Lc. Grammer et al., Lymphocyte subsets and activation markers in patients with acute episodes of idiopathic anaphylaxis, ANN ALLER A, 85(5), 2000, pp. 368-371
Background: Idiopathic anaphylaxis (IA), a type of anaphylaxis in which no
external allergen can be identified, is a corticosteroid-responsive disease
, that suggests that it may have an immunologic pathogenesis.
Objective: The objective of this study is to compare patients with acute ep
isodes of IA with normals, patients with chronic idiopathic urticaria, and
patients with IA in remission relative to lymphocyte subsets and activation
markers.
Methods: This is a prospective cohort study of 38 adults: 5 normals, 4 idio
pathic urticaria, 11 I4 patients in remission, 9 IA patients with acute att
acks who had not yet received prednisone, and 9 IA patients who had receive
d prednisone. The main outcome measures were lymphocyte subset and activati
on markers determined by two and three color flow cytometry (CD2, CD3, CD4,
CD5, CD8, CD16, CD19, CD23, CD25, CD56, and HLA-DR).
Results: Comparing patients with acute IA with those in remission, the only
significant difference was that the acute IA patients had a significantly
higher percentage of CD3(+)HLA-DR+ cells. Normals had a significantly lower
percentage of CD3(+) HLA-DR+ cells than all other groups. Patients with ac
ute IA on prednisone as well as IA patients in remission had a significantl
y higher percentage of CD 19(+) CD23(+) cells than normals.
Conclusions: These results suggest that there are more activated T cells in
patients with acute episodes of IA than in patients in remission. Perhaps,
these activated T cells have a role in the pathogenesis of IA.