Warm Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia Samples

Bay Biosciences provides high-quality, matched fresh frozen sera (serum),  plasma, and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) bio-fluids from patients diagnosed with warm autoimmune hemolytic anemia (WAIHA).

Moreover, the sera (serum), plasma and PBMC bio-fluids are processed from warm autoimmune hemolytic anemia (WAIHA) patient’s peripheral whole-blood using customized collection and processing protocols.

In addition, the matched bio-fluids are collected from unique patients with warm autoimmune hemolytic anemia (WAIHA) and are provided to a valued pharmaceutical customer for research, development and drug discovery.

Warm Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia (WAIHA) Overview

In fact, warm antibody autoimmune hemolytic anemia (WAIHA) is an autoimmune disorder. Characterized by the premature destruction of healthy red blood cells (hemolysis). Furthermore, autoimmune diseases occur when the body’s own immune system attacks healthy tissue.

In the case of WAIHA and other types of autoimmune hemolytic anemia. Red blood cells are “tagged” by antibodies and are then destroyed by other types of immune cells.

Specifically, the medical community defines warm autoimmune hemolytic anemia (WAIHA) as the destruction of circulating red blood cells (RBCs).  In the setting of anti-RBC autoantibodies that optimally react at 37°C to 40°C.

Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia

Moreover, warm antibody autoimmune hemolytic anemia (WAIHA) is the most common form of autoimmune hemolytic anemia. In particular, autoantibodies that react with self red blood cells (RBCs) cause autoimmune hemolytic anemia (WAIHA) and destroy them.

Notably, warm AIHA, due to antibodies that are active at body temperature, is the most common type of WAIHA. Interestingly, about half of the cases have an unknown cause. While the other half is attributable to a predisposing condition or medications that patients take.

Heterogeneous Disease

Autoimmune hemolytic anemia (AIHA) is a rare and heterogeneous disease. It affects 1 to 3 patients among 100 000 per year in the United States. Specifically, warm auto-antibodies are responsible for 60 to 70% of WAIHA.

Furthermore, this disease can occur in patients at any age. The disease is termed “warm” because the antibodies are active and cause hemolysis at body temperature.  Which is not necessarily the case in other types of autoimmune hemolytic anemia. Normally, the red blood cells have a life span of approximately 120 days before the spleen destroys them.

However, in patients with WAIHA, premature destruction of red blood cells occurs, and the bone marrow can no longer produce new cells at a rate that compensates for their loss.

Moreover, patients of any age, including children, may develop WAIHA, but it is more common among adults, particularly with a peak incidence between 50 to 70 years. The median age at onset is 52 years. Additionally, women possibly experience it as slightly more common compared to men.

Finally, secondary WAIHA is more common in people with predisposing conditions, such as those with lymphomas and leukemias or those with a disease affecting the immune system.

Causes 

Warm autoimmune hemolytic anemia (WAIHA) occurs when antibodies produced by the immune system bind to red blood cells and identify them as targets to be attacked. Consequently, most of the “tagged” red blood cells are transported to the spleen, where they are destroyed by different types of immune cells.

Moreover, antibodies are specialized proteins that usually bind to invading organisms and lead to their destruction. Specifically, there are five main classes of antibodies: IgA, IgD, IgE, IgG, and IgM. **In fact**, most cases of WAIHA are due to IgG antibodies.

However, less often, IgM or IgA antibodies cause the disorder. Furthermore, when antibodies attack healthy tissue, they may be referred to as autoantibodies. In the case of WAIHA, these autoantibodies are active and can trigger hemolysis when they are at body temperature.

Interestingly, the trigger leading to the development of autoantibodies against red blood cells is usually unknown. Thus, these cases may be referred to as primary or idiopathic WAIHA. On the other hand, the disorder may also have a clear trigger in the case of secondary WAIHA.

