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What is Autoimmune neutropenia and explain in detail?
Autoimmune neutropenia (AIN) is a form of neutropenia which is most common in infants and young children where the body identifies the neutrophils as enemies and makes antibody to destroy them.
Primary autoimmune neutropenia, another name for autoimmune neutropenia, is an autoimmune disease first reported in 1975 that primarily occurs in infancy. In autoimmune neutropenia, the immune system produces autoantibodies directed against the neutrophilic protein antigens in white blood cells known as granulocytic neutrophils, granulocytes, segmented neutrophils, segs, polysegmented neutrophils, or polys. These antibodies, IgG antibodies, destroy granulocytic neutrophils. Consequently, patients with autoimmune neutropenia have low levels of granulocytic neutrophilic white blood cells causing a condition of neutropenia. Neutropenia causes an increased risk of infection from organisms that the body could normally fight easily.
Primary autoimmune neutropenia has been reported as early as the second month of life although most cases are diagnosed in children between 5 and 15 months of age. Girls have a slightly higher risk of developing AIN than boys as well as do people of Caucasian background. In neutropenia discovered at birth or shortly after birth, a diagnosis of allo-immune neutropenia (from maternal white blood cell antibodies passively transferred to the infant) is more likely.
In infants neutropenia is defined by absolute neutrophil counts less than 1000/uL