Vol.21 No.2

Case Report

Reversible IgA deficiency after severe Gram-negative bacteria infection in a patient with systemic sclerosis

Authors

Masato Yagita1 , Kazuta Yasui2 , Yuji Hori2 , Takafumi Kimura2

  • Department of Clinical Immunology and Rheumatology, Tazuke-Kofukai Medical Research Institute, Kitano Hospital, 2-4-20 Ohgi-machi, Kita-ku, Osaka 530-8480, Japan
  • Osaka Red Cross Blood Center, Japanese Red Cross Society, Osaka, Japan
Received:

15 June 2010

Accepted:

31 August 2010

Published online:

28 September 2010

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Abstract

A 43-year-old woman with systemic sclerosis (SSc) developed IgA deficiency (IgAD) after cholecystitis. The severe decrease of IgA (<10 mg/dl) partially recovered after 5 years. She had repeated episodes of infection during IgAD. Anti-IgA antibody was not detected. Flow cytometric analysis showed that peripheral CD19+IgA+ and CD38+IgA+ cells were normally present. Although the mechanism of secondary IgAD is still vague, its association with autoimmune diseases including SSc and also with bacterial infection is discussed.

Key words

Cholecystitis - IgA deficiency - Systemic sclerosis