Notably, the list of causes of secondary WAIHA is extensive but includes medications, autoimmune diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and rheumatoid arthritis, deficiency of the immune system (immunodeficiency), leukemias and lymphomas, infections, and pregnancy.

Additional Causes

Warm autoimmune hemolytic anemia (WAIHA) can develop at any age, but the median age of onset is 52 years. This means that one half of affected individuals will be younger than 52 years of age when the disease begins and that the other half will be above the age of 52. The symptoms of WAIHA usually develop slowly over a period of several weeks to months, but in some patients can develop suddenly over a few days.

Specific symptoms that occur may vary from one person to another and depend on the rate of onset, the degree of hemolysis, and the presence of an underlying disorder. Some individuals, especially those with a gradual onset of anemia, may not have any obvious symptoms (asymptomatic).

Symptoms

In fact, symptoms of anemia include paleness of the skin (pallor), fatigue, shortness of breath (dyspnea), dizziness, and palpitations. Additionally, in cases of brisk and severe hemolysis, chest pain, decreased alertness (lethargy), confusion, transient loss of consciousness (syncope), and deregulation of heart rate and blood pressure (hemodynamic instability) might occur.

Furthermore, hemolysis also leads to increased release of hemoglobin (an oxygen-carrying protein) in the blood and urine, which can, as a result, lead to darkly pigmented urine.

Moreover, enzymes degrade hemoglobin into a yellow compound called bilirubin, which can accumulate and consequently lead to yellowing of the skin and whites of the eyes (jaundice).

Blood Clots

Moreover, WAIHA is also associated with an increased risk of blood clots in the veins (venous thromboembolism).

Specifically, these clots can notably develop in the legs (deep vein thrombosis) and have the potential to detach, circulate in the blood, and occlude the veins of the lungs (pulmonary embolism). In fact, doctors typically observe thromboembolisms in the weeks after diagnosis, and they find that these events are more common in patients with more severe hemolysis and in those who undergo surgical removal of the spleen (splenectomy).

These clots can notably develop in the legs (deep vein thrombosis); furthermore, they have the potential to detach, circulate in the blood, and occlude the veins of the lungs (pulmonary embolism). Thromboembolisms typically occur in the weeks after diagnosis; in addition, doctors find them more common in patients with more severe hemolysis and in those that surgeons treat with surgical removal of the spleen (splenectomy).

Rarely, however, clots can form in the arteries feeding the heart (coronary arteries) and lead to a heart attack (myocardial infarction); similarly, they can form in the arteries of the brain (cerebral arteries) and lead to a stroke. Moreover, patients that require a splenectomy are also at a higher rate of developing infections.

After being treated, consequently, 30% of patients will be cured, while the rest are at risk of developing recurrent episodes of hemolysis. The majority of patients with WAIHA survive; nevertheless, researchers see a mortality rate of about 5%. Experts mainly attribute mortality to thromboembolisms and infections; furthermore, many factors, notably the cause of WAIHA and the overall health of the affected individual, determine the risk.

Signs and Symptoms

Following are some of the common signs and symptoms of warm autoimmune hemolytic anemia:

Additional Symptoms

Diagnosis

A diagnosis of hemolytic anemia may be suspected based on a thorough clinical evaluation; furthermore, it requires a detailed patient history, identification of characteristic symptoms, and a variety of tests such as blood tests that measure values of hemoglobin and the percentage of the total blood volume occupied by red blood cells (hematocrit).

In addition, blood tests may also show an elevated value of immature red blood cells (reticulocytes), which occurs when the body is forced to produce extra red blood cells to make up for those that are destroyed prematurely. Moreover, some individuals with hemolytic anemia have elevated values of bilirubin in the blood (hyperbilirubinemia).

LDH

Consequently, hemolytic anemia also leads to increased values of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) in the blood, as it is released from destroyed red blood cells. Additionally, haptoglobin is a hemoglobin scavenger that consumes increased values of hemoglobin released in the blood due to hemolysis.

