Evaluation of Platelet Antibodies in Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura

Abstract
Introduction The suggestion that antibodies to platelets are responsible for the thrombocytopenia of "idiopathic" thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) is based on three observations: (a) infants born of mothers with ITP sometimes exhibit thrombocytopenia1; (b) normal volunteers who receive infusions of plasma from patients with ITP sometimes develop thrombocytopenia2; (c) transfused platelets do not circulate as long in patients with ITP as in normal recipients.3 These phenomena indicate that a constituent of the blood of some patients with ITP is able to depress platelet levels of normal persons. These observations, however, are not proof of an antigen-antibody reaction, and it is not known whether this platelet-depressing activity is, in fact, capable of affecting the patient's own platelets. Platelet antibodies have been demonstrated in patients with thrombocytopenia induced by drugs, such as allyl-isopropyl-acetyl-carbamide (Sedormid),4 quinidine,5 quinine,6 and novobiocin7; and in patients who have received transfusions.8-10

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