Drug-induced Hemolytic Anemia

Abstract

Article1 April 1963Drug-induced Hemolytic AnemiaNANNIE K. M. DE LEEUW, M.D., M.SC., F.A.C.P., LORNE SHAPIRO, M.D., F.R.C.P. (C), F.A.C.P., LOUIS LOWENSTEIN, M.D., F.A.C.P.NANNIE K. M. DE LEEUW, M.D., M.SC., F.A.C.P.Search for more papers by this author, LORNE SHAPIRO, M.D., F.R.C.P. (C), F.A.C.P.Search for more papers by this author, LOUIS LOWENSTEIN, M.D., F.A.C.P.Search for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-58-4-592 SectionsAboutPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail ExcerptHemolytic Anemia may result from the administration of oxidant drugs, including primaquine, sulfonamides, nitrofurantoin, acetylsalicylic acid, and acetophenetidine (1-4). Recent publications have emphasized the close etiological relationship of erythrocyte glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency to this type of drug-induced hemolytic anemia (1-6). This deficiency is an inherited, sexlinked trait of incomplete dominance with variable expressivity (7, 8). It is associated with instability of reduced glutathione (GSH) in the red cell, and a slightly decreased red-cell life span (4) which is reduced further, by selective destruction of the older cells, when oxidant drugs are administered. It is believed that this red-cell defect...