Abstract
The thymic hyperplasia was determined using pneumomediastinography in patients with idiopathic aplastic anemia in previous report.
Further evaluation of thymic functions of aplastic anemia patients was done in this paper estimating sheep red blood cell rosette-forming cell (SRBC-RFC) and surface immunoglobulin bearing cell (SIBC) in peripheral lymphocytes. The SRBC-RFC in peripheral lymphocytes of patients with aplastic anemia increased their percentages as well as their absolute numbers in unit volume than those of healthy subjects (p<0.001). Decreased absolute numbers of SIBC in peripheral lymphocytes of patients with aplastic anemia was observed in spite of their normal ranges of SIBC percentages. Both evidence indicated that the patients with aplastic anemia seemed to have a thymic hyperfunction.
In comparison with laboratory examinations and the populations of SRBC-RFC in the patients with aplastic anemia, only the tuberculin skin reaction had a good correlation against SRBC-RFC percentage among erythrocyte sedimentation rate, peripheral blood pictures, serum iron level, serum gamma-globulin level, CRP, RA factor, antinuclear antibody and tuberculin skin reaction.
Further elucidation of relationship between thymic hyperfunction and bone marrow suppression is going under way.
