lasting immunological alterations unrelated to AIDS, or haemophilia is itself associated with such changes.

Keywords

Haemophilia - Acquired immune deficiency syndrome - Factor VIII - T cell subsets - Immune complexes