Warm Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia: A Clinical Model to Study Mechanisms of Immunoregulation*

The study of immune hemolytic anemias has contributed significantly to the understanding of the immune response in the human system in the past. Thus, the concept of receptor specificity - becoming the rationale of the clonal selection theory when trying to explain how the organism avoids autoaggression - has been developed originally upon the study of immune hemolytic anemias, and the question whether the antigen-antibody reaction is determined primarily by chemical or by physical aspects of interaction of molecules has been discussed originally taking immune hemolytic anemias as an example. Today, immunohematology still provides excellent models to study immune mechanisms that are of both clinical relevance and fundamental significance for the understanding of mechanisms that determine the appropriate recognition of self- and non-self-antigens in the context of complex dynamic interactions at the cellular and humoral level of the human immune system. The data summarized in this review focus on the aspects that the study of warm autoimmune hemolytic anemia may contribute to the understanding of immunoregulation in the human system.