Review: antibodies and antigens in immune neutropenias

In the 1960s and 1970s, the role of granulocyte-specific alloantibodies, autoantibodies, and drug-dependent antibodies in certain neutropenic conditions became established. In some of these conditions, neutropenia is associated with an increased risk of life-threatening infections or unexpected mortality during routine blood transfusion, but, in the majority of conditions involving granulocyte antibodies, the clinical course tends to be benign. Consequently, because the detection and identification of granulocyte antibodies is time consuming and labor intensive, there has been little impetus for further development in this area. However, in the last few years, immunochemistry and molecular biology have provided advances in granulocyte immunology. The purpose of this review is to describe current knowledge about the antibodies and antigens implicated in immune neutropenias.