Identification of Auto and Alloantibodies in Patients with Hereditary Haemolyticanaemia (HHA)

Introduction: Hereditary hemolytic anemia (HHA) is a group of rare and varied illnesses caused by anomalies in the metabolism of plasma membranes and/or red blood cells (RBCs), which lead to the premature lysis or clearance of these cells. In Bangladesh, data regarding red cell antibodies (allo as well as autoantibodies) in multiple transfused patients is insufficient. Therefore, this study aimed to identify the auto and alloantibodies among transfused patients with HHA. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in the Department of Immunology, BIRDEM and Armed Forces Institute of Pathology (AFIP), Dhaka Cantonment, Dhaka, Bangladesh for one year period. A total of 300 patients were included with HHA according to selection criteria. Results: Among 300 patients, the majority (35.67%) of them were in the age group 1-10 years. Of all patients 186(62%) were male, and 114(38%) were female. Rh was positive in 96.67% of patients and only 10(3.33%) patients were Rh-negative. In HHA patients, the age of the first transfusion was 3.09±4.89 years. The number of blood units transfused was 75.70±89.03. The antibody was detected in 12(4.0%) patients with HHA. Among HHA patients, only auto-antibody, only alloantibody, or both were detected in 2(0.67%), 6(2.0%), and 4(1.33%) patients respectively. Conclusion: In our study, we found that 4.00% of the subjects have antibodies. The majority of the alloantibodies were anti-E, anti-C, and anti-Kell, which are part of the Rh system. The majority of the autoantibodies were IgG.