Therefore, haptoglobin values are low in hemolytic anemia. When doctors suspect that hemolytic anemia is autoimmune in origin, they may perform specialized tests such as a Coombs test. Specifically, this test detects antibodies that act against red blood cells. To conduct this test, a technician takes a sample of blood and then exposes it to the Coombs reagent.

Positive Test Results

Consequently, a positive test is indicated when the red blood cells clump in the presence of the reagent. Moreover, the autoantibodies seen in WAIHA are notable for being of the IgG subtype in most cases and being active at body temperature.

Depending on the case, further testing might be performed to attempt to identify a cause of secondary WAIHA. In summary, the following sequence allows the diagnosis of WAIHA:

1). Firstly, detection of anemia with increased reticulocyte counts

2). Secondly, the medical team determines that hemolysis causes the anemia, based on elevated bilirubin and LDH and low haptoglobin.

3). Next, determination that WAIHA is the cause of hemolytic anemia with a Coombs test and

4). Finally, possible investigation for a secondary cause of WAIHA.

Biospecimens

Bay Biosciences is, indeed a global leader in providing researchers with high quality, clinical grade, fully characterized human tissue samples, bio-specimens, and human bio-fluid collections.

Specifically, aamples available include cancer (tumor) tissue, cancer serum, cancer plasma, cancer, peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) and human tissue samples from most other therapeutic areas and diseases.

Moreover, Bay Biosciences maintains and manages its own biorepository, the human tissue bank (biobank) consisting of thousands of diseased samples (specimens) and from normal healthy donors available in all formats and types.

In fact, our biobank procures and stores fully consented, de-identified and institutional review boards (IRB) approved human tissue samples and matched controls.

Additionally, all our human tissue collections, human specimens and human bio-fluids are provided with detailed, samples associated patient’s clinical data.

In particular, critical patient’s clinical data includes information relating to their past and current disease, treatment history, lifestyle choices, biomarkers, and genetic information.

Moreover, researchers find patient’s data extremely valuable and use it to help identify new effective treatments (drug discovery & development) in oncology, and other therapeutic areas and diseases.

Specifically, Bay Biosciences banks wide variety of human tissue samples and biological samples, including cryogenically preserved at – 80°C.

For example fresh frozen tissue samples, tumor tissue samples, formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE), tissue slides, with matching human bio-fluids, whole blood and blood-derived products such as serum, plasma and PBMC.

Furthermore, Bay Biosciences is a global leader in collecting and providing human tissue samples according to the specified requirements and customized, tailor-made collection protocols.

Therefore, please contact us anytime to discuss your special research projects and customized human tissue sample requirements.

Types of Biospecimens

Bay Biosciences provides human tissue samples (human specimens) from diseased and normal healthy donors which includes:

  • Firstly, Peripheral whole-blood
  • Secondly, Amniotic fluid
  • Third, Bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BAL)
  • Moreover, Sputum
  • Furthermore, Pleural effusion
  • Next, Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)
  • Also, Serum (sera)
  • Likewise, Plasma
  • In addition, Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC)
  • For example, Saliva
  • Also, Buffy coat
  • Moreover, Urine
  • Furthermore, stool samples
  • Next, Aqueous humor
  • Likewise, Vitreous humor
  • Lastly, Kidney stones (renal calculi)
  • Finally, Other bodily fluids from most diseases including cancer.

Moreover, we can also procure most human bio-specimens, furthermore; we offer special collections and requests for human samples that are difficult to find. All our human tissue samples are procured through IRB-approved clinical protocols and procedures.

In addition to the standard processing protocols, Bay Biosciences can also provide human plasma, serum, and PBMC bio-fluid samples using custom processing protocols. Additionally you buy donor-specific collections in higher volumes and specified sample aliquots from us.

Furthermore, Bay Biosciences also provides human samples from normal healthy donors; volunteers, for controls and clinical research, contact us Now.

 

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