DO PLASMA ANTI PHOSPHOLIPID ANTIBODIES IN PATIENTS WITH AUTOIMMUNE HEMOLYTIC-ANEMIA CORRELATE WITH REDUCED LEVELS OF ERYTHROCYTE COMPLEMENTRECEPTOR-1

Anti phospholipid antibody (APA), of both IgG and IgM class, was assay ed in plasma obtained from patients with autoimmune haemolytic anaemia (AHA) and active haemolysis. Although plasma APA was elevated in some AHA patients, when compared to a normal control population, there was no apparent correlation with levels of erythrocyte complement recepto r 1 (RBC-membrane CR1) in this patient group. However, there appeared to be a correlation between RBC-membrane CR1 and plasma Ige APA in a s ubset of the AHA patients with low RBC-membrane CR1, The potential sig nificance of this observation was complicated by the majority of these patients having a plasma APA within the normal range. These results s uggest that the reported inverse correlation between APA and RBC-membr ane CR1 may not be definitive.