Journal of Blood & Lymph

A Prospective Assessment of Autoimmune Sensitization of Hypertensive Patients on Antihypertensive Therapy: A Hospital Based Study

Abstract

Ogbonna Collins Nwabuko, Innocent Ijezie Chukwuonye and May Gogo Nwabuko

Background: Autoimmune sensitization by antihypertensive drugs is an emerging cause of morbidity and mortality among hypertensive on antihypertensive therapy and little is known about it in our environment. The aim of this study is to evaluate autoimmune sensitization among hypertensive patients on antihypertensive therapy using DAT (Direct Antiglobulin test or Direct Coomb’s test) and Hemoglobin concentration.
Materials and method: This was a 4-month single center prospective study of 60 hypertensive patients on antihypertensive drugs and 40 age and sex matched control who were attending Cardiology Clinic in BMSH Port Harcourt. Hemoglobin concentration, Packed Cell Volume (PCV) and DAT were obtained using Cyanmethemoglobin, Microhematrocrit and Conventional tube methods respectively, while other clinical data were obtained using structured questionnaires. Data analysis was by SPSS version 20.
Results: There was no significant change in the mean hemoglobin concentration/PCV of the hypertensive patients on therapy and their control counterparts (13.4 g/dL/40.7% versus 13.4 g/dL/40.7%; p>0.05). The DAT in the hypertensive patients on therapy and their hypertensive control counterparts was negative.
Conclusion: Although antihypertensive drugs have the tendency of instigating immune sensitization of red blood cells, this was not demonstrated from this study. However, further studies with a larger sample size can improve validity of the result.