PHAGOCYTES Neutrophil Antibody Specificity in Different Types of Childhood

Autoimmune neutropenia (AIN) in children can be divided into 2 forms. In primary AIN, neutropenia is the sole abnor-mality, and although neutrophil counts are generally below 500 mL21, mild bacterial infections occur. Primary AIN is mostly seen in young children and shows a self-limited course. AIN occurring in association with autoimmune dis-eases (secondary AIN) often shows more severe infectious complications. We analyzed clinical and serological data from 28 pediatric patients with AIN to evaluate whether there is a possible relationship between specificity of the neutrophil autoantibodies and the clinical course of the disease. Specificity of the circulating antibodies was deter-mined with the indirect granulocyte immunofluorescence test (GIFT) and a panel of phenotyped donor neutrophils. The samples were further analyzed in the monoclonal antibod