One Year Follow-Up Study of T-Cell Subsets and Incidence of Seropositivity for HTLV-I and HTLV-III Antibodies in Patients Treated “On Demand” or Sporadically with Clotting Concentrates

Summary

A 1-year follow-up study of the T-cell subset abnormalities was carried out in 16 severe haemophilia A patients, treated “on demand” with an average amount of 500 U/kg/yr of factor VIII concentrate (group A) and in 15 mild haemophiliacs or von Willebrand patients treated only sporadically with less than 3000 U of factor VIII and no longer exposed to any other blood component in the 2 years preceding the beginning of the study (group B).

In group A, 50% and 70% of patients showed a reduced or inverted T 4/T 8 ratio, respectively, at the beginning and at the end of follow-up. These values were of 30% and 20% in patients of group B, suggesting a long-lasting effect of concentrate therapy on T-cell subsets. The low T 4/T 8 ratio was mainly due to an increase of suppressor cells. None of the patients was found positive for anti HTLV-I, whereas 3 patients, all belonging to the group A, showed antibodies against HTLV-III. Thus, in these patients, HTLV-III seems not to be the only cause of low T 4/T 8 ratio.

Keywords

Haemophilia - Commercial clotting factor concentrates - Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome - Immunological abnormalities in haemophilia - HTLV-I - HTLV-III

• References

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