Abstract
Increased proportions of peripheral blood lymphocytes from hemophilia patients treated with anti-hemophilic factor express activation-linked cell surface antigens. The alteration of lymphocytes surface markers in hemophilia is considered to be correlated with the duration of clotting factor therapy.
In this study, cultured lymphocytes from patients with hemophilia were analysed for changes in activation-linked cell surface antigens. The results revealed a decrease in the proportion of the cells expressing certain activation-linked cell surface antigens when compared to normal controls following cultivation in serum free condition. In contrast, the expression of these antigens was enhanced during lymphocyte cultivation with ConA than in controls. The results suggest that hemophilia may have a reservoir for immune defense function based on the above cellular mechanism